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The Ancient Ship
The classic bestselling Chinese novel spanning four decades following the creation of the People's Republic in 1949, translated into English for the first time.
Originally published in 1987, two years before the Tiananmen Square protests, The Ancient Ship immediately caused a sensation in China. Wei’s award-winning first novel is the story of three generations of the Sui, Zhao, and Li families living in the fictional northern town of Wali during the troubled years of China’s post-liberation.
Wei vividly depicts the changes in Wali, where most people have made their livelihood by simply cooking and selling noodles. Once the home to large sailing ships that travelled along the Luqing River, Wali is now left with an unearthed hull of an ancient wooden ship.The ship stands as a metaphor for China, mirrored in the lives of the townspeople, who in the course of the narrative face such defining moments in history as the Land Reform Movement, the famine of 1959-1961, the Great Leap Forward, the Anti-Rightist Campaign, and the Cultural Revolution. A bold examination of a society in turmoil, a study in human nature, the struggle of oppressed people to control their own fate, and the clash between tradition and modernization, The Ancient Ship is a revolutionary work of Chinese fiction that speaks to people across the globe.
Originally published in 1987, two years before the Tiananmen Square protests, The Ancient Ship immediately caused a sensation in China. Wei’s award-winning first novel is the story of three generations of the Sui, Zhao, and Li families living in the fictional northern town of Wali during the troubled years of China’s post-liberation.
Wei vividly depicts the changes in Wali, where most people have made their livelihood by simply cooking and selling noodles. Once the home to large sailing ships that travelled along the Luqing River, Wali is now left with an unearthed hull of an ancient wooden ship.The ship stands as a metaphor for China, mirrored in the lives of the townspeople, who in the course of the narrative face such defining moments in history as the Land Reform Movement, the famine of 1959-1961, the Great Leap Forward, the Anti-Rightist Campaign, and the Cultural Revolution. A bold examination of a society in turmoil, a study in human nature, the struggle of oppressed people to control their own fate, and the clash between tradition and modernization, The Ancient Ship is a revolutionary work of Chinese fiction that speaks to people across the globe.
505 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
October 20, 2018
"All my life I've believed that getting the short end of the stick is actually a blessing, that peace and safety come from fortitude, but I'm no so sure anymore. It seems to have become the rule of the game that bad people invariably get what they want."
There's a serious problem in back cover blurbing when it comes to contemporary Chinese novels, in that every plot of every goddamn novel has to be framed as some sort of "a tour de force (weaving, threading, etc) of the (fill in significant Chinese event of the 20th century: Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution, etc) through the character's lives". This is mostly bullshit in the case of the amazing "Ancient Ship" because it is the point of the novel that all those faraway idiocies are mere wispy, almost phantasmal backdrop to the little dramas of the village of Wali. This work, like Zola and Dickens at their best (and those are the best comparisons I can make), is a giant, sprawling thing rich with life and characters and sadnesses and a few happinesses.
In short, it's about the span of a few decades in a little town and its three main families the Sui (now fallen on hard times, three troubled siblings), the Zhao (conniving and psychotic, manipulative) and the Lis (the lesser of the three, who "innovate"). The three families are spokes for the Wali glass noodle factory, for whose control they vie.
But it's way more that. A far more compelling human drama with light years more nuance and care than most crap being put out there today!
There's a serious problem in back cover blurbing when it comes to contemporary Chinese novels, in that every plot of every goddamn novel has to be framed as some sort of "a tour de force (weaving, threading, etc) of the (fill in significant Chinese event of the 20th century: Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution, etc) through the character's lives". This is mostly bullshit in the case of the amazing "Ancient Ship" because it is the point of the novel that all those faraway idiocies are mere wispy, almost phantasmal backdrop to the little dramas of the village of Wali. This work, like Zola and Dickens at their best (and those are the best comparisons I can make), is a giant, sprawling thing rich with life and characters and sadnesses and a few happinesses.
