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Under Fishbone Clouds
Under Fishbone Clouds is a universal love story, a family saga, and a journey through Chinese history, myth, and culture. Following a young Chinese couple as their love grows, and is tested, during Mao's Cultural Revolution, this elegant debut novel provides a rare and personal glimpse into the birth modern China.
When the Kitchen God is challenged by the Jade Emperor to fathom the workings of the human heart, he chooses to follow the life of Jinyi and his wife Yuying, from their blossoming love until their old age, in hope of finding an answer. The Kitchen God watches as the new government strictures split their family in two, living inside their hearts as they they endure the loss of two children, homesickness, and isolation, all while keeping alive a love that survives famine, forced labor, and even death. Weaving together the story of their life with China’s recent political history, as well as traditional folktales and myths, the Kitchen God illuminates the most impenetrable aspects the human condition.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2009
81 people are currently reading
1004 people want to read
About the author
Sam Meekings
18 books27 followersSam Meekings grew up near the south coast of England. He took an undergraduate degree in Modern History and English Literature at Mansfield College, Oxford University and, later, a Masters degree in Creative Writing at Edinburgh University. In 2005 he moved to China where he worked as a teacher and editor. He recently moved to Qatar with his wife and family to take up a post as Lecturer in poetry and creative writing at Qatar University. In 2006 and 2007 Sam was longlisted for an Eric Gregory Award for poets under 30.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews
October 14, 2010
If this book doesn’t attain the high readership it deserves, there is no justice. It’s quite simply one of the most lavishly imagined, masterfully researched, exquisitely written contemporary novels I’ve read. And if that sounds as if I’m gushing…well, it’s probably because I am.
Under Fishbone Clouds is written by debut author Sam Meekings, who grew up near the south coast of England and currently resides in China. It is absolutely remarkable that the author is under 30; the book if full of gravitas and maturity that is normally the result of decades of living and writing. Interwoven seamlessly within this mesmerizing narrative is Chinese folklore and myths – absorbingly told – in addition to insights into Chinese distant and recent past history.
This novel is narrated by the Kitchen God, a common household deity who is challenged by the more powerful Jade Emperor to fathom the inner workings of the human heart. He chooses to follow a couple who, like him and his own mythical wife, were caught in the whirlwind of history: Jinyi and his wife Yuying. The tale begins in 1942 when the two fall in love, in spite of their different backgrounds and their arranged marriage, and continues to their doddering old age as the new millennium takes hold.
At the onset, Yuying follows her husband across war-torn China to her husband’s rustic and impoverished home. Bad times ensue, and when they eventually make their way back to the city, the Cultural Revolution has begun; everything now belongs to the state and all social strata are forced to undergo hard labor in the factories and the fields.
Although the Mao Cultural Revolution years have been well documented, Under Fishbone Clouds takes you up close and personal to these dehumanizing times; it is a rare reader who will not wince at the no-holds-barred look at a country whose rigid ideology trumps personal relationships and freedoms. Business owners, entrepreneurs, artists, teachers, intellectuals – all are labeled “bourgeois” and re-educated in the harshest possible ways. In a particularly harrowing scene, a man has a heart attack and is ordered to “crawl” to comfort and stop being a slacker. The depths to which Jinyi and Yuying are forced to descend to – separately, without each other’s comfort – is heartbreaking.
Yuying reflects, “Life isn’t meant for perfect things. I knew it when we were told to put making steel above common sense; I knew it when we were told to starve patriotically because the noble peasants had been huddling around homemade furnaces instead of growing food in the fields; I knew it when the whole country began to rise up to cut down the past. I felt in the pit of my stomach all the time; I just never knew what it was until now.”
Yet despite the intensity of the Cultural Revolution years, Under Fishbone Clouds is not a book about tragedy; at its heart (and a big heart it is), it’s a family saga about the universal and enduring power of love. There is sheer magic and lyricism in the love that Jinyi and Yuying share as they navigate answers that are often impenetrable.
And, Meekings suggests, by love we are transfigured. Jinyi realizes toward the end of his life: “Love also changes shape. It is no longer slim, lithe, nervous and sweaty palmed. It was no longer sleepless, heavy, a stone weighing deep within the chest. It was now warm, slow, soft, a tarry old blanket huddled under in the dark. It was the last embers of a promise made decades before, still glowing red though the flames had petered down.”
Using Jinyi as a catalyst, the Kitchen God comes to the realization that people don’t just carry on with their lives because they must; the secret of life is love, atonement, and retribution. He puzzles out the human heart as he follows this couple through all kinds of trials: deep anguish, death of children, famine and forced labor, class warfare, drastic social and culture changes, isolation and homelessness, the loss of dignity and health.
This is one of those rare books that I would confidently recommend to anybody: those with an interest in the history of the East, those who are enthralled with mythology and folklore, those who hold out for the best of prose, and those who are simply seeking an old-fashioned story where love prevails. I predict an amazing future for this very talented author.
Under Fishbone Clouds is written by debut author Sam Meekings, who grew up near the south coast of England and currently resides in China. It is absolutely remarkable that the author is under 30; the book if full of gravitas and maturity that is normally the result of decades of living and writing. Interwoven seamlessly within this mesmerizing narrative is Chinese folklore and myths – absorbingly told – in addition to insights into Chinese distant and recent past history.
This novel is narrated by the Kitchen God, a common household deity who is challenged by the more powerful Jade Emperor to fathom the inner workings of the human heart. He chooses to follow a couple who, like him and his own mythical wife, were caught in the whirlwind of history: Jinyi and his wife Yuying. The tale begins in 1942 when the two fall in love, in spite of their different backgrounds and their arranged marriage, and continues to their doddering old age as the new millennium takes hold.
At the onset, Yuying follows her husband across war-torn China to her husband’s rustic and impoverished home. Bad times ensue, and when they eventually make their way back to the city, the Cultural Revolution has begun; everything now belongs to the state and all social strata are forced to undergo hard labor in the factories and the fields.
Although the Mao Cultural Revolution years have been well documented, Under Fishbone Clouds takes you up close and personal to these dehumanizing times; it is a rare reader who will not wince at the no-holds-barred look at a country whose rigid ideology trumps personal relationships and freedoms. Business owners, entrepreneurs, artists, teachers, intellectuals – all are labeled “bourgeois” and re-educated in the harshest possible ways. In a particularly harrowing scene, a man has a heart attack and is ordered to “crawl” to comfort and stop being a slacker. The depths to which Jinyi and Yuying are forced to descend to – separately, without each other’s comfort – is heartbreaking.
