Thank you canongatebooks, arrived safely today.

What a weird and wonderful story. I am not usually a reader of mythology but those that I am familiar with are usually stories of superhuman feats and achievements of which no mortal would be capable. Although Binu’s mammoth journey in search of her husband Qiliang is indeed an amazing feat, for me it was all the extraordinary happenings, meetings and confrontations along the way that made this such an intriguing read. The earthy descriptions were also unexpected for this type of tale. The narrative describes much of what befell Binu on her journey through the prefectures of China to Great Swallow Mountain and eventually to the Great Wall; nothing about her journey is straightforward. Some of the detail in the opening of the story was unclear although this made little difference to the overall story, I found myself re-reading the beginning several times in order to clarify certain aspects. As to Binu herself, to start with I found her strange and mystifying but as her travels progressed I became more and more involved in her unreal predicament and almost felt I was on the road with her. A very unusual and enjoyable read, one that I would not normally gravitate towards, thank you canongatebooks for yet another good read.

To me the translation of the Preface was awkward and didn’t sufficiently manage to convey the author’s thoughts. It appeared to be too literal and much was lost in this short piece.

Next stop meexia in Singapore.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

In the post Airmail to meexia in Singapore today.

Keep Them Moving Challenge 2008

Just got it on Friday. Thanks so much for sending it my way Cassiopaeia!