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Summary: Simply the best!
Review: One of the most wonderful things that has happened to me since going "on line" is to discover just how many Master Li fans there are on this planet. I used to think I was the only person who had discovered Barry Hughart's treasure. I've corresponded with other Master Li fans and found each to be as passionate about the book as I. This is the most enchanting, haunting, mystical, magical, heartwarming, fantasic book I've ever read...and I read a lot! I have the two sequels -- "Eight Skilled Gentlemen" and "The Story of the Stone," but to me, "Bridge of Birds" cannot be equaled. I always have copies of the book on hand to give to friends. Without exception, they've all thanked me for introducing them to an "ancient China that never was." Get this book...enjoy the ride...and share it with others. You'll be glad you did.
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Summary: This is one of my all-time favorite fantasies.
Review: This may sound repetative, if you've been reading other reviews in this section, but this is an incredibly good book. Barry Hugart uses pieces of chinese mythology to craft a fantasy which feels exotic to our western ears, but which is positively spellbinding. It appeals to all ages, on many different levels. It reminds me of "The Princess Bride" (the BOOK, not the movie). It ranks as one of my 4 favorite books of all.
Rating:
Summary: Simple. Funny. Beautiful.
Review: This book is one of my top five favorites of all time...and coming from a bibliophile like me, that's quite a statement. The story is perfect, and though the people in the book may, themselves, have slight flaws in their characters, their depiction has none. I recommend this book wholeheartedly and without reservation to all my friends and family. In fact, one year this one book alone accounted for over half the Christmas presents I gave. Imagine my delight when I found, in my local used bookstore, a first edition hardcover, with the dust jacket intact. The book occupies a place of honor on my top bookshelf, and in my heart. Go. Read "Bridge of Birds." It's the best there is.
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Summary: Maybe this ancient China never was, but it should have been!
Review: I SO love this book! I first read it 8 years ago, when a friend lent it to me. I tried to steal it, but unfortunately she knew where I lived. Buy several copies; you won't be able to hang on to just one! All these reviews are completely right - it is simply the best story you will ever read. It's so good I judge a bookstore by whether it carries it. The book is so beautifully written, so gently funny, you'll be sorry when you finish it. It's one of those "perfect books" that you want to go on forever. I reread it every year or so & always fall under its spell.
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Summary: A great fairy tale
Review: I bought this book at a railway station around 8 years ago, partly because I liked the blurb on the back, and partly because the price had been reduced! Great investment - this is not like some of the books you buy that you read through, think about for a while then put on a shelf and forget, or give away. Reading this felt like coming home, very familiar, and fun, and surprising - of course this could be a holdover from when I used to read Ruth Manning Sanders' collections of fairy tales decades ago, but it's definitely a great "feel good" book. This is a brilliant book, full of hope and warmth, good guys and bad guys, with the right ending, but you just can't work out how you will get there halfway through the book. Highly recommended
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Summary: Yes, it really is that good
Review: Today I started radiation treatments; the cancer has metastasized from my remaining lung to my brain. Tonight I finished rereading Bridge Of Birds. There are tears of joy in my eyes again, and a smile that stretches like the moon on my face. I've burst out laughing at least once a day since I returned to the Ancient China That Never Was. Not an escape from, but a release through, Life. And I had forgotten such beautiful little things here: the black pearl with the white star, and Pawnbroker Fang's mother the cow, and how "the moon was playing tag with fingers of cloud", and a trail of honey. Not to mention Mouse, and Ah Chen, and Doctor Death, and Henpecked Ho, and (with a surprising nod to Damon Runyon) the "major-domo" named Liverlips Loo. Believe me, and the rest of us here. BUY THIS BOOK. Buy two copies, because you will lend it, and it won't come back. This is one of those wonderful surprises that you will hold to your heart forever. Follow the dragon, and the birds will fly..
Rating:
Summary: The Most Enchanting Book Of All Time
Review: This has to be the most *enchanting* book I've ever read. I love everything about it, the wonderful characters, the humor, the language, the life of ancient China, the adventure, the mythology, and above all, the sheer beauty of it. I don't re-read it as often as I'd like, no, I save it for when I need it. I save it for when I'm low in spirits, and need to be reminded that the world is a wonderful, funny, wild, beautiful place, as well as a sad one. Mr. Hughart has a wonderful gift, he is able to depict sorrow and grief, as well as humor and beauty. He just gets an amazing amout of sheer life into his work. What a shame he isn't better known, I've only met one other person who's read anything of his, unless I've given them a copy myself. Thank you Mr. Hughart! Elizabeth Lake
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Summary: The best story ever written.
Review: This story is the best ever written. I have read it at least forty times and still get a kick out of it. I go into a rage when I "discover" the treatment the three handmaidens received from the hand of the duke; I am flooded with joy when the birds do their thing. It seems that many of my fellow Hughart fans are under the misconception that the town was under an evil spell. please reread the book, you are missing the best and most subtle current of the plot. HINT: The August Personage of Jade's hand is everywhere and the evil deed has peturbed the serenity of Heaven for centuries. This is a wonderful book and it is extremely complex. It well worth the study I have devoted to it. P.S. Mr Hughart is in the phone book. He is a nice person to talk to.
Rating:
Summary: It's a little ripper mate.
Review: It was a 40th b'day present... a cure for a touch of 'mid-life' which is on equal footing with another favourite of mine 'Illusions'. Thank you Jenny Marcus who bought it for me and Barry Hughart who wrote it for us all.
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Summary: I found the author through the NET!
Review: Fourteen years ago, I fell in love with an ancient Chinese man "with a slight flaw in his character." I have always wanted to tell his creator, Barry Hughart, thank you for giving the world Master Li Kao. After many,many years of unsuccessful attempts to contact Mr. Hughart through his publishers, I went to cyberspace and found him! It was so simple that I couldn't believe I didn't think of it before. I'm a blonde, so I have an excuse! I used one of the search engines' people find and typed in his name and the state of Arizona (last known address according to the dust covers) and an address popped right up. I opened my letter to Mr. Hughart by saying, "If you are NOT the Barry Hughart who created my all-time favorite fictional character, Master Li, then trash this letter." Imagine my surprise when I received a very friendly and gracious reply from Master Li's mastermind! I was delighted! Maybe if enough of us beg and plead, Mr. Hughart might see his way clear to create another Master Li/Number Ten Ox masterpiece. It's worth a try, don't you think? Happy Hughart Hunting! N
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