Yuying reflects, “Life isn’t meant for perfect things. I knew it when we were told to put making steel above common sense; I knew it when we were told to starve patriotically because the noble peasants had been huddling around homemade furnaces instead of growing food in the fields; I knew it when the whole country began to rise up to cut down the past. I felt in the pit of my stomach all the time; I just never knew what it was until now.”
Yet despite the intensity of the Cultural Revolution years, Under Fishbone Clouds is not a book about tragedy; at its heart (and a big heart it is), it’s a family saga about the universal and enduring power of love. There is sheer magic and lyricism in the love that Jinyi and Yuying share as they navigate answers that are often impenetrable.
And, Meekings suggests, by love we are transfigured. Jinyi realizes toward the end of his life: “Love also changes shape. It is no longer slim, lithe, nervous and sweaty palmed. It was no longer sleepless, heavy, a stone weighing deep within the chest. It was now warm, slow, soft, a tarry old blanket huddled under in the dark. It was the last embers of a promise made decades before, still glowing red though the flames had petered down.”
Using Jinyi as a catalyst, the Kitchen God comes to the realization that people don’t just carry on with their lives because they must; the secret of life is love, atonement, and retribution. He puzzles out the human heart as he follows this couple through all kinds of trials: deep anguish, death of children, famine and forced labor, class warfare, drastic social and culture changes, isolation and homelessness, the loss of dignity and health.
This is one of those rare books that I would confidently recommend to anybody: those with an interest in the history of the East, those who are enthralled with mythology and folklore, those who hold out for the best of prose, and those who are simply seeking an old-fashioned story where love prevails. I predict an amazing future for this very talented author.
May 17, 2013
I have to dump this book. It is just too disgusting. There is a jam jar of warm pig fat. A thief would be given a job in the restaurant if he would drink the whole bottle down. "Grey lumps floated like jelly in the thick, slimy liquid." Page 90. Only after the chef and all the other workers have spit into that jar, is it ready for the new employee to swallow it down.....
R-E-V-O-L-T-I-N-G!
I don't find pleasure in reading this.
The story switches between the magical life of the "Kitchen God" and a second thread that follows a Chinese couple from the 40s to modern times - historical fiction, a love story and Chinese folk tales. This could have been good if the writing had been better.
R-E-V-O-L-T-I-N-G!
I don't find pleasure in reading this.
The story switches between the magical life of the "Kitchen God" and a second thread that follows a Chinese couple from the 40s to modern times - historical fiction, a love story and Chinese folk tales. This could have been good if the writing had been better.
February 27, 2011
It is almost unimaginable that Sam Meekings is a young, debut author. His innate, shimmering talent is steady and captivating throughout the novel, the characters are riveting, and the story itself is painfully soulful. With as much history as he conveyed in this story, you would think that at times, it would be flawed with a "researched" tone. But, no. He threaded the history, story, and characters together with magical stitches, and he laced it with myth and folktales that enhanced the story with awe and beauty.
The narrator is the Kitchen God. He made a bet with the Jade Emperor that he can divine the workings of the human heart. Each chapter is entitled with a symbol of the Chinese zodiac and is prefaced with a conversation between the two, and each conversation is like an ancient proverb that underscores the story.
The main characters are Yuying and Jinyi, and this book is their love story. When I think of them, I think of the love between Dr. Zhivago and Lara. I know that the latter are western, and it is a different story altogether, but this love is epic and enduring like that. It is the story of love under the most atrocious conditions, a love that threatens to collapse at times, but the human heart prevails over history, torture, and political oppression. How? That is what the Kitchen God is there to mine.
As their love story begins, the Japanese invasion is ending. The narrator refers to this second Sino-Japanese War as a time in history when the Chinese took a time out from their many civil wars in order to band together to resist the Japanese. It is no wonder that communism controlled the country in the subsequent era, a kind of recoil from Japanese imperialism.
Yuying is from a wealthy family with servants and would have lived in even more luxury if it weren't for her father's bad habits. Yuying's father is a shameless boor who has his own agenda for forcing Yuying to marry Jinyi, a lowly kitchen employee at one of his restaurants. But Jinyi is a tough and virtuous man, despite the fact that his introduction to his employment was stealing a morsel of food to abate hunger.
A year or so after they are married, Junjyi wants to take Yuying back to his home, the place where he grew up but was mistreated by his aunt and uncle. This journey was long, arduous, and the beginning of their hardship. Later, The Gang of Four come to power with the Cultural Revolution--a decade of turbulence, chaos, and propaganda so deep that even children were turning their parents in for seditious behavior, and people were frightened of saying anything that would be considered a dissent from the communist doctrine of Mao Zedong. The effect of Mao's brand of communism on Yuying and Jinyi was paramount to the struggles of their relationship, and even created an inner dialectic that often muddled their own inner truths and core beliefs.
"Have you ever dreamed of being invisible? It is easy, Jinyi thought. Turn your eyes to the ground while others are speaking. Be thin in a land of skeletons; be hungry around a man and his meal. Be hunched around the straight backs of men with medals and insignia; be dry among the drunk. Be a country boy in the crowded streets of the city...it is the unseen masses who knot the country together, the busy atoms rushing unseen between slow bodies."
Starvation, devastation, violence, oppression, and death are the cruel enemies of their marriage, a time so deeply tested that the act of survival would seem to eclipse love. But perseverance through suffering and forbearance through agony are the qualities of this couple that beguile the beguiling Kitchen God, and further entice the reader.
The author defines a sense of place, of culture, and of food, even the absence of food, within a seamless and lyrical narrative that induces an almost dreamlike state of mind when reading. The prose is aphoristic and poetic, and the pacing is flawless. This is a novel that appeals on many levels--aesthetic, historical, and political, and much more. Meekings has achieved the luminous art of storytelling.
The narrator is the Kitchen God. He made a bet with the Jade Emperor that he can divine the workings of the human heart. Each chapter is entitled with a symbol of the Chinese zodiac and is prefaced with a conversation between the two, and each conversation is like an ancient proverb that underscores the story.