In short, it's about the span of a few decades in a little town and its three main families the Sui (now fallen on hard times, three troubled siblings), the Zhao (conniving and psychotic, manipulative) and the Lis (the lesser of the three, who "innovate"). The three families are spokes for the Wali glass noodle factory, for whose control they vie.
But it's way more that. A far more compelling human drama with light years more nuance and care than most crap being put out there today!
January 9, 2012
In the last few years, I've had an increased interested in modern Chinese fiction, which is probably at least partly due to the fact that my local library is practically next door to the Sheffield Chinese Community Centre and features an unexpectedly large selection of Chinese language books. I'm sure I've read about 6 or 7 novels in this time either translated from Chinese to English or else written in English by Chinese expats. For the former, I find one ongoing problem: translation. I know nothing of Chinese, but some translations, by dint of the fact that they are clouded with awkward phrases and ambiguity or else nonsense, make it clear that the Chinese language is rich in metaphor and double meaning. Inevitably this makes me regretful that I'm reading a translation.
That said, especially considering its length, The Ancient Ship is well translated by Howard Goldblatt, to the best of my understanding. By that I mean that, while the narrative is dense, it is not made cumbersome by the inherent difficulty in translating artistic MEANING, as opposed to just words. Hats off there, then.
Like a few others who have reviewed this book on this site, I had some difficulty with the first third of it. It is nonchronological, and I have only a very little knowledge of modern Chinese history, so understanding what was happening to the village of Wali in a wider context wasn't that easy. The fact that I carried on reading past this point in spite of the challenge says a lot about the beauty of the writing, and the drive of the story.
The middle of the book very suddenly and briefly delves unflinchingly (cliche, but very accurate term) at the misery in the countryside brought on by the Great Leap Forward and then the Cultural Revolution. The violence and suffering is made more shocking by the fact that the rest of the story is about the normalized lives of the survivors, some of whom abused each other horrifically or who witnessed incomprehensible atrocities, only to find themselves continuing to live for decades amongst each other as neighbors.
These are the themes, but the narrative drive is the economic change from agrarianism to collectivism to the weird modern Chinese mish-mash of oppressive communism and free market capitalism that is now in place. It follows one generation of siblings through it all, including their resignation, indignation, action and passivity to it. It's intense, and I found that it got better and better right to the last page.
Two aspects of it were troubling, but not because of the writing. One was the constant self-identification of all characters with their clan. Everything they did was for or as a result of the history of the clan. Or in defiance of the clan. This was hard for me to understand because it's so different from my own upbringing, and it sparks a lot of thought on the obstacles to progress that clannishness creates. I'm not sure if this was a question Zhang Wei intended to raise or whether he took for granted that this was (is?) just the situation in China.
**SORT OF SPOILER AHEAD**
The other aspect that was very troubling was the abusive relationships between Jiansu and his girlfriends. He has one girlfriend who is a co-dependent type, to whom he makes various casual, unkept promises, and whom he generally walks all over. He has another girlfriend whom he threatens, hurts, and rants like a lunatic to. There is a lot of moral ambiguity from the other characters about this that made me unsure where the line was in the micro-society we are reading about.
In any case, this was very throught-provoking and rewarding to read. And long.
That said, especially considering its length, The Ancient Ship is well translated by Howard Goldblatt, to the best of my understanding. By that I mean that, while the narrative is dense, it is not made cumbersome by the inherent difficulty in translating artistic MEANING, as opposed to just words. Hats off there, then.
Like a few others who have reviewed this book on this site, I had some difficulty with the first third of it. It is nonchronological, and I have only a very little knowledge of modern Chinese history, so understanding what was happening to the village of Wali in a wider context wasn't that easy. The fact that I carried on reading past this point in spite of the challenge says a lot about the beauty of the writing, and the drive of the story.
The middle of the book very suddenly and briefly delves unflinchingly (cliche, but very accurate term) at the misery in the countryside brought on by the Great Leap Forward and then the Cultural Revolution. The violence and suffering is made more shocking by the fact that the rest of the story is about the normalized lives of the survivors, some of whom abused each other horrifically or who witnessed incomprehensible atrocities, only to find themselves continuing to live for decades amongst each other as neighbors.
