21st Century Literature discussion

This thread is for discussing this month's moderator pick, Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien. This thread is for sharing initial thoughts, comments, or questions, as well as any articles or interviews. I'm a bit behind on my reading schedule so will share some links in the next few days.

For those of you have started, what do you think of the book so far? I'm only about 4 chapters in but find the writing stunningly beautiful. Many of the passages feel like prose bordering on poetry. I find the story (or stories) compelling but almost don't care what the book is about because of how much I enjoy the writing!

The book also feels a bit like a puzzle made up of smaller puzzles and I'm not sure how all the pieces fit together yet. We have different timelines, different locations, different narrators and stories - even many of the Chinese words referenced throughout have multiple meanings. I am very excited to see where this book takes me next.

I did find the different characters somewhat confusing so I started putting together a list of who's who, which I'll likely need to update as I continue reading. For those interested, I've included my list behind the spoiler tag.

(view spoiler)[

-Marie (Jiang Li-Ling): 1st person narrator for more recent time period, daughter of Ma and Jiang Kai, called "Girl" by Ma and "Ma-li" by Ai-ming

-Ma: Marie's mother, Jiang Kai's wife

-Jiang Kai: Marie's father, Ma's husband, concert pianist, "Ba", Sparrow's student

Ai-ming: daughter of Sparrow and Deng Li-ling

Big Mother Knife: Ai-ming's grandmother, worked in a tea house, mother of Sparrow, Da Shan, and Flying Bear/Fei Xiang, married to Ba Lute - revolutionary hero, older sister of Swirl, lives in Shanghai

Swirl: Big Mother Knife's little sister, previously married but husband and son died, married Wen the dreamer, mother of Zhuli, lived in Bingpai

Wen the Dreamer: poet, Swirl's husband, Zhuli's father, lived in Bingpai - landlord family, son of Little West, grandson of Old West

Zhuli: daughter of Wen and Swirl, violinist, Sparrow's cousin

Book of Records
-Da-wei the adventurer
-May Fourth

(hide spoiler)]

I started this one early and I'm enjoying the read very much. This is exactly the sort of book I hoped to discover when I joined this group, so many thanks for picking it!

I'm about 75% through the book and it's beautiful and sad and hopeful. The author treats the characters with love and gentleness, which is at complete odds with the wrenching historical events the characters are living through.

Regarding who's who, a list would be helpful but I found myself able to keep everyone sorted after a few chapters.

I started the book last night so I am at the beginning - hope to make some progress over the next couple of nights.

Here's a decent family tree from Wikipedia, similar to the one in the front of the hardcover edition.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_Say_We_Have_Nothing#/media/File%3ADo_Not_Say_We_Have_Nothing_Relationship_Tree.png

I read this over a year ago and loved it. In my review, I talked about how the characters were connected - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show.... I do not intend to reread but will be following the discussion and may chime in.

I loved this one and for me it should have won the Booker. I probably won't have time to reread but will try to contribute. My review

A few reviews (these may contain spoilers):

https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
https://www.ft.com/content/be548306-4...
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/24/bo...
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/...
https://theoxfordculturereview.com/20...
https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/...

I read this last year and loved it. I probably won't have time to reread but I will follow the discussion and try to contribute.
My review on goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read Do Not Say We Have Nothing two years ago as it was longlisted for the Man Booker of that year - I enjoyed reading it and was surprised when it didn't win the Booker but at least it was awarded the Giller.

I started this awhile ago and like it very much for the most part. Some of the music stuff has been less interesting to me though.
Unfortunately another book came in from the library that I was waiting for and because of a waiting list I won't be able to renew it and have to read it first. Hopefully I won't forget too much when I go back to Do Not Say We Have Nothing!

Thanks for the links, Hugh and for the family tree, Marc!

Ace wrote: "Hello, I've just joined and here you all are talking about what was probably my book of the decade (so far). I listened to this on audible a few months ago. I have recently purchased a paperback co..."

Welcome, Ace. It's nice to see you here.