The main characters are Yuying and Jinyi, and this book is their love story. When I think of them, I think of the love between Dr. Zhivago and Lara. I know that the latter are western, and it is a different story altogether, but this love is epic and enduring like that. It is the story of love under the most atrocious conditions, a love that threatens to collapse at times, but the human heart prevails over history, torture, and political oppression. How? That is what the Kitchen God is there to mine.
As their love story begins, the Japanese invasion is ending. The narrator refers to this second Sino-Japanese War as a time in history when the Chinese took a time out from their many civil wars in order to band together to resist the Japanese. It is no wonder that communism controlled the country in the subsequent era, a kind of recoil from Japanese imperialism.
Yuying is from a wealthy family with servants and would have lived in even more luxury if it weren't for her father's bad habits. Yuying's father is a shameless boor who has his own agenda for forcing Yuying to marry Jinyi, a lowly kitchen employee at one of his restaurants. But Jinyi is a tough and virtuous man, despite the fact that his introduction to his employment was stealing a morsel of food to abate hunger.
A year or so after they are married, Junjyi wants to take Yuying back to his home, the place where he grew up but was mistreated by his aunt and uncle. This journey was long, arduous, and the beginning of their hardship. Later, The Gang of Four come to power with the Cultural Revolution--a decade of turbulence, chaos, and propaganda so deep that even children were turning their parents in for seditious behavior, and people were frightened of saying anything that would be considered a dissent from the communist doctrine of Mao Zedong. The effect of Mao's brand of communism on Yuying and Jinyi was paramount to the struggles of their relationship, and even created an inner dialectic that often muddled their own inner truths and core beliefs.
"Have you ever dreamed of being invisible? It is easy, Jinyi thought. Turn your eyes to the ground while others are speaking. Be thin in a land of skeletons; be hungry around a man and his meal. Be hunched around the straight backs of men with medals and insignia; be dry among the drunk. Be a country boy in the crowded streets of the city...it is the unseen masses who knot the country together, the busy atoms rushing unseen between slow bodies."
Starvation, devastation, violence, oppression, and death are the cruel enemies of their marriage, a time so deeply tested that the act of survival would seem to eclipse love. But perseverance through suffering and forbearance through agony are the qualities of this couple that beguile the beguiling Kitchen God, and further entice the reader.
The author defines a sense of place, of culture, and of food, even the absence of food, within a seamless and lyrical narrative that induces an almost dreamlike state of mind when reading. The prose is aphoristic and poetic, and the pacing is flawless. This is a novel that appeals on many levels--aesthetic, historical, and political, and much more. Meekings has achieved the luminous art of storytelling.
April 4, 2011
This novel of life and love plays out against the backdrop of recent Chinese history, from the Japanese occupation of the 1940s to the 21st century. The Jade Emperor- the head of the Chinese pantheon- has made a wager with the Kitchen God that the Kitchen God cannot fathom the workings of a single human heart. For his study, the Kitchen God has chosen Bian Yuying and Hou Jinyi, who as teens are wed in an arranged marriage- the standard of the time in that place. Yuying’s rich father, who has three daughters but no son, brings the orphaned, penniless, illiterate peasant Jinyi into the family because he has agreed to take the Bian family name, thus continuing the family line.
Despite the vast difference in their upbringing, Yuying and Jinyi come to love each other. They have a baby boy, which brings them great joy. But times are changing, and Jinyi fears that life in the city won’t be safe much longer. He also wants to take his wife and son back to where he grew up, so he can raise his new family there. Taking his birth name back, he leads them on a walk halfway across China to the subsistence farm he grew up on, owned by his aunt and uncle. Partway there, their beloved son dies, and they must bury him along the road in an unmarked grave, where they will not be able to visit him.
Life on the farm is hard, with endless labor and little to eat- yams and not much else. The aunt and abusive uncle disdain them. Another baby is stillborn. Yuying, who grew up with servants, ends up working even longer than the others to earn money to send a letter home: the price of a postage stamp takes months to earn.
The harsh life never ends for Jinyi and Yuying. This is the time of the civil war, the take over by the Communists, the Cultural Revolution. From the late 1940s until the millennium, there is never enough to eat. Jinyi is beaten. They work long hard shifts at their regular jobs, and then join in at the community forge making worthless pig iron. Yuying, as the daughter of a rich man, is of the oppressor class and despised. Yuying and Jinyi are both sent to re-education camps for years, leaving their four small children in the care of Yuying’s foot-bound mother. The Chinese people of that time underwent more change and hardship-psychological as well as physical- than almost any other people have. But life goes on and love and hope never die. It’s the one thing Jinyi and Yuying can cling to, can count on as unchanging.
This is Meekings debut novel, but it doesn’t read like one. It doesn’t have that thinness that so many first novels do. The characters and the setting are well filled in. You can feel the desperation and the constant fear. You wonder how these people can go on. I very much recommend this book.
Despite the vast difference in their upbringing, Yuying and Jinyi come to love each other. They have a baby boy, which brings them great joy. But times are changing, and Jinyi fears that life in the city won’t be safe much longer. He also wants to take his wife and son back to where he grew up, so he can raise his new family there. Taking his birth name back, he leads them on a walk halfway across China to the subsistence farm he grew up on, owned by his aunt and uncle. Partway there, their beloved son dies, and they must bury him along the road in an unmarked grave, where they will not be able to visit him.
Life on the farm is hard, with endless labor and little to eat- yams and not much else. The aunt and abusive uncle disdain them. Another baby is stillborn. Yuying, who grew up with servants, ends up working even longer than the others to earn money to send a letter home: the price of a postage stamp takes months to earn.
The harsh life never ends for Jinyi and Yuying. This is the time of the civil war, the take over by the Communists, the Cultural Revolution. From the late 1940s until the millennium, there is never enough to eat. Jinyi is beaten. They work long hard shifts at their regular jobs, and then join in at the community forge making worthless pig iron. Yuying, as the daughter of a rich man, is of the oppressor class and despised. Yuying and Jinyi are both sent to re-education camps for years, leaving their four small children in the care of Yuying’s foot-bound mother. The Chinese people of that time underwent more change and hardship-psychological as well as physical- than almost any other people have. But life goes on and love and hope never die. It’s the one thing Jinyi and Yuying can cling to, can count on as unchanging.
