Haley’s Reviews > The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories > Status Update

Net novels and the she era: I’m always interested to hear about internet cultures and how they developed. While this was certainly not a community I’m familiar with, I found it a so so essay. 3 stars.

The mountain and the secret of their names: I generally enjoyed this, but I wanted just a little more. 3 stars.

The woman carrying a corpse: I liked the structure of this, but I have to admit that I don’t fully get it. 3 stars

New year paining, unnamed color on rice paper: I just could not get into this one, dnf

Dragonslaying: I mean, what a concept. But I can’t say I enjoyed reading it. 2 stars

Is there such a thing as feminine quietness?: this essay was a look into the tough work of translation. It was something I’ve heard and considered before, and used Mulan as a very relevant example. However, I wish their thoughts at the end about translators choosing to translate gender may be losing some meaning would have been explored more given the context of this anthology.

A brief history of beinakan disasters as told in a significant language: wow this was a fun idea! I’d have loved to read more in a fully fledged story. 4.5 stars

To procure jade: I liked the start of this, but really disliked the over explanation at the end. I acknowledge that I would not have had the references to understand the story without it, but I wish it was presented differently. 3 stars

The name of the dragon: this felt like three different stories without a strong enough connection, though I enjoyed the style of storytelling. 2.5 stars.

Translation as retelling: this was such an interesting short essay to read, as I’d always assumed translations were extremely challenging across languages that do not share ancestry. This made me very excited to read the next two stories!