Empire of Heaven
2 journalers for this copy...
Received from pbs.
6/14/06 Wow...This is a big book. I have been working on it for days now and still have about 1/3 to go. The author manages to cram so much into 1 page that it's taking much longer than I expected to read a book of this size.
So far the story has been interesting. It introduces a chapter in Chinese history that I'm not familiar with, and it's interesting to see the effect eloquent oratory can have on a nation, and how the common people will respond to that oratory when they have been pushed far enough and have nothing to lose. The author has obviously done her research and as the book progressed, the opulence and corruption of 19th century China is brought more and more vividly to life. The book is reminiscent of the Chinese historical novels I used to read and there are even times when I would forget that I'm actually reading a book about China written in the English language.
Historical details aside, however, this is a hard book for me to get through because the characterization of the characters are strictly two dimensional. Stereotypes abound: all the rich people are corrupt and cruel, all the poor people are long suffering and heroic. I especially had trouble with Rulan and Pao An, whom the author took pains to portray as strong and heroic, but whom to me are just as ignorant as the other peasants who are taken in by Hung's eloquent oratory and his claim of kinship with Jesus Christ. It frustrates me to see those two make the wrong choices again and again based on things shown to them at face value, and it becomes increasingly harder and harder for me to root for their happy ending.
6/14/06 Wow...This is a big book. I have been working on it for days now and still have about 1/3 to go. The author manages to cram so much into 1 page that it's taking much longer than I expected to read a book of this size.
So far the story has been interesting. It introduces a chapter in Chinese history that I'm not familiar with, and it's interesting to see the effect eloquent oratory can have on a nation, and how the common people will respond to that oratory when they have been pushed far enough and have nothing to lose. The author has obviously done her research and as the book progressed, the opulence and corruption of 19th century China is brought more and more vividly to life. The book is reminiscent of the Chinese historical novels I used to read and there are even times when I would forget that I'm actually reading a book about China written in the English language.
Historical details aside, however, this is a hard book for me to get through because the characterization of the characters are strictly two dimensional. Stereotypes abound: all the rich people are corrupt and cruel, all the poor people are long suffering and heroic. I especially had trouble with Rulan and Pao An, whom the author took pains to portray as strong and heroic, but whom to me are just as ignorant as the other peasants who are taken in by Hung's eloquent oratory and his claim of kinship with Jesus Christ. It frustrates me to see those two make the wrong choices again and again based on things shown to them at face value, and it becomes increasingly harder and harder for me to root for their happy ending.
From the publisher:
From the superstition-bound peasant villages to the perfumed decadence of the Forbidden City, Manchu China was a land of extremes: barbarism and elegance, povery and lavish wealth. Its people lived in near enslavement to the emperor.
The came Hung, a charismatic new leader who promised hope to th emasses- an Empire of Heaven on earth.
But to Rulan, the proud daughter of a village spirit woman, Hung is a frightening stranger whose life she saved with her healing gift on a violent, demon-haunted night. Afire with the rebel cause, RUlan nonetheless hides from Hung's growing obsession with her. She serves as a spy in the house of the great Manchu general Li, where she is nurse to his crafty mother and mistress to the Li heir. And it is there in the enemy stronghold that she meets the captive Pao An, a hothead with a poet's tenderness, who awakens in her a passionate love, and a powerful yearning to be free of both the Manchus and the half-mad Hung- free to create her own future.
Warrior and healer, concubine and spy, Rulan is a remarkable heroine. Her story, inspired by Linda Ching Sledge's years of research into her own family history, is told within a rich and vibrant portrait of China in a rebellious age. This is that rare and beautiful novel that totally immerses the reader in its world.
__________________________________________________________________________
So I finished the book and the characters did not grow on me. Ms. Sledge is strongest when weaving historical facts around fictitious battles and weakest when describing human interaction. I enjoyed reading about the siege of Naking but winced everytime Rulan and Pao An stole a quiet moment together. Talking about melodrama! And the plot also got more and more bizarre as the book went on, characters started to make sacrifices that are entirely unnecessary for their shock value, that I started to flip the pages impatiently, wanting it all to end. And it didn't end soon enough.
From the superstition-bound peasant villages to the perfumed decadence of the Forbidden City, Manchu China was a land of extremes: barbarism and elegance, povery and lavish wealth. Its people lived in near enslavement to the emperor.
The came Hung, a charismatic new leader who promised hope to th emasses- an Empire of Heaven on earth.
But to Rulan, the proud daughter of a village spirit woman, Hung is a frightening stranger whose life she saved with her healing gift on a violent, demon-haunted night. Afire with the rebel cause, RUlan nonetheless hides from Hung's growing obsession with her. She serves as a spy in the house of the great Manchu general Li, where she is nurse to his crafty mother and mistress to the Li heir. And it is there in the enemy stronghold that she meets the captive Pao An, a hothead with a poet's tenderness, who awakens in her a passionate love, and a powerful yearning to be free of both the Manchus and the half-mad Hung- free to create her own future.
Warrior and healer, concubine and spy, Rulan is a remarkable heroine. Her story, inspired by Linda Ching Sledge's years of research into her own family history, is told within a rich and vibrant portrait of China in a rebellious age. This is that rare and beautiful novel that totally immerses the reader in its world.
__________________________________________________________________________
So I finished the book and the characters did not grow on me. Ms. Sledge is strongest when weaving historical facts around fictitious battles and weakest when describing human interaction. I enjoyed reading about the siege of Naking but winced everytime Rulan and Pao An stole a quiet moment together. Talking about melodrama! And the plot also got more and more bizarre as the book went on, characters started to make sacrifices that are entirely unnecessary for their shock value, that I started to flip the pages impatiently, wanting it all to end. And it didn't end soon enough.
Mailed to Missy Z, the winner of Hooray We're Back Sweepstake...
Picked up from my mum's house this weekend thanks!
Looks great! :-)
Looks great! :-)