This is Meekings debut novel, but it doesn’t read like one. It doesn’t have that thinness that so many first novels do. The characters and the setting are well filled in. You can feel the desperation and the constant fear. You wonder how these people can go on. I very much recommend this book.
September 4, 2017
From the book jacket: (This) is a universal love story, a family saga, and a journey through Chinese history, myth, and culture. Following a young Chinese couple as their love grows, and is tested, during Mao’s Cultural Revolution, this debut novel provides a personal glimpse into the birth of modern China.
My reaction:
I’ve had this debut novel on my tbr since it was first published in 2010. I was intrigued by the love story coupled with 20th Century Chinese history. And I loved that part of the book. Jinyi is a hero whose experiences are far different than anything I’ve gone through, but whose character is universal. He embodies resilience, determination and love for his wife and family. Yuying grows from the somewhat spoiled eldest daughter of a “bourgeoise” restaurant owner to a humble, devoted and fierce wife and mother. Despite all they go through they remain steadfast in their love and never give up hope of reconciliation during the times they must be apart.
The format Meekings used to tell this story, however, did not resonate with me. He has the Kitchen God narrate the story. The Jade Emperor has challenged the KG to fathom the intricacies of the human heart, so the KG decides to follow this couple from their courtship to their old age. Well that’s not completely out of line; I’ve certainly read and enjoyed other books with a similar omniscient narrator. However, Meekings has the Kitchen God frequently interject his own story, his conversations with the Jade Emperor, and various Chinese folk tales. I found these to be completely unnecessary disruptions to the main story arc. Of course, if he were referring to Western fairy tales or folk tales, he might have been able to simply mention “Cinderella” or “Chicken Little” and I would have instantly understood the reference. Not the case with traditional Chinese folk tales, so I understand why Meekings would feel he has to give us the full story. Still, I found it distracting and thought it interrupted the story arc.
My reaction:
I’ve had this debut novel on my tbr since it was first published in 2010. I was intrigued by the love story coupled with 20th Century Chinese history. And I loved that part of the book. Jinyi is a hero whose experiences are far different than anything I’ve gone through, but whose character is universal. He embodies resilience, determination and love for his wife and family. Yuying grows from the somewhat spoiled eldest daughter of a “bourgeoise” restaurant owner to a humble, devoted and fierce wife and mother. Despite all they go through they remain steadfast in their love and never give up hope of reconciliation during the times they must be apart.
The format Meekings used to tell this story, however, did not resonate with me. He has the Kitchen God narrate the story. The Jade Emperor has challenged the KG to fathom the intricacies of the human heart, so the KG decides to follow this couple from their courtship to their old age. Well that’s not completely out of line; I’ve certainly read and enjoyed other books with a similar omniscient narrator. However, Meekings has the Kitchen God frequently interject his own story, his conversations with the Jade Emperor, and various Chinese folk tales. I found these to be completely unnecessary disruptions to the main story arc. Of course, if he were referring to Western fairy tales or folk tales, he might have been able to simply mention “Cinderella” or “Chicken Little” and I would have instantly understood the reference. Not the case with traditional Chinese folk tales, so I understand why Meekings would feel he has to give us the full story. Still, I found it distracting and thought it interrupted the story arc.
March 29, 2011
Such an ambitious subject for a debut novel - but how exquisitely Sam Meekings carries it off. The story of a young couple in an arranged marriage in the 1940s, which follows them through to the new Millennium. Added to which we have the legend, myth and good old-fashioned tall story telling from the Kitchen god between the chapters.
Beautiful, elegant prose conveys the stark harshness and brutality of Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution. I had never really realised here in the West just what was happening in China during those three decades. We just found the Chinese slightly amusing in their matching utilitarian suits, and their "Little Red Books" of the thoughts of Chairman Mao. How ridiculous it all seemed to us. But reading this book you can just feel and breathe the fear of ordinary people denounced as "bourgeois" for reading a book, wearing glasses, having a piece of silk or art. Then sent for "retraining", aka brainwashing and punishment, to the far reaches of the country for years and years.
But this book is not all tragedy, however the Chinese have suffered over that period. There is great love and there are some happy times. And some funny ones - I just loved how Grandma Dumplings stole a black and White rooster from the Market, then, convinced that it was her dead husband come back to live with her again, lavished all sorts of love and attention on the chicken, only to have him escape the house and end up as lunch on the neighbour's table.
I loved this book. I can't believe that Sam Meekings achieved this at such a young age. A must read for anyone planning a trip to China - I wish that I had read it before I went two years ago. I believe that I would have looked at with slightly different eyes.
I hope this book gets the success it deserves - definitely five stars from me!
Beautiful, elegant prose conveys the stark harshness and brutality of Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution. I had never really realised here in the West just what was happening in China during those three decades. We just found the Chinese slightly amusing in their matching utilitarian suits, and their "Little Red Books" of the thoughts of Chairman Mao. How ridiculous it all seemed to us. But reading this book you can just feel and breathe the fear of ordinary people denounced as "bourgeois" for reading a book, wearing glasses, having a piece of silk or art. Then sent for "retraining", aka brainwashing and punishment, to the far reaches of the country for years and years.
But this book is not all tragedy, however the Chinese have suffered over that period. There is great love and there are some happy times. And some funny ones - I just loved how Grandma Dumplings stole a black and White rooster from the Market, then, convinced that it was her dead husband come back to live with her again, lavished all sorts of love and attention on the chicken, only to have him escape the house and end up as lunch on the neighbour's table.
I loved this book. I can't believe that Sam Meekings achieved this at such a young age. A must read for anyone planning a trip to China - I wish that I had read it before I went two years ago. I believe that I would have looked at with slightly different eyes.
I hope this book gets the success it deserves - definitely five stars from me!
July 7, 2012
This is an odd one. I'm just not sure what to make of this book. I'll start from the beginning, that seems to work.
First of all, 'Under Fishbone Clouds' feels like what it is: a debut novel. There are flashes of brilliance in here and moments of lyrical prose that were genuinely very impressive. I'm a sucker for such things, and I found that it drew me in.
