Rating: 
Summary: A story I did not want to end.
Review: Aimee Liu is a master storyteller. I have not read a piece of fiction that deals with China during this period as well written since Bette Bao Lord's Middling Heart. The history, the characters all lend themselves to a wonderful tale of people you really care about.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Imagery & a respose to another review
Review: Aimme E. Liu has written a wonderful fictional accounting of a true story. I have been a friend of the Luis family for over forty five years. Aimee's cousin John was my boyhood friend. And we still keep up. The family story has always fasinaated me. (John is Herb Luis' son, Teddy in the book.)Although Aimee says it is about 70% true, I know through conversations with John's mother that basically ALL of the major persons, dates, places, and events are true. The 30% is mostly side sories and details for dramatic effect.I also want to point out that in a prior review of "Cloud Mountain" by "Elizabeth" she states that the only place in 1908 where the name Jennifer existed was Cornwall. Well, the fact is Hope's real name WAS Jenny Trescott. In fact, I found that Aimee used family names for fictional charactors in several instances. But never the real name for the real person. Although I have to say that I read this book because I had already heard the story and had a personal interest in it. But even if I hadn't I still would not have been able to put it down. Aimee Liu's use of words to describe are incredibly original (I don't know how she came up with some of them) and they really do "paint" a picture in your mind as you read.
She is a real literary artist. This is not only a love story. In fact, I would just as much descibe it as a story of courage, of two people who dared to cross the bariers that a bigoted society had placed between them. It is also the story of a man committed to saving his counrty by bringing it democracy even if it could have cost him his life. It is a story of a woman who stood by him, travelled halfway around the world to an unstable society trying to grow up into democracy, but turned out to be a house of cards. Read this book and take a trip back to a past and place few Americans are aware of. Enjoy the exciting people and places, but also learn a history of a different place, time, and people.
Rating:
Summary: A Chinese/American epic of grand and gripping proportions.
Review: Cloud Mountain by Aimee E. Liu is a wonderful book. Inspired by her own Grandparents story, this book is impossible to put down. It is romance of the first order, as well as vivid history, both Chinese and American during the turbulent times from the San Francisco earthquake to the Chinese Revolution. Miss Liu brings these times to life in ways that I have never read before. This book explores the relationship between an American woman (who, being part Native American is considered mongrel in her own country) and an upperclass Chinese scholar and revolutionist. Cloud Mountain is moving, well researched, and never dry. I couldn't put it down. Any Amy Tan and Memoir of a Geisha fans out there should run for this book. A truly sweeping, beautifully written novel.
Rating:
Summary: Could not put this book down!!
Review: I bought the book on the basis of that I heard it was a good love story. Otherwise I had no idea what it was about. I was so surprised at how great it is!! I say surprised because so many authors are so-so. I could not put this book down! I am in the middle of moving and every break I could squeeze in, my nose would be in the book. I would stay up late to read "just one more chapter" only to find that an hour (or two) had flown past! I didn't care for the ending, but look forward to read Ms. Liu's next book!
Rating:
Summary: 3 hankies - you'll love this!!!
Review: I bought this cassette because I love to "read" when I drive and I love to listen to B.D. Wong. He has the ability to take you deep into the story and his voices are so perfect to each character. This is a beautiful story, so full of love and yet so sad. You feel the pain Hope feels as she and Paul struggle against American prejudice and then as the Chinese cultural revolution threatens to tear them apart again. I loved the cassette so much I am now reading the book in non-abridged. It's a real tear jerker, yet it's so satisfying. What a wonderful love story!
Rating:
Summary: 3 hankies - you'll love this!!!
Review: I bought this cassette because I love to "read" when I drive and I love to listen to B.D. Wong. He has the ability to take you deep into the story and his voices are so perfect to each character. This is a beautiful story, so full of love and yet so sad. You feel the pain Hope feels as she and Paul struggle against American prejudice and then as the Chinese cultural revolution threatens to tear them apart again. I loved the cassette so much I am now reading the book in non-abridged. It's a real tear jerker, yet it's so satisfying. What a wonderful love story!
Rating:
Summary: 3 hankies - you'll love this!!!
Review: I had to write a few words. Every now and then I hit upon an author that pulls and pushes at your heart. I listen to dozens of audio books every month driving to and from work. This story was so very well written. It has real life in it. It has passion, love, danger, devotion, understanding, pain - it has it all. It is a must read/listen for historical and just plain enjoyment reasons. (The plot is in the description.) I must now seek out other books by this author. If you want to fill moments of your life with a treasure include this story. dorothy
Rating:
Summary: Cloud Mountain
Review: I had to write a few words. Every now and then I hit upon an author that pulls and pushes at your heart. I listen to dozens of audio books every month driving to and from work. This story was so very well written. It has real life in it. It has passion, love, danger, devotion, understanding, pain - it has it all. It is a must read/listen for historical and just plain enjoyment reasons. (The plot is in the description.) I must now seek out other books by this author. If you want to fill moments of your life with a treasure include this story. dorothy
Rating: 
Summary: Good enough to make you wish it were better.
Review: I have mixed feelings about this quasi-romance novel about an American teacher named Hope and Po-yu (Paul), her Chinese student. On one hand, it was often very interesting, as Ms. Liu gives a lot of historical detail about San Francisco and China. On the other hand, the characters were rather shallow. I didn't find Hope, who oddly resembled a whiny yuppie of the present day, particularly appealing. Po-yu was far more interesting, and was portrayed with some complexity and depth. The romance between Hope and Po-yu rang false for me. ("Honey, I first fell in love with you when I realized it was required for the plot to progress!") I still can't see what attracted them to each other. Also, did anyone else notice that any slight against Hope is recorded with meticulous detail (the rampant racism against Chinese at that time seems glossed over in comparison although it is mentioned), but Ms. Liu has some pretty crude stereotypes in this novel: a hearty blonde Swede, a drunk, surly Irishwoman, and Hope's one-sided-ly disagreeable mother-in-law to name a few. Also, she takes some pretty cheap shots at two groups it is still politically correct to demonize: all the Britons in the book are "right-o, jolly-good" bigots, and all the Christians are consistently hypocritical, or stupid, or both. In addition, much of the middle of the book is bogged down in political discussions that try so hard to be interesting that they're just the opposite. And to top it all off, the ending was forced. This novel could have been so much better: as this book is based on the lives of her grandparents, she obviously had some fascinating material to work with. And one more quibble: one of Hope and Po-yu's daughters is named Jennifer Pearl. In 1908 the name Jennifer pretty much existed in only one place in the world: Cornwall, UK.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't Love It
Review: I ordered this book because I'm in a interacial relationship and was curious about how difficult it was for interacial couples in the past. What I didn't like about the book is I felt the relationship between Paul and Hope wasn't strong enough from the beginning. I felt absolutely no chemistry between them. To me, their relationship seemed contrived. Perhaps, this is because neither character seemed very appealing to me. I couldn't see what either of them saw in each other. I personally think the novel would have worked better if the author built up the relationship in the beginning...added more tension and more romance. Actually, I think I liked the minor character's better...Lin, Sarah, Mulan, the mother-in-law. They were more interesting-in my opinion.
| 