These are the themes, but the narrative drive is the economic change from agrarianism to collectivism to the weird modern Chinese mish-mash of oppressive communism and free market capitalism that is now in place. It follows one generation of siblings through it all, including their resignation, indignation, action and passivity to it. It's intense, and I found that it got better and better right to the last page.
Two aspects of it were troubling, but not because of the writing. One was the constant self-identification of all characters with their clan. Everything they did was for or as a result of the history of the clan. Or in defiance of the clan. This was hard for me to understand because it's so different from my own upbringing, and it sparks a lot of thought on the obstacles to progress that clannishness creates. I'm not sure if this was a question Zhang Wei intended to raise or whether he took for granted that this was (is?) just the situation in China.
**SORT OF SPOILER AHEAD**
The other aspect that was very troubling was the abusive relationships between Jiansu and his girlfriends. He has one girlfriend who is a co-dependent type, to whom he makes various casual, unkept promises, and whom he generally walks all over. He has another girlfriend whom he threatens, hurts, and rants like a lunatic to. There is a lot of moral ambiguity from the other characters about this that made me unsure where the line was in the micro-society we are reading about.
In any case, this was very throught-provoking and rewarding to read. And long.
May 2, 2018
l'antica storia
ascesa e disgrazie del popolo cinese narrate attraverso la storia di due famiglie e di una fabbrica di vermicelli, fabbrica che sopravvive alla collettivizzazione e alla rivoluzione culturale, segno e simbolo di quello che non è mai cambiato nella Cina dall'Imperatore a oggi
il racconto è interessante e il pretesto delle beghe familiari regge bene il portato della storia di una nazione, il tono è erudito e leggermente affabulatorio, ma si prova simpatia per i Sui e disprezzo per gli Zhao, dal momento che "la Rivoluzione non è un pranzo di gala, ma un atto violento attraverso il quale una classe ne rovescia un'altra" il sangue scorre a fiumi e gli oltraggi non si cancellano mai, la sfortuna di una famiglia rimane incollata alle generazioni successive e l'onta viene lavata solo dal destino...
ascesa e disgrazie del popolo cinese narrate attraverso la storia di due famiglie e di una fabbrica di vermicelli, fabbrica che sopravvive alla collettivizzazione e alla rivoluzione culturale, segno e simbolo di quello che non è mai cambiato nella Cina dall'Imperatore a oggi
il racconto è interessante e il pretesto delle beghe familiari regge bene il portato della storia di una nazione, il tono è erudito e leggermente affabulatorio, ma si prova simpatia per i Sui e disprezzo per gli Zhao, dal momento che "la Rivoluzione non è un pranzo di gala, ma un atto violento attraverso il quale una classe ne rovescia un'altra" il sangue scorre a fiumi e gli oltraggi non si cancellano mai, la sfortuna di una famiglia rimane incollata alle generazioni successive e l'onta viene lavata solo dal destino...
October 24, 2019
Para poder expresar mis sentimientos hacia El viejo barco, voy a recurrir a un párrafo del autor, que hacia el final de la obra, dice... y cito textualmente:
"El autor vierte el qi de su corazón en su obra. El qi sigue a la mente, dotando el libro de espíritu. Cuando tú lees, empiezas lentamente y vas ganando rapudez a medida que vas captando el qi literario y sigues avanzando. Si la unión se rompe, es un mal libro. Cuando ves la página de un libro no hay nada más que el color de la tinta, como si fuesen hormiguitas negras. Cuando el qi comienza a fluir, algunas hormigas negras mueren y otras sobreviven. Tus ojos escogen las partes vivas, ignorando las inertes. Entonces empiezas a sentir la esencia del momento, cuando el autor movía su pincel. De lo contrario, estarás perdiendo tu tiempo y tu energía, quedándote en la superficie y sin obtener ningún placer en la lectura".
Termino la obra sin haber encontrado el qi del corazón del autor, ni el de la mente ni siquiera el qi literario.... novela etérea, plana, aburrida... sin qi.
