La rinascita di Shen Tai

Really bored and guess I'm not that interest in China's history.  The sisters story seemed cool but the main dude was boring.

“Il modo in cui ricordiamo cambia il modo in cui abbiamo vissuto. Il tempo scorre in entrambi i sensi. Facciamo storie delle nostre vite.”

Under Heaven (La Rinascita di Shen Tai in italiano, scelta infelice) è il libro che mi aspettavo dall'autore di Tigana. Un romanzo ambientato in un'epoca e in luogo estremamente distanti e perciò affascinanti ai miei occhi, pur amalgamando all'ambientazione elementi fantasy: “fiction done as near-fantasy” come la definisce l'autore stesso.

In breve in questo libro c'è tutto ciò che un lettore come me vorrebbe: una trama imprevedibile che ti sorprende capitolo dopo capitolo, personaggi affascinanti (che a volte mi hanno insegnato pure qualcosa), una prosa poetica e scorrevole (anche se sempre in traduzione mi è piaciuta di meno rispetto a Tigana).

Tuttavia ciò che mi ha colpito maggiormente sta proprio in alcuni dettagli: la cultura cinese, gli usi e i costumi mi hanno spinto a sviluppare un vero e proprio interesse. Inoltre, la filosofia di fondo del libro e le storie personali dei personaggi pur nel loro piccolo mi hanno profondamente toccato.

Ho scritto ulteriori pensieri qui: Pensieri su Under Heaven di Guy Gavriel Kay

Heartbreakingly beautiful.

Loved it. Beautiful book, like a carefully woven tapestry. And I have to say that I have seldom felt more satisfied by a story's end, in any medium.

I really liked this book, my first by Guy Gavriel Kay. I took my time in reading it because it seemed like a book that deserved to be savored. The detail was great, as were the character developments. The ending was very bittersweet, but complete and satisfying.

Another very strong book from Guy Gavriel Kay. A man is given an extraordinary gift; a gift of deadly proportions. He is suddenly of interest to everybody in a major empire. Kay's interpretation of an old Chinese empire is interesting, and quite unlike the usual fantasy empires. Another top-notch novel.

Pros: lyrical writing, interesting characters, detailed history/world, political intrigue

Cons: ending is a bit long

Under Heaven tells the story of Shen Tai, second son of a famous general. Upon the passing of his father, Tai decides to spend his time in mourning burying the dead from a battle site that brought his father sorrow. For this service he is gifted with 250 Sardian horses. This gift propels him into a role of importance in the country, and will either save him from assassination attempts, or create more of them.

The book is patterned off of the Tang Dynasty