Yuhan

The truly questionable decisions of characters will have you slamming your head at the wall. Entertaining read, and a somewhat satisfying conclusion to the trilogy? Seems though that this third book was not originally planned, and all (?) clues and pointers were only planted in this book. Lines of the big bad also sound comically extreme and unnatural, which I could not take seriously and kinda took me out of it (sorry). Wild idea but if you think you're being stalked to be murdered, maybe don't not tell your family who you live with? Maybe don't leave the house by yourself? Maybe don't tell the police who phoned you up to check if you were still being stalked that nahhh everything's fine dw about it anymore?who would have thought dude im screaaaaaaaaaaammmming

some very interesting ideas, and the best buy vs rent argument that I've heard. Tax efficiency is also something I haven't seen many other sources put as much of an emphasis on, so the details in this book were really valuable. The first half has very engaging story elements though the latter half starts to get a bit preachy. There are some arguments that just don't make sense, like 'inflation isn't real because they're local phenomena and you can just travel to cheaper places' - I get the sentiment but like..... you still will get priced out of places even if you have cheaper places to go?? Unless you can find somewhere with 0 or negative inflation to live for the rest of your life, prices do rise.

I also understand that 'communists are gonna kill my family' makes a good narrative, but as a first gen (ish, CN parents, GB -> CN -> GB) Chinese immigrant it does grate. I am tired and sick of misinformation that leeches into a negative cultural image surrounding my heritage. plsssssssssss the number of times I have people ask me about life and politics in China to then just not believe what I say because they read or watched some biased/outdated/very-much-watered-down content somewhere ((I gen love a discussion!! but why are people correcting me on my own culture and experiences 😭))

Buckle in these are my takes:

1. I appreciate that the China I grew up in is significantly different to the one that the author grew up in, given I am approx 15-20 years younger than her. However, presenting her experiences as current day fact - I know that this is probably where her impressions have still remained! - is while unintentional, harmful in many ways.

2. Given the young age at which she immigrated, her impressions are likely largely influenced by her parents experience. Since this seems mostly to refer to times like the cultural revolution (60s-70s) and the world was just a very different place back then (of course, famously, across the globe and especially in the western world, all people regardless of their background and political affiliation were treated with kindness, equality and respect). I don't think anyone looks back at those times and thinks it was a great experience at all, and criticisms and discussions happen fairly openly nowadays in China. But you would be insane to state that that's what China is now.

3. Again, given the young age she immigrated at, portions of her impressions that extend from her own personal experiences are unlikely to be the full picture. Having immigrated at the same age to her, and then later reconnecting with those regions, wow oh boy was I wrong. I thought British insurance could actually magically fix your car at the press of a button (thanks to that LV advert). I thought that African Giant Snails were really common pets (because my teacher had one). I once told someone in China with absolute certainty that 'fuck' was not a proper english word because I having lived in Britain had never heard of it. (though seriously, why do we shield swearing so much from kids, it's not that deep) I wasn't even aware of what racism was, and was later horrified to hear how my parents had been treated in workplace in Britain in the 90s and 00s, despite being highly skilled immigrants.

There is a corner of my brain that houses my seven year old impression of Britain, and it's a wonderful place filled with exclusively summer picnics, blackberries and dolls in your shoes - it's nice to visit sometimes but it is most definitely distinct from reality.

I even have to come to terms with the fact that the China in my twelve-year-old memories no longer exists - while I believe I was conscious and old enough to form a proper worldview by then(-ish), AND despite the fact that change and growth is nowhere near as explosive as it was back then, a lot has happened in ten years. Streets are safe and sparkling clean, kids these days don't get beat up in school (they'll never understand what we went through LOL), and my grandparents are no longer invincible. The entire citycenter/shopping district has also upped and moved literally right outside my door, so literally everywhere I loved to go as a kid no longer exists but at least life is horrifically convenient now.