"El autor vierte el qi de su corazón en su obra. El qi sigue a la mente, dotando el libro de espíritu. Cuando tú lees, empiezas lentamente y vas ganando rapudez a medida que vas captando el qi literario y sigues avanzando. Si la unión se rompe, es un mal libro. Cuando ves la página de un libro no hay nada más que el color de la tinta, como si fuesen hormiguitas negras. Cuando el qi comienza a fluir, algunas hormigas negras mueren y otras sobreviven. Tus ojos escogen las partes vivas, ignorando las inertes. Entonces empiezas a sentir la esencia del momento, cuando el autor movía su pincel. De lo contrario, estarás perdiendo tu tiempo y tu energía, quedándote en la superficie y sin obtener ningún placer en la lectura".
Termino la obra sin haber encontrado el qi del corazón del autor, ni el de la mente ni siquiera el qi literario.... novela etérea, plana, aburrida... sin qi.
June 6, 2021
'The Ancient Ship' follows events in the fictional Chinese town of Wali, which specialises in the production of glass noodles. Although the violence of the Cultural Revolution, suffering of the devastating famine, and mayhem of the Great Leap Forward are all shown, the structure and pacing are elliptical. Flashbacks to past horrors occasionally punctuate a narrative of the 1980s, characterised by family conflicts and gradual economic change. I found the book had a rather ponderous quality, as past tragedies came to light only gradually and a great deal of time was spent on the specifics of noodle manufacture. I don't object to this, but it did take me a while to get into. The atmosphere of Wali comes across vividly and there are some very powerful and shocking scenes, as well as some funny and profound moments of dialogue or minor incident. I liked the discussions of star wars (the missile shield, not the movies).
I was particularly struck by Baopu's contemplation of past traumas and their legacy on subsequent generations. He is mostly a silent and unobtrusive presence, working long hours in the noodle factory and obsessively reading the Communist Manifesto in his spare time. Then about two thirds of the way into the book he unburdens himself at length to his brother Jiansu, in an extraordinary speech:
His soliloquy then turns to Wali's past sufferings and the fundamental problem of humans coexisting peacefully in communities. The tensions of the past gradually build until they erupt in dramatic events - which are nonetheless minor in comparison to what came before. The plot explores themes of collective memory and forgetting, of family legacies, and of economic change. 'The Ancient Ship' is subtle and thought-provoking, but also a bit muddy. Quite possibly there are nuances that I missed, or that cannot readily be translated. Although I appreciated it overall, there were sections that dragged rather, especially those concerning cooking. I preferred The Four Books by Yan Lianke on the Great Leap Forward and China Dream by Ma Jian on the Cultural Revolution.
I was particularly struck by Baopu's contemplation of past traumas and their legacy on subsequent generations. He is mostly a silent and unobtrusive presence, working long hours in the noodle factory and obsessively reading the Communist Manifesto in his spare time. Then about two thirds of the way into the book he unburdens himself at length to his brother Jiansu, in an extraordinary speech:
"I'm hopeless. I don't understand myself. Sometimes my self-loathing is greater than my loathing for any other person or thing. So I sit there day in and day out, having a conversation with myself the whole time. I ask myself a question and answer it myself; sometimes I just curse myself. Jiansu, you may not know this, but quiet people are actually the most talkative; they talk so much their tongue is parched and their lips run dry. They talk to themselves and they suffer alone. What did I ask myself? Nothing but a bunch of muddled yet common questions."
His soliloquy then turns to Wali's past sufferings and the fundamental problem of humans coexisting peacefully in communities. The tensions of the past gradually build until they erupt in dramatic events - which are nonetheless minor in comparison to what came before. The plot explores themes of collective memory and forgetting, of family legacies, and of economic change. 'The Ancient Ship' is subtle and thought-provoking, but also a bit muddy. Quite possibly there are nuances that I missed, or that cannot readily be translated. Although I appreciated it overall, there were sections that dragged rather, especially those concerning cooking. I preferred The Four Books by Yan Lianke on the Great Leap Forward and China Dream by Ma Jian on the Cultural Revolution.
