Helpful Score: 2
Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com
What is modern China like? What is it like to come of age there?
Fenfang Wang grew up living on a sweet potato farm. Her family is uncommunicative and seems to be depressed. There doesn't seem to be much opportunity there in that village. So Fenfang gathers up her belongings at the age of seventeen and heads eighteen-hundred miles to Beijing.
There she takes many jobs. She is a cleaner at a hostel, a factory worker, usherette at a movie theater, and finally she becomes a movie extra. She gets many roles, such as woman-walking-over-bridge and waitress-wiping-a-table. She also writes a movie script. She has two relationships with men but they don't seem to be going anywhere and she is constantly hungry.
The feel of this story is depressing. The main character is very brave and yet scary. At the beginning of the story, she witnesses a fight between a mother and daughter. They are hit by a car and taken away. Fenfang then just takes over their apartment. No one seems to care.
That is the main theme of TWENTY FRAGMENTS OF A RAVENOUS YOUTH, that people just don't seem to care. I would have liked some more explanation of the cultural differences between China and the U.S., because I don't feel that I quite understood all of the nuances of the culture. My daughter lived in Ghana for a year and when she tells a story she needs to explain many ideas and things that she encountered there.
This is a short book and would be very enjoyable for those interested in the Chinese culture.
What is modern China like? What is it like to come of age there?
Fenfang Wang grew up living on a sweet potato farm. Her family is uncommunicative and seems to be depressed. There doesn't seem to be much opportunity there in that village. So Fenfang gathers up her belongings at the age of seventeen and heads eighteen-hundred miles to Beijing.
There she takes many jobs. She is a cleaner at a hostel, a factory worker, usherette at a movie theater, and finally she becomes a movie extra. She gets many roles, such as woman-walking-over-bridge and waitress-wiping-a-table. She also writes a movie script. She has two relationships with men but they don't seem to be going anywhere and she is constantly hungry.
The feel of this story is depressing. The main character is very brave and yet scary. At the beginning of the story, she witnesses a fight between a mother and daughter. They are hit by a car and taken away. Fenfang then just takes over their apartment. No one seems to care.
That is the main theme of TWENTY FRAGMENTS OF A RAVENOUS YOUTH, that people just don't seem to care. I would have liked some more explanation of the cultural differences between China and the U.S., because I don't feel that I quite understood all of the nuances of the culture. My daughter lived in Ghana for a year and when she tells a story she needs to explain many ideas and things that she encountered there.
This is a short book and would be very enjoyable for those interested in the Chinese culture.
Helpful Score: 2
Great novel! I really enjoyed reading this selection by Xiaolu. I plan on reading more of her books. It was a nice change of pace to read a book I enjoyed. It's very interesting to hear a first persons point of view, especially a female, living in Beijing. The only thing I didn't enjoy was that I feel it should have been just a bit longer. Otherwise, I would definitely suggest it!