Anyway, all I'm trying to say is contrary to what this book will have you believe about China, pensions exist, there is a state healthcare system, and fuck me it really boggles me that people believe this, but nobody wants to kill your family for no reason.

This book manages to make a whole ass plague boring. Or maybe plagues are meant to be boring, and this is actually a stroke of genius done so flawlessly that I didn't appreciate it. Either way, I fell asleep.

(idk I usually enjoy philosophical discussions. I fear my experience of this book might be victim of translation (it's kinda difficult to follow what's going on at a lot of points), and maybe the concept of a documentation of a plague was novel when it was published, but after covid, all it gives is the faint familiarity of boredom.)

((at the reveal at the end that Rieux is supposed to be the narrator, umh, I always thought that they were the same anyway from the beginning???? so turns out I was reading the whole book wrong. Goes to show that I don't think I followed a thing through the whole ass book LOL))

easy and compelling read. entertaining for sure, the conclusion felt kinda drawn out of a hat though, which was somewhat unsatisfying.

Y'all if you plan on reading this book (and do, it's great) don't read up literally anything on it - any sort of content discussion would be a massive spoiler so I'll talk about something else instead.

Heads up - I read the original in Chinese, and I've heard that a lot of people think the translation is great, and I knowwwww that translation is a tough job, but man the translated text is dry (I read this as a buddy read with someone reading the english translation). I wish y'all could experience the original and the cultural contexts that come with it, the translation loses a couple of dimensions. The translation also shuffles some chapters around, which honestly I disagree with a lot of those decisions especially the flashback being taken to the very beginning of the novel - honestly I think this is probably the most confusing/dry part for any english readers not familiar with that part of history, but also changes the weighting of the different narritives of the book , but yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Frankly this book feels more real than my actual life LOL and for me that's what makes it shine. No exaggerated characters (well, one, but let's face it we kinda love him), no silly grand mission, no magical chosen ones, just real people going about their real lives and playing their piece. The horror at the beginning with the photos - ik this isn't even a big thing but it really stayed with me honestly made me 👀👀👀 DDDD:, I frickin love the VR segments it so doesn't take itself seriously it's almost serious I reaaaaaalllly appreciate the watertightness with plot holes and justifications.

Anyway I need to get back to work and will stop gushing about my million opinions on this book lol. I'm almost tempted to give it five stars but I'm currently reading the second book and that's EVEN MORE REAL and I LOVE THAT so I can't ceiling the scores just yet LOL ok right imma get back to writing my diss

Cringe behaviour of characters in this book has helped me get over haunting memories of things I did myself in school. Cheaper than therapy.

Having suffered just through the moon and sixpence, imagine my disappointment when starting this book, finding it oddly familiar, and then reading the words "many years ago i wrote a book called the moon and sixpence"

So yeah, my expectations weren't high.

But? I'm happy to report that this was a much more engaging reading experience - we seem to have figured out how humans work (:'D) while some elements of the characters remain unrealistic, it happily blends into the rest of common fiction where the unrralostic traits of these characters seems to drive its story. The book doesn't set itself out to be a grand story, but much more like a casual observation through casual life, and there's something oddly engaging about that. I imagine it would not have been much at the the time of publication, but fifty+ years on, it's an intricate window into how it may have been. The author remarks that while the story does not have a conclusion, every character has their success in some ways. Each character also never truly gets what it wants, and while depressing, I guess it's a realistic message about life.

Though again, no razors nor edges in this book.

Man runs away from partner to go to paris to do something different with their life that their partner cannot understand AND is stubborn and cannot be convinced by anyone else that they should not do that... AGAIN? Can we not write about something else lol

A very convincing argument to try out the Zettlekasten! The only problem I have with it that the points do start getting a bit repetitive and stray somewhat from the point of the book, and seems more like a general essay on how to learn better rather than explaining how and why to use the zettlekasten. In fact, I'm still not entirely sure how to use it, but I'll figure it out and the book does give resources. Definitely worth reading and thinking about for anyone who does any amount of learning, especially essay oriented subjects.