Secondly, the narrative was disjointed. The story wasn't segmented in such a way that it didn't make sense, it was easy to follow, but it felt as if there were two or three separate novels going on in here. It didn't feel like the intertwined narratives were intended for the same purpose, it felt like they were separate strands that had been jammed together in a final edit.
I loved the fable like sections that took place between the Kitchen God and Jade Emperor. The ethereal quality that Meekings creates here is something to be hold, and well worth reading. The way that he uses myth and legend and deftly introduces a western audience to so much culture and tradition proves that the author is a man with considerable talent.
What I think bothered me was the story of Jinyi and Yuying. It was interesting, and felt like a genuine attempt to recreate China from the Manchuria of the 1940s to the modern superpower of today, but at the same time the story fell flat and there were one too many contrived circumstances for me. I won't post spoilers, but some of the things that happened to the characters could be seen from several chapters before, and it left me wanting to rush through these sections and find the next section from the Kitchen God himself.
All in all, I'd suggest giving this a read if you're interested in eastern philosophy. It's not the best in it's genre, and Meekings has produced a fantastic sequel in the shape of 'The Book of Crows'. In fact, I may have liked this more had I read it before his other, better, novel. I didn't.
First of all, 'Under Fishbone Clouds' feels like what it is: a debut novel. There are flashes of brilliance in here and moments of lyrical prose that were genuinely very impressive. I'm a sucker for such things, and I found that it drew me in.
Secondly, the narrative was disjointed. The story wasn't segmented in such a way that it didn't make sense, it was easy to follow, but it felt as if there were two or three separate novels going on in here. It didn't feel like the intertwined narratives were intended for the same purpose, it felt like they were separate strands that had been jammed together in a final edit.
I loved the fable like sections that took place between the Kitchen God and Jade Emperor. The ethereal quality that Meekings creates here is something to be hold, and well worth reading. The way that he uses myth and legend and deftly introduces a western audience to so much culture and tradition proves that the author is a man with considerable talent.
What I think bothered me was the story of Jinyi and Yuying. It was interesting, and felt like a genuine attempt to recreate China from the Manchuria of the 1940s to the modern superpower of today, but at the same time the story fell flat and there were one too many contrived circumstances for me. I won't post spoilers, but some of the things that happened to the characters could be seen from several chapters before, and it left me wanting to rush through these sections and find the next section from the Kitchen God himself.
All in all, I'd suggest giving this a read if you're interested in eastern philosophy. It's not the best in it's genre, and Meekings has produced a fantastic sequel in the shape of 'The Book of Crows'. In fact, I may have liked this more had I read it before his other, better, novel. I didn't.
November 20, 2010
I really enjoyed this book- I've read a lot of books about the Cultural Revolution, but this one gave me a real insight into what the people went through- it gave me a sense of the hardship and tolerance for the bone crushing inhumanities that went with the 'Great Leap Forward' It gave me a greater understanding for Chinese culture, and the Chinese psyche. It made me understand reasons for why Chinese people behave now, because it's like any group of people who have experienced heinous abhorrences thrust upon them - it's remembered in the collective memory, generation to generation. Even though most Chinese people don't mention what happened in those dark days of the revolution, they still remember what it was like to be starving and have nothing to eat- hence why to be fat is synonymous with happy times for a lot of older Chinese people today.
I enjoyed this book because it didn't just focus on the days of the Cultural Revolution- it touched on China's occupation by Japan- something that I knew little about, and would like to learn more about. The book wove together the stories of two people, brought together by an arranged marriage, and the way in which they discovered their love for each other, despite the hardhsips they endured. It was a touching story of the bonds that were felt between these two unlikely people, that spanned their lives from youth until old age. The story of Yu Ying and Jinyi was a mix of folk tale, mythology and narrative, which was interesting but sometimes difficult to follow. I was interested in reading about the mythology at the beginning, but found the narrative of Yuying and Junyi far too compelling, so I found that I was anxious to quickyl finish the segues into mythology and concentrate on the main storyline.
All together a great read.
I enjoyed this book because it didn't just focus on the days of the Cultural Revolution- it touched on China's occupation by Japan- something that I knew little about, and would like to learn more about. The book wove together the stories of two people, brought together by an arranged marriage, and the way in which they discovered their love for each other, despite the hardhsips they endured. It was a touching story of the bonds that were felt between these two unlikely people, that spanned their lives from youth until old age. The story of Yu Ying and Jinyi was a mix of folk tale, mythology and narrative, which was interesting but sometimes difficult to follow. I was interested in reading about the mythology at the beginning, but found the narrative of Yuying and Junyi far too compelling, so I found that I was anxious to quickyl finish the segues into mythology and concentrate on the main storyline.
All together a great read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2013
I won this book from SL County Library's reading challenge. Yay, me! (my luck at winning anything has now dwindled to nil for the next few years).
On with what I loved about this book:
1. A beautiful love story between Yuying and Jinyi.
2. The writing was amazing for a debut novel.
3. Learned some Chinese folklore, customs, and history, expertly tied into the storyline.
4. Characters were very rich and real. I felt for both Yuying and Jinyi, even when there purposes were opposite.
Loved this quote. As the Kitchen God is searching for the answer to understanding the human heart, he tells a story of Shen and Yue. "The fight to ensure the survival of love is more likely to find its toughest battles amid small snarls about changing nappies or midnight feelings or plain old boredom; it is more likely to focus on little betrayals or hurtful slips of the tongue, to feature the day-to-day heroism of pretending not to be aware of a thousand little annoying habits. In short, love is hard work, and the fairy tale ending of our story is only the beginning of the real work of keeping love alive."
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a family saga about love, mistakes, redemption, and fate.
On with what I loved about this book:
1. A beautiful love story between Yuying and Jinyi.
2. The writing was amazing for a debut novel.
3. Learned some Chinese folklore, customs, and history, expertly tied into the storyline.
4. Characters were very rich and real. I felt for both Yuying and Jinyi, even when there purposes were opposite.
Loved this quote. As the Kitchen God is searching for the answer to understanding the human heart, he tells a story of Shen and Yue. "The fight to ensure the survival of love is more likely to find its toughest battles amid small snarls about changing nappies or midnight feelings or plain old boredom; it is more likely to focus on little betrayals or hurtful slips of the tongue, to feature the day-to-day heroism of pretending not to be aware of a thousand little annoying habits. In short, love is hard work, and the fairy tale ending of our story is only the beginning of the real work of keeping love alive."
