Cloud Mountain Abridged

Rating:
Summary: Barbarian wife in China
Review: Using stories told by her Grandfather, Aimee Liu provides an insiders tale to a time of turmoil in China. The story starts in San Francisco at the time of the big quake. It is a love story of an American girl and a very educated Chinese boy at a time when women hardly spoke to a Chinese person, much less married one. Her husband is a part of Sun Yet-sen's battle to topple the Manchu Dynasty. Within the novel is the history of China from the Opium War in 1840 to the Communist's War of Liberation in 1949. Good insight into the people of China and their relationship with the Western Powers.

Rating:
Summary: Barbarian wife in China
Review: Using stories told by her Grandfather, Aimee Liu provides an insiders tale to a time of turmoil in China. The story starts in San Francisco at the time of the big quake. It is a love story of an American girl and a very educated Chinese boy at a time when women hardly spoke to a Chinese person, much less married one. Her husband is a part of Sun Yet-sen's battle to topple the Manchu Dynasty. Within the novel is the history of China from the Opium War in 1840 to the Communist's War of Liberation in 1949. Good insight into the people of China and their relationship with the Western Powers.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting And Disappointing
Review: When I received this book I was really eager to read it. The whole storyline appealed to me and I was convinced, based on the first few chapters, that I would enjoy it. I'm not sure when I changed my mind. Maybe it was after reading countless details about historical and political China when I just wanted to know more about the main characters. Sometimes I felt as if the author couldn't decide if she wanted to write a history book or a love story. While her descriptions of the surrounding enviroments within the book were very colorful and evocative, the presentation of historical events taking place was a bit on the boring side. I found myself fighting the urge to just skip over those parts. Also, the ending (which I won't give away) sort of left me feeling cheated. I suppose I could've overlooked all of those things except for one thing. The fact is, the main character just isn't very interesting or likeable. To me, that's a deal-breaker.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting And Disappointing
Review: When I received this book I was really eager to read it. The whole storyline appealed to me and I was convinced, based on the first few chapters, that I would enjoy it. I'm not sure when I changed my mind. Maybe it was after reading countless details about historical and political China when I just wanted to know more about the main characters. Sometimes I felt as if the author couldn't decide if she wanted to write a history book or a love story. While her descriptions of the surrounding enviroments within the book were very colorful and evocative, the presentation of historical events taking place was a bit on the boring side. I found myself fighting the urge to just skip over those parts. Also, the ending (which I won't give away) sort of left me feeling cheated. I suppose I could've overlooked all of those things except for one thing. The fact is, the main character just isn't very interesting or likeable. To me, that's a deal-breaker.