December 8, 2019
Yirminci yüzyıl dünyanın hiç olmadığı kadar hızlı değiştiği yüzyıl. Ve bu değişimden kendi payını alan Wali kasabasının romanı. Yirminci yüzyılı bence bugüne kadar en net ve kısa şekilde Nazım Hikmet Yirminci Asra Dair şiirinde anlatmakta:
"Asrım sefil, asrım yüz kızartıcı, asrım cesur, büyük ve kahraman".
Wali de olanlar bu şiirin dizelerinden farklı değil, 1000 yıldır kendi halinde yaşayıp giden temel geçim kaynağı noodle imalatı olan kasaba 20. yy ile birlikte Çin'de yaşanan olaylar (İmparatorluğun yıkılışı, Çin Komünist Partisinin zaferi, Büyük İleri Atılım ve Kültür Devrimi) ve bu olayların sonucundaki değişimler ile bambaşka bir hal alıyor. Bu değişimleri Wali kasabasının 3 büyük ailesinin 3 kuşağının (imalathanenin ilk sahibi Sui, devrim sonrası imalathanenin idaresini alan Zhao ve Li aileleri) ve Noodle imalathanesi üzerinden anlatıyor yazar bize. Emile Zola'nın Germinal kitabı gibi anlattığı dönemi 'küçük insanlar'ın gözünden anlatıp büyük bir roman çıkarmış.
"Asrım sefil, asrım yüz kızartıcı, asrım cesur, büyük ve kahraman".
Wali de olanlar bu şiirin dizelerinden farklı değil, 1000 yıldır kendi halinde yaşayıp giden temel geçim kaynağı noodle imalatı olan kasaba 20. yy ile birlikte Çin'de yaşanan olaylar (İmparatorluğun yıkılışı, Çin Komünist Partisinin zaferi, Büyük İleri Atılım ve Kültür Devrimi) ve bu olayların sonucundaki değişimler ile bambaşka bir hal alıyor. Bu değişimleri Wali kasabasının 3 büyük ailesinin 3 kuşağının (imalathanenin ilk sahibi Sui, devrim sonrası imalathanenin idaresini alan Zhao ve Li aileleri) ve Noodle imalathanesi üzerinden anlatıyor yazar bize. Emile Zola'nın Germinal kitabı gibi anlattığı dönemi 'küçük insanlar'ın gözünden anlatıp büyük bir roman çıkarmış.
May 13, 2017
Interesting book
Very insightful book, telling story of one family in China over the century - how throughout the years family members got disconnected from each other and, eventually struggling due to this disconnection of missing family bonds. The story goes in parallel with the story of community they live in, and how the life of the community has been changing with the time of Revolution&technology.
A lots of detailed description of pain&tortures during revolution time. Not sure if it's more real or not. Can not imagine that human can be so inhuman.... anyway, well written saga with good learning to each of us!
Very insightful book, telling story of one family in China over the century - how throughout the years family members got disconnected from each other and, eventually struggling due to this disconnection of missing family bonds. The story goes in parallel with the story of community they live in, and how the life of the community has been changing with the time of Revolution&technology.
A lots of detailed description of pain&tortures during revolution time. Not sure if it's more real or not. Can not imagine that human can be so inhuman.... anyway, well written saga with good learning to each of us!
August 3, 2017
Though perhaps enriching from a cultural viewpoint, this book was written in a style that just couldn't hold my attention. It probably got better as it went, but I was too disinterested after the first few chapters to find out.
July 23, 2025
Non è una lettura semplice, soprattutto all'inizio. Il libro ci mette molto ad ingranare e, siccome spesso racconta gli eventi non in ordine cronologico, può risultare ostico da seguire fino in fondo.