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a family saga about love, mistakes, redemption, and fate.
July 18, 2015
When the kitchen god makes a bet with the Jade Emperor that he can understand the human heart, he must follow a couple through their life together. Set in China from the end of WWII through recent times, this story tells a love story through marriage, the civil war, the cultural revolution, death and children.
In between are Chinese tales of love and wisdom.
I always feel like romances end right when the true love story begins. This story begins at marriage and follows love through good and bad times. I loved the history (even though it isn't during a pleasant historical time), I loved the narrator (the kitchen god) and I loved the lessons learned.
This is not a light read. It is character driven (not plot driven). These are the sort of books I love, but might not be for everyone. Also there are several F words sporadically placed through the book (at least 7-8). Normally that would automatically drop a book's stars, but I just couldn't do it this time.
In between are Chinese tales of love and wisdom.
I always feel like romances end right when the true love story begins. This story begins at marriage and follows love through good and bad times. I loved the history (even though it isn't during a pleasant historical time), I loved the narrator (the kitchen god) and I loved the lessons learned.
This is not a light read. It is character driven (not plot driven). These are the sort of books I love, but might not be for everyone. Also there are several F words sporadically placed through the book (at least 7-8). Normally that would automatically drop a book's stars, but I just couldn't do it this time.
April 11, 2012
I started the book once and then had to abandon it temporarily when life got crazy and I realized that it wasn't a book that I could read in short snatches--I had to devote longer stretches of time to it to keep track of the characters. I loved the love and loyalty of the two main characters as they lived through tumultuous times together. If I hadn't studied history and been a little familiar with the events in China during that time, I wouldn't have believed the events of the story were possible--but they actually happened, so they became a plausible structure. The interaction between the Kitchen God and the Jade Emperor and the Kitchen God's retelling of old Chinese legends really added to the story for me, since I think understanding a culture is really aided by understanding its folktales.
Read
May 14, 2017The Jade Emperor challenges the Kitchen God to fathom the workings of the human heart. In his quest to find the answer the kitchen God shadows the lives of Jinyi and Yuying as their lives intersect with China’s tumultuous 20th century cultural and political upheavals. From youthful blossoming love to the ghosts and fleeting memories of old age, “Under Fishbone Clouds” is heartfelt and thoughtful. Not just a love story but also a story about love. A great read for fans of Amy Tan and Lisa See!
Amy O.
Amy O.
December 20, 2012
This is a beautifully written book and the author immerses the reader into the lives and the world of it's two main characters. Love is the central theme against an everchanging backdrop of the immense changes taking place in China's history - Japanese and Communist wars and occupations to the Cultural Revolution. The two main characters persevere in their love despite terrible hardships and unimaginable obstacles. An excellent read. Highly recommend.
June 10, 2023
~POTENTIAL SPOILERS~
This was another book where it was hard to think of exactly what I wanted to say about it, which has been a worrying trend lately. I've been reading books at a faster pace but most leave me with very little, if anything, to say. I guess I'm just having bad luck with books lately. While I liked this book, I felt like there could've been a lot more done with it. I wanted more.
What I liked was, naturally, the love story. I enjoyed how it was a twist on the usual arranged marriage plot where both grow to love each other and would do anything for each other. There's a lot of powerful messages here about love and resilience and how things work out in life.
The premise of the book is ambitious too, especially for a debut novel. Weaving in Chinese mythology relevant to the time period and events as well as encompassing several different eras throughout the course of fifty years in Chinese history. The messages about the strength of love and what life truly means are beautiful and poignant. However, that also leads me into the biggest issue with this book.
The writing style is very disconnected and in the later half tries to cram in too many years into one chapter so the vast majority of moments and events we're meant to take seriously and be harrowed by are just glossed over and fall very flat. The narration takes on a disembodied and omniscient voice which makes sense but doesn't let the moments hit hard when they need to. I get that was likely the point, to show how when you go through these moments, time disappears, but it could've been conveyed better.
The scene in the forties where their baby dies was so much more impactful than their son dying or their time in the labor camps because it was just one year of their lives as opposed to several so it gets the proper development and focus that it needs. It's that specifically that makes me think that perhaps the author bit off more than he could chew with that format. It's indeed very ambitious and intriguing, but it fails due to the slow development of characters and the disengaged writing style that tries to be an epic saga but instead results in a sweeping generalization of hard times. When I say I wanted more, this is what I mean.
The author's British so a lot of British terms and slang are used and it's very jarring to see in a book set in China. There was also a surprising amount of errors in grammar for a published book.
Overall, this was an ambitious and unique idea that succeeded in a few areas, but mostly fell short due to disengaged writing and too little specific focus on the actual lives and heartbreaks of these people in their later lives. It wasn't bad, but a good example of why debut authors should aim a little lower when it comes to the ideas and execution of their first novel.
This was another book where it was hard to think of exactly what I wanted to say about it, which has been a worrying trend lately. I've been reading books at a faster pace but most leave me with very little, if anything, to say. I guess I'm just having bad luck with books lately. While I liked this book, I felt like there could've been a lot more done with it. I wanted more.
What I liked was, naturally, the love story. I enjoyed how it was a twist on the usual arranged marriage plot where both grow to love each other and would do anything for each other. There's a lot of powerful messages here about love and resilience and how things work out in life.
The premise of the book is ambitious too, especially for a debut novel. Weaving in Chinese mythology relevant to the time period and events as well as encompassing several different eras throughout the course of fifty years in Chinese history. The messages about the strength of love and what life truly means are beautiful and poignant. However, that also leads me into the biggest issue with this book.
The writing style is very disconnected and in the later half tries to cram in too many years into one chapter so the vast majority of moments and events we're meant to take seriously and be harrowed by are just glossed over and fall very flat. The narration takes on a disembodied and omniscient voice which makes sense but doesn't let the moments hit hard when they need to. I get that was likely the point, to show how when you go through these moments, time disappears, but it could've been conveyed better.
The scene in the forties where their baby dies was so much more impactful than their son dying or their time in the labor camps because it was just one year of their lives as opposed to several so it gets the proper development and focus that it needs. It's that specifically that makes me think that perhaps the author bit off more than he could chew with that format. It's indeed very ambitious and intriguing, but it fails due to the slow development of characters and the disengaged writing style that tries to be an epic saga but instead results in a sweeping generalization of hard times. When I say I wanted more, this is what I mean.
