I started listening to classical music because of the book but that is probably the last thing you can get out of the reading experience; it pains me deeply knowing that the couple committed suicide during the cultural revolution and what they revealed in these letters is nothing but love for their country, art, and their son.
Absolutely brilliant book. Oh, no, not a book exactly, but a collection of letters. A letter is considered a piece of essay at most. But reading a collection of letters from Mr. Fu provides me with such pleasure, inspiration and knowledge than some other books I read.
In my humble opinion, a must read for Chinese or anyone who are fluent in Chinese or interested in Chinese literature.
A cup of tea that I loved every sip and never stressed to take the next sip quickly
There are more than one thing that teaches me, moves me, makes me think and reflect, and of course, makes me miss my parents. It’s worth a read if you are away missing your parents, or looking for a senior and caring voice to guide you in life, don’t read if you hate old people micromanaging you like a kid :p
I’m not 0.5% educated in art but I’m motivated to read The Philosophy of Art
I feel like I know Mr. Fulei as a hardworking, super organized and well-mannered man, knowledgeable in many forms of art, had a global adventure in his youth, had a son who he’s tremendously proud of and a life that ends a bit too abruptly. The last letter is only a few months to his suicide, and there’s no sign at all. But there’re signs that Mr.Fulei is an sentimental, patriotic man, and also someone who recognized old age taking its toll on his body and mind. I feel more grief because I know him better, but less sadness because I know these traits about him.
Started reading this collection of family letters at the start of 2021 when Fou Tsong, the son and recipient of the letters, past away in Britain from COVID. By then, many of us have gone a year without family reunion, and didn’t know when the world would open back up again. This made the sentiments in these letters from a separated family resonate even more.
By the time I finally finished this book, a lot of the world has been vaccinated, and things are looking a lot more hopeful. It broke my heart to read the dad’s last words before he committed suicide from the pressure of the cultural revolution, while the son is stranded overseas.
Through these letters we witnessed the tragic deterioration of this pure-hearted man in a particularly cruel time in China. It was never explicitly discussed but from some of the later letters we could see him trying to keep up with the country he loved so deeply, and being tormented by it.
This book refers heavily to the chinese culture of writing letters and the ways writing it, the mother and father expresses strong love through words on the letters to their child, if you want to learn something about chinese writing culture, this is one of the classics that you can read to increase your knowledge and this knowledge can come in handy in the future.
Oh well, I did not REally finish this book. (150/307 pages)
There are things that you can take for yourself (such as preparing gifts, translating, talking with people, etc.), but they barely distract you from the general elitism and outdated ideologies. But, I mean, these letters were family letters, so it makes sense if they are not applicable to everyone.
In short, reading half of the book feels enough to me if you just want to have a general gist of what is this book about
Pretty cringy. A needy father and an independent son. Personally I think this book is too overrated in China. At least I didn’t get to learn much from it.