A me è piaciuto molto. Sicuramente è una lettura impegnativa data anche la mole del romanzo e alla lentezza della narrazione, ma vale sicuramente la pena. Ho amato il racconto della storia cinese, dalla riforma agraria di Mao in poi, narrata attraverso le disavventure della città di Wali, ho amato alcuni personaggi (come lo zio ubriacone o il protagonista Baopuo), ho amato il profondo senso di rivalsa dei Sui che scorre in tutto il romanzo. Non il romanzo cinese più bello in assoluto ma sicuramente una lettura che vale la pena intraprendere se si ha già un po' di conoscenza di storia cinese o se si amano i mattoni con protagonisti clan/famiglie.
Finale non bellissimo, peccato.
A me è piaciuto molto. Sicuramente è una lettura impegnativa data anche la mole del romanzo e alla lentezza della narrazione, ma vale sicuramente la pena. Ho amato il racconto della storia cinese, dalla riforma agraria di Mao in poi, narrata attraverso le disavventure della città di Wali, ho amato alcuni personaggi (come lo zio ubriacone o il protagonista Baopuo), ho amato il profondo senso di rivalsa dei Sui che scorre in tutto il romanzo. Non il romanzo cinese più bello in assoluto ma sicuramente una lettura che vale la pena intraprendere se si ha già un po' di conoscenza di storia cinese o se si amano i mattoni con protagonisti clan/famiglie.
Finale non bellissimo, peccato.
January 17, 2023
Il romanzo condensa in cinquecento pagine quattro decenni di storia cinese, dagli anni Trenta agli anni Ottanta del secolo scorso, narrati con continui spostamenti temporali che ruotano intorno a tre cardini della narrazione: la cittadina di Wali, luogo di fantasia, la fabbrica dei vermicelli Drago Bianco e Sui Baopu, il figlio maggiore della famiglia Sui, una delle tre famiglie del posto insieme ai Li e agli Zhao, protagonisti delle vicende raccontate nel romanzo.
L’antica nave che dà il titolo al romanzo è un relitto di legno ritrovato a Wali che diventa il simbolo di un passato glorioso, carico di rimpianti, a cui si potrà tornare ad aspirare solo con una profonda e virtuosa trasformazione umana.
L’antica nave che dà il titolo al romanzo è un relitto di legno ritrovato a Wali che diventa il simbolo di un passato glorioso, carico di rimpianti, a cui si potrà tornare ad aspirare solo con una profonda e virtuosa trasformazione umana.
June 6, 2020
Translated from Chinese & sliding back & forth through time - seems to follow ideas rather than a linear style. Allegory for Chinese history and politics as seen through one small provincial town Wali & its 3 dominant families. An ancient sailing ship excavated seems to symbolize the spiritual life. Dense. Not sure I understand even half of it as I am fairly uneducated when it comes to the details of Chinese history and politics.
September 14, 2022
What a simple premise: automating the process of making bean thread noodles changes a community and brings out the worst in people. Yet, innovation can be good, right? What needs to be coupled with innovation? Socialism? Confucian ideals (morality is the base of all decisions)? Why is greed so pervasive in human nature?
February 25, 2021
Una historia plana y larga con personajes planos a los que les pasan cosas y ya. Llega a cansar.
November 6, 2024
letto in riva al mare, veramente uno strano effetto. Personaggi estremamente profondi, contesti estremamente emozionanti, brividi
March 29, 2020
Con un meraviglioso romanzo familiare e globale al tempo stesso, Zhang Wei riesce non solo a dipingere la delusione che la rivoluzione maoista ha inflitto alla Cina rurale, ma anche a raccontare le vicende dei personaggi indimenticabili che popolano il villaggio di Wali, teatro dell'azione.
Per approfondimenti:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8CHl...
Per approfondimenti:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8CHl...
February 23, 2019
Entering a review now as I’m not sure I’ll finish.
Extremely difficult to read. Too large a cast introduced (needs a chart of family trees) and dots about all over the place. Eg bearded lad is one of the torturers at one point. He’s certainly advising the group then he’s killed and a page later he’s back alive and well for another passage but he really was killed the passagevwas obviously a flashback, almost (and I checked the page numbers to see if it had happened) as if the pages had been bound in the wrong order. The torture bits are what migh5 finally defeat me. Terrible things that surely no author could make up so must be based on truth (or Chinese whispers, that’s my best hope) but, if true someone in the past has dreamt them up and it doesn’t bear thinking about.