The author's British so a lot of British terms and slang are used and it's very jarring to see in a book set in China. There was also a surprising amount of errors in grammar for a published book.
Overall, this was an ambitious and unique idea that succeeded in a few areas, but mostly fell short due to disengaged writing and too little specific focus on the actual lives and heartbreaks of these people in their later lives. It wasn't bad, but a good example of why debut authors should aim a little lower when it comes to the ideas and execution of their first novel.
September 14, 2025
"She remembered how she had once thought - how everyone had once thought - that by changing the way she acted she could help change the world, and her lips strayed into a wry smile." Okay, so with the assistance of the Kitchen God we follow Yuying from the age of sixteen into her old age. You see, the Kitchen God has been challenged by the Jade Emperor to fathom the workings of the human heart. Yuying and her husband Jinyi are those under the God's scrutiny, in hope of finding an answer. The Kitchen God watches as the new government strictures split their family in two, living inside their hearts as they they endure the loss of children, homesickness, and doubts about themselves and each other, all while keeping alive a love that survives famine, forced labor, and even death. This is not a read for the faint of heart, but for an uninformed westerner like myself, gives a meaningful window into ancient Chinese folklore, but also, Mao's cultural revolution when close associates and neighbors became informants to the state, when the Red Guards terrorized citizens, when hundreds of thousands found wanting were separated from their families and became forced labor. There is no happy ending, nor (after all they have been through) does the ending seem a tragedy- just a recognition of what old age can bring. There is, however, hand holding and knitting involved.
July 27, 2020
With this book, that marked my life forever, I've learned more about China and politics facts and consequences... I discovered many Chinese stories ! My heart broken on many scenes from the pages. It is about how love have so many ways and jorneys....
It was very sad to me, but in a way a little hopeful. It is about believing even if you're facing bad situations... I really recommend to people who loves China and stuff from there. For me, who loves books with Chinese characters and the country China I loved it ! It's a very helpful book for someone who wants to live a very emocional adventure in China !
It was very sad to me, but in a way a little hopeful. It is about believing even if you're facing bad situations... I really recommend to people who loves China and stuff from there. For me, who loves books with Chinese characters and the country China I loved it ! It's a very helpful book for someone who wants to live a very emocional adventure in China !
September 2, 2021
I knew from start to finish that this was something special.
This story is jam packed with Chinese history & culture; it is an education in novel form. A fascinating, throughly enjoyable trip through China's history that previously I knew very little about. The old Chinese folklore stories littered throughout were also a delight. And this is fiction! Just goes to show how much learning can be done through fiction.
The writing is beautiful to read and the metaphors perfectly crafted.
Staggering, masterful, a hidden gem in the literary world.
This story is jam packed with Chinese history & culture; it is an education in novel form. A fascinating, throughly enjoyable trip through China's history that previously I knew very little about. The old Chinese folklore stories littered throughout were also a delight. And this is fiction! Just goes to show how much learning can be done through fiction.
The writing is beautiful to read and the metaphors perfectly crafted.
Staggering, masterful, a hidden gem in the literary world.
May 4, 2020
3.5 rounded down. I enjoyed many parts of this story. As with many historical fiction books, there was alot of history in the book. I liked that part. For the most part, the writing was really good. However, for some reason, the story slogged a bit too much for me. I found that I could only read it in spurts. It may have been the magical elements mixed in with the actual story. I enjoyed it, but not as much as other books I have read similar to this one.
November 27, 2020
While this was a book I should have loved, I simply could not move beyond the first 75 pages. It's not the book's fault, I simply could not keep interest in the characters and the time period. When it happens, I quit reading and try again another time. When there is a pandemic, I find it difficult to read about wars and people dying. Not the book's fault.
September 16, 2018
Beautifully written book--I loved how the author weaved the folktales and mythology with history and the love story. It was very different than most of the books I usually read-which is a good thing. Need to shake things up a bit from time to time!
July 17, 2024
This was a mind blowing, heartbreaking, poetic and absolutely beautiful read. It takes a bit of perseverance at times, but is so worth it. There is so much wisdom in the novel- at times I was reminded of The Little Prince, though the stories couldn't be more different.
November 16, 2019
DNF
Got so very bored
Got so very bored
July 18, 2020
The only good is the beautiful cover, this is unreadable and I wish I had not bought this. Wasted good time and money feeling cheated! Its utter trash.
July 22, 2020
I gave this book a good try but I just could not get into it. I read the first 100 pages or so but I wasn't liking it and other books were calling to me.
Read
September 27, 2021What a sad but beautiful, beautiful love story. Life changing book.
June 18, 2023
This was a great story on so many levels and the author weaved it beautifully. Historical, family saga, human relationships, political and cultural uniqueness. Highly recommend this book.
March 14, 2016
What do you get when the Jade Emperor assigns a minor god the task of understanding the human heart? This novel. Under Fishbone Clouds traces a Chinese couple from their arranged marriage through the defeat of the Japanese, followed by the Chinese civil war, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, the birth of grandchildren, and (finally) senility. There are separations, both forced and voluntary; exile, both forced and voluntary; tragedies, ranging from the loss of children to the loss of the elderly grandmother's pet chicken; betrayals, both by co-workers who become party functionaries, and children, who join the Red Guards while you're being sent of for re-education. You could read a lot of Chinese history and end up understanding less.
How does love survive years living in abject poverty, or years spent apart in re-education camps? Indeed, how is love even born, in an arranged marriage between an educated girl from a wealthy family and an illiterate peasant, chosen because her father wanted someone he could keep under his thumb?
Perhaps the most moving point comes after the Kitchen God has told the tale of Yue, a fish god who becomes mortal to marry a human (not unlike The Little Mermaid). This quote is long, but I can't bear to cut it:
It took time for Under Fishbone Clouds to grow on me. But it certainly did. It's an extraordinarily moving book, about the hard work, the day-to-day heroism of little acts of love.
How does love survive years living in abject poverty, or years spent apart in re-education camps? Indeed, how is love even born, in an arranged marriage between an educated girl from a wealthy family and an illiterate peasant, chosen because her father wanted someone he could keep under his thumb?
