The Four Books: A Novel | 
Okay! Here are my Books for #BookaWeekChallenge hosted by @TheReadingMermaid . Two library books, a netgalley ARC that I started the other day but got distracted from, and one that‘s hanging out on my kindle.
Progress in my #4in48readathon. I've now completed 3 of the 4 but still haven't started Bees. I do plan to start it, but I don't see myself finishing it mostly because it's not something I think I'm going to want to try to rush through. Probably should have selected a different title for that slot. Oh well.
@Syndelle777
My progress on #4in48readathon @Syndelle777
1. Feast of the Drowned: COMPLETE
2. Sin Eaters: COMPLETE
3. A Question of Murder: 30%
4. Secret Life of Bees: 0%
I gave up on I Love You, You Idiot and replaced it with Sin Eaters (which was great). I'll definitely finish the MSW book, and I'm hopeful I'll be able to finish Bees as well. ☺
Here are my 4 books for the #4in48readathon - yes I cheated and picked short books but I‘ve got a family bbq tomorrow. I may have to start at midnight 📚🧟♀️
@Syndelle777 is hosting a #4in48readathon this weekend. We're selecting 4 books to read over the course of May 5th and 6th. I haven't completely made up my mind on which books I'm going to attempt to finish, but I've got it narrowed down.
pickA fascinating novel about the Chinese Revolution, the terrible famine and the “Great Leap Forward”, initially quite mild the plot becomes increasingly as dark, as weird and as confrontational as what the intellectuals in “re-education” experienced. Not for the faint hearted as the extremes of hunger push humans to their limits. The concept of authorship is tackled. The reader is challenged to consider what they would do under such conditions.
So similar to Solzhenitsyn‘s The First Circle, I cannot remember the character but the Scholar in this text is similar to the one in TFC who does not allow the punishments to touch his core, he does not allow it to affect his soul nor crush his spirit. The concept of a spirit, a core that each one of us has, that no matter what happens to us it cannot be crushed, not even altered, resonates with me.
This last line encapsulates the book for me, what humans face when their basic need to eat is not met, when their time does not allow pursuit of their personal truth, their passion.
“ “If you don‘t plot the fields and smelt steel, that‘s alright,” the Child said. “And if you decide to flee, that‘s okay, too. In other districts, there are people who have been awarded real bullets.” “
Oh the humour!!! 3 pages in.
So clever!
Could be a comparative text for 1984, Stasiland,...
The story is about re-educational Chinese camps in the time of the Great Leap Forward, written in a satirical style. It's hard to read it, but extremely rewarding.
#rockinmay #chinagrove
The Four Books is satire about Chinese re-education camps during the Great Leap Forward and the book Explosion Chronicle is satirical/critical look at China todays rapid growth. Lianke's prose is at the same time harsh/brutal and poetical, the stories are painful to read, but always thought provoking.
@LitsyFeministBookClub @BookishFeminist
pickThe structure of being excerpts from 4 different texts ultimately felt slightly gimmicky as the narrative ended up being largely straight forward. The story was effective and moving without the superficial framework.
A rare novel fromChina that looks at the Great Famine. Shortlisted for the Man Booker
At the point in #TheFourBooks by Yan Lianke where I am starting to feel queasy. I know it's fictitious but still. The description of the lengths that this man is going to is stomach roiling.
Really excited to read this. Finally arrived in the mail after a month of waiting. The Great Leap Forward is something in learnt about academically but I'm raring to dive into it from a fictional perspective.
So, tomorrow we will know (winner of the Man Booker International Prize) My is without doubt Lianke.
pickThis novel blow me away. I don't think I've every read about the Great Leap Forward before and now I need to know more. So many layers to be found in this wonderfully complex book.
pickStory explore human relations and how morality collapse in extreme, horror circumstances. It is written in satirical style and isn't fun or pleasurable read, but for me was worth to read this book.
1st line... and 2nd book for me from The Man Booker International Prize shortlist.