The main protagonists are ineffectual and need a kick up the butt. The humour is not particularly funny, though I’m ‘laughing’ at conversations and conventions that I hardly understand. Some of it is culture differences, and for this reason I’ve struggled on but now I’m at this torturing stage, I’m not sure the story conclusion will be worth the effort.
Now I’ve finished it, I can add that it has no qi - those of you who’ve finished it will understand, maybe not agree. Terribly confusing with all the changes of eras. The effort to read it was not worth the struggle for the inconclusive ending.
Interesting to get an idea of the culture but mostly that’s unfathomable.
Extremely difficult to read. Too large a cast introduced (needs a chart of family trees) and dots about all over the place. Eg bearded lad is one of the torturers at one point. He’s certainly advising the group then he’s killed and a page later he’s back alive and well for another passage but he really was killed the passagevwas obviously a flashback, almost (and I checked the page numbers to see if it had happened) as if the pages had been bound in the wrong order. The torture bits are what migh5 finally defeat me. Terrible things that surely no author could make up so must be based on truth (or Chinese whispers, that’s my best hope) but, if true someone in the past has dreamt them up and it doesn’t bear thinking about.
The main protagonists are ineffectual and need a kick up the butt. The humour is not particularly funny, though I’m ‘laughing’ at conversations and conventions that I hardly understand. Some of it is culture differences, and for this reason I’ve struggled on but now I’m at this torturing stage, I’m not sure the story conclusion will be worth the effort.
Now I’ve finished it, I can add that it has no qi - those of you who’ve finished it will understand, maybe not agree. Terribly confusing with all the changes of eras. The effort to read it was not worth the struggle for the inconclusive ending.
Interesting to get an idea of the culture but mostly that’s unfathomable.
June 19, 2011
Product Description from Amazon.com:
"Originally published in 1987, two years before the Tiananmen Square protests, Zhang Wei's award-winning novel is the story of three generations of the Sui, Zhao, and Li families living in the fictional northern town of Wali during the troubled post-liberation years in China. A bold examination of a society in turmoil, the struggle of oppressed people to control their own fate, and the clash between tradition and modernization, The Ancient Ship is a revolutionary work of Chinese fiction that speaks to people across the globe". I struggled to read this book for several reasons. The events of the novel take place over a period of forty years but the story is told in a non-linear fashion resulting in confusion and repetition. The subject matter was not easy reading; there was a great deal of tragedy: death and bloodshed, famine, corruption, rape… It was also much too long, with way too much detail given, even figures from the financial accounts of the noodle factory. In spite of that, I felt I wanted to continue, and not only because it was an Advance Reading copy from Harper Collins. It was interesting at times – I just think it could have been much better.
"Originally published in 1987, two years before the Tiananmen Square protests, Zhang Wei's award-winning novel is the story of three generations of the Sui, Zhao, and Li families living in the fictional northern town of Wali during the troubled post-liberation years in China. A bold examination of a society in turmoil, the struggle of oppressed people to control their own fate, and the clash between tradition and modernization, The Ancient Ship is a revolutionary work of Chinese fiction that speaks to people across the globe". I struggled to read this book for several reasons. The events of the novel take place over a period of forty years but the story is told in a non-linear fashion resulting in confusion and repetition. The subject matter was not easy reading; there was a great deal of tragedy: death and bloodshed, famine, corruption, rape… It was also much too long, with way too much detail given, even figures from the financial accounts of the noodle factory. In spite of that, I felt I wanted to continue, and not only because it was an Advance Reading copy from Harper Collins. It was interesting at times – I just think it could have been much better.
