The Family, 3rd ed.

by Pa Chin

284 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Melodie Sloane]

A profoundly frustrating read, filled with characters miscommunicating or straight-up withholding information from each other, and a mismatch between their actions and their alleged feelings. Granted this divide between feelings and action is a major theme in the book, and the author does do a good job of critiquing the wealthy young men who identify as progressives but are still mired in their traditional biases. Valuable for its historical context and critique, but bogged down by the literary conventions of the time (a POV so omniscient it gives you whiplash; tell don’t show, particularly in the romances). Also my edition used Wade Giles transcription, which I find practically illegible compared to pinyin. Read in the original Chinese if you can.

[DaveyEatsGravy]

我的政治學老師讓我們班讀了這本小說。特別致謝菲茨傑拉德老師