Perhaps the most moving point comes after the Kitchen God has told the tale of Yue, a fish god who becomes mortal to marry a human (not unlike The Little Mermaid). This quote is long, but I can't bear to cut it:
And yet there is something about this tale that bothers me. For it is the kind of story the Jade Emperor himself enjoys hearing from me, one where the focus, indeed the whole point of the tale, is the grand cinematic action... But life is not like that. The fight to ensure the survival of love is more likely to find its toughest battles amid small snarls about changing nappies or midnight feedings or plain old boredom; it is more likely to focus on little betrayals or hurtful slips of the tongue, to feature the day-to-day heroism of pretending not to be aware of a thousand little annoying habits. In short, love is hard work, and the fairytale ending of our story is only the beginning of the real work of keeping love alive. That is why it bothers me; and yet who can deny the fact that we are always in need of love stories?
It took time for Under Fishbone Clouds to grow on me. But it certainly did. It's an extraordinarily moving book, about the hard work, the day-to-day heroism of little acts of love.
January 17, 2013
I downloaded this book onto my Kindle as it was on special offer, and I must admit at first I found it a little hard to get into, but as I carried on it really grew on me. I ended it feeling that it was quite an interesting and unusual book.
On the face of it, the story traces the life of a Chinese couple from the early twentieth century, through the 'cultural revolution' and into modern times, and I felt it really opened my eyes to a very different culture, one I know little about. The story is narrated by – well, I won't spoil the plot by giving it away, but it's a very unusual take on the role of a narrator. The story digresses from time to time, explaining cultural issues etc, which at first I found rather frustrating (because I tend to want to get on with the story), but eventually I realised that it's all quite important to the main theme, which actually isn't so much the story of the couple, but an exploration of the meaning of real love.
There are many ways in which this is explored throughout the book, and I thought I would just share a few sentences with you which I found quite thought-provoking:
'The fight to ensure the survival of love is more likely to find its toughest battles amid small snarls about changing nappies or midnight feedings or plain old boredom; it is more likely to focus on little betrayals or hurtful slips of the tongue, to feature the day-to-day heroism of pretending not to be aware of a thousand little annoying habits. In short, love is hard work, and the fairytale ending of a story is only the beginning of the real work of keeping love alive'.
I would certainly recommend this book if you like something a bit quirky, if you have an interest in getting under the skin of another culture, or want to understand more about the momentous changes in China during the last century. Or, of course, if you are interested in thinking about the nature of true love!
On the face of it, the story traces the life of a Chinese couple from the early twentieth century, through the 'cultural revolution' and into modern times, and I felt it really opened my eyes to a very different culture, one I know little about. The story is narrated by – well, I won't spoil the plot by giving it away, but it's a very unusual take on the role of a narrator. The story digresses from time to time, explaining cultural issues etc, which at first I found rather frustrating (because I tend to want to get on with the story), but eventually I realised that it's all quite important to the main theme, which actually isn't so much the story of the couple, but an exploration of the meaning of real love.
There are many ways in which this is explored throughout the book, and I thought I would just share a few sentences with you which I found quite thought-provoking:
'The fight to ensure the survival of love is more likely to find its toughest battles amid small snarls about changing nappies or midnight feedings or plain old boredom; it is more likely to focus on little betrayals or hurtful slips of the tongue, to feature the day-to-day heroism of pretending not to be aware of a thousand little annoying habits. In short, love is hard work, and the fairytale ending of a story is only the beginning of the real work of keeping love alive'.
I would certainly recommend this book if you like something a bit quirky, if you have an interest in getting under the skin of another culture, or want to understand more about the momentous changes in China during the last century. Or, of course, if you are interested in thinking about the nature of true love!
November 14, 2012
I have a feeling that this is a very fine novel, but it never really clicked with me, though I'm not sure why. It's yet another novel set over the course of the last half of the 20th century in China that makes the political intensely political. (There have been quite a few really good ones on this topic.) That's just the kind of book that I usually really like. Maybe that story line--characters who genuinely welcome the reforms that communism promises to bring to China but who are nonetheless battered by the insanities and vicissitudes of the Maoist regime--has just become too familiar to feel fresh. Or maybe this story just moved too slowly. Or maybe the problem was simply that I spread the reading over too long a time as I juggled this book with several others. Anyway, it does, as I said, make the political intensely personal, but here the emphasis is definitely on the personal, a love story of a sort between two reticent, not at all passionate but deeply committed lovers, that is probably common but not commonly told in fiction. It takes place over the course of more than 50 years, from arranged marriage in the late 1940s at a very young age to the decline into dementia of the husband at the age of 70. Oh, yes, I meant to say that the novel is narrated by the Kitchen God, who has a bet with the Jade Emperor that he can describe the workings of the heart by following the lives of this couple. In the end, the narrator concludes, "Hearts are made, piece by piece, forged in the furnace of our feelings and fears and doubts and longings. Jinyi and Yuying had set their hearts against history, and they had won out" (410). But the narrative device is very much in the background, mostly relegated to brief (1-2 page) interludes between (long) chapters; mostly the story is told in a pretty traditional, straightforward chronological narrative.
November 7, 2010
The book began with a fairy tale and I thought it was to be a very different story than the story it turned into. The fairy story about the kitchen god and the emperor really dragged me into the story. Maybe it was the simplistic way it was written. The stark contrast between this mythical story-line and the real story is dramatic and memorable.
Sam Meekings uses the device to refer back to the old China whilst balancing romance and realism. I found this effective as was the way the story was structured. Each of the thirteen chapters representing the signs of the Chinese zodiac (eg 1946 was the year of the dog) with the exception of the the 13th chapter which denotes the cat which isn’t a zodiac sign because according to tradition the cat became immortalised and lost out when the zodiac was created. This was, for me a source of intrigue as made me eager to find out how Yuying and Jingyi were progressing.
All the stuff about the Cultural Revolution was stark as those considered bourgeois in any way were beaten and bullied with friends and families turning on one another Meekings really showed us how frightening those years were and this book is a great insight, albeit fictional into that period of Chinese history making us wonder how anyone ever survived it psychologically intact Particularly thought provoking are the descriptions of Yuying and Jinyi’s son.
I thought that the story was brilliantly told and written and excellently researched.
The Pillars of the Earth
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