January 27, 2011
Trigger warning: This book is full of rape, torture, and murder. By the time the really disturbing events occurred I was already heavily invested in finding out the end of the story so I kept reading even though some passages were too violent and I had to skip through them. This book was revolutionary in China and other eastern countries because it graphically depicts some of China's historical events such as the Great Leap Forward and the Anti-Rightist Campaign without white-washing them. The story follows various members of three clans in a fictional town in northern China over a period of three decades. The writing style is intentionally disjointed as the author chose a non-chronological layout for the chapters. At times the story is hard to follow, owed, in part, to choppy translation, and the first half of the book is slow in parts. Overall, it is an interesting and heart-wrenching read of fictional characters and scenes based on historical events.
August 13, 2012
The book gave me a new sense, beyond any history or politics, of how someone in China is dealing with (and portraying/discussing) some the issues that I see in the news. The pride some take in "watering down" or using impure ingredients echoes news stories about dangerous chemicals in foods and toys (think of the milk scandal from not too long ago). The horrors of the time of revolution confront the reader with something universal about man, but also how China experienced it with different cultural and family expectations and values.
Two reasons this book is hard to read: it details gruesome violence and sexual abuse; also I found it difficult to follow the timeline as it bounced around (especially in the beginning), with few clues until I got to know the characters well.
Two reasons this book is hard to read: it details gruesome violence and sexual abuse; also I found it difficult to follow the timeline as it bounced around (especially in the beginning), with few clues until I got to know the characters well.
January 18, 2009
This book was occasionally gruesome and hard to read, and it took me a long time (almost half the book) to really "get it." But I finished it in amazement! It is one of the richest explorations of how morality and politics interweave that I have ever encountered: attempting to understand the need for/place of economic redistribution in China's past, and the ways in which violence is a necessary part of social change, and yet also what consistently de-rails it. All of this deep thinking is done through the story of one family in an imaginary village.
Too beautiful and profound to summarize. If it could have been said in a paragraph, the book itself would be unnecessary.
Too beautiful and profound to summarize. If it could have been said in a paragraph, the book itself would be unnecessary.
January 18, 2014
This story is set in a small town and takes us from the arrival of the communists through to the 80's. It takes us through wars, famine, and purges as well as the ups and downs of the town's glass noodle factory from private ownership to corrupt management to "upright" management. It is sometimes difficult to follow the time shifts in the story.
Part of the fascination for me is that the book was published in China a couple of years before Tienanmen Square. And despite the negative portrayal of some of the events the author is evidently still in the good graces of the Chinese regime.
Part of the fascination for me is that the book was published in China a couple of years before Tienanmen Square. And despite the negative portrayal of some of the events the author is evidently still in the good graces of the Chinese regime.
March 9, 2015
I was so drawn to the characters in this book. They felt so alive, and I really enjoyed getting into their minds. I also really enjoyed scenes that were more 'mundane': descriptions of food, accounting numbers, etc. My biggest problem with this book was the jumping around in time (probably more my fault than the book's, first, because I haven't brushed up on China's modern history in a while, and second, because I read it in sporadic bursts) so I felt quite confused about where we were and what exactly was happening/had already happened.
August 3, 2015
There's moment of depressive , yet some too were enjoyable. This book marked the account of people during Mao times, where his Communism were bound with hope of these poor people of Wali. Hardships really mould the life and personality of each characters, making them more believable. One of the books that made me rethink about how troubled they were under the care of highly unethical man, backed by clan-based regime.
November 30, 2010
I guess I'm still not good at these books, I keep trying to find deeper meaning & feeling lost. I'm sure the noodle is a symbol of something greater . . . (oh, and the ship, too) - but hey, I finished it! I'm sure it has enriched my life in some way - more on that when I figure it out.
December 7, 2010
If you want to know how the chinese built relationship, doing business, administer a town; this book give you wide spectrum of the chinese characters during hard times as well as high times. Love stories give strength to the whole events...
October 20, 2008
Lovely and depressing book about post-1949 China.
Want to read
November 5, 2010
October 30, 2011
Unreadable. I have had trouble before with books translated from chinese to english, and this one is no exception. Too much ponderous listing of characters' lineage, too light on story.
January 8, 2014
I found this book difficult to read and the characters uninteresting. I kept trying and couldn't get into it. After being halfway through and still not engaged, I gave up.
January 3, 2016
Fiction
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