Certainly made me think - I am persuaded that this is an issue that everyone should be made aware of. I do strongly believe that being more intentional with our time is one of the best ways to actually achieve happiness and any of its proxies - how do you advocate for something you want without knowing how to get there! I feel a good job was made of explaining and including different views, and that makes for an agreeable read. Despite thinking that I was decently caught up on the area, there were plenty of new points and discussions included that are sensible but just not mainstream. My only qualm is that in the introductory sections the writing was maybe a bit over-enthusiastic, but then again if someone feels passionate about something to write a whole ass book about it, maybe that would make sense AHAHAHAH

Tell me you've never interacted with a woman without telling me you've never interacted with a woman. (I'm sorry some of the quotes in this reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee)

Would not recommend reading in public places, incredibly paranoia inducing that someone might look over your shoulder, read the contents on the page and take you for a horrible human LMAO

Maybe it's the point and I'm missing the point?? But I don't think one could make characters more realistic than those in this book. Nice proof to myself that I can finish just about anything. Remind me again why this is famous?

my therapist recommended that I read this book, and it'd taken me so long to track it down that I actually forgot why she recommended it to me. Immediately remembered after literally a page or two lol, it was very obvious, and this book is very straightforward in what it's talking about.

I can't lie, this was a lot more wishy-washy-energy vibes than media that I usually consume, but as long as you can take it with a pinch of 'it's just an explanation rather than a literal description' it's not too bad. And as much as that did bother me, I hate to admit that it did give me a couple of good lightbulb moments. Pretty effective therapy (at least for me), I'm glad I read it.

((the straightforwardness also starts getting a bit dry to read, which is a shame cus it kinda takes away from the messages, but also I guess it makes sense since it's intended to be read in any order. Anyway, I'd love to see a more logic based rendition of this work))

i guess it has all the information you need! still not sure what to do with it though LOL

pretty dry as you would expect (essentially a textbook)

An interesting message! And for anyone who is not familiar with the concept, it's worth considering. It's probably not to be taken literally for most people, but it's certainly got its value.

The problem with this book is that it tries to tell you the same message 30 times. Sounded worryingly like my own Asian dad lecturing me about the same thing and going around in circles LOL geez dad ok i get it

Not really the point of the book, but it has convinced me that I do actually in fact need to touch grass every now and then.

a pretty easy read for something designed to be informative! While this is definitely not a textbook lol, I think more of its value comes from getting to see things around you differently, and to challenge the assumptions and individual defaults we've made about decor choice. Consumption of this book definitely benefits from searching up images of the works mentioned!!

in terms of where the last star was docked for me, I found the narritive a bit beige, and so it doesn't quite dazzle in that way. It could have done with some summaries (I'm gonna have to go back through and make notes) as I'm struggling to recall many specific suggestions. Activity sheet included is a very nice interactive element though!

An interesting read, and certainly widely recommended! I was suprised to find that most of the ideas in this book were not super revolutionary - though a friend pointed out that this book was published some time ago, and the ideas were very new back then.

It's certianly a very motivating read. Even if certain points are repeated many times, and it can feel a tiny condescending at times, it makes convincing points, and importantly, actually gives a sense of optimism that things can actually be changed if you make the right changes. No book is without its imperfections, but I think if we could push the narritive of this book, rather than the shaming and blaming we are used in media, the world would be a much better place.

Fiction is for living lives you've never had, and I think this is the perfect explanation for that. Probably the best book I could have picked up to get back into reading again.

(Half a star docked for too many coincidences, kinda took me out of it just by a tad)

Picked this up as a recommendation from 80,000 hours. Interesting read philosphilcally and theoretically, and for sure quite enlightening. It does get a bit soppy at points, but maybe people need big reasons to save the world y'know lol. (Personally, I don't share some of the sentiments, but it's always nice to read about someone so enthusiastic about something!)

Mostly interesting but a bit of a slog at some points. Valuable read for those into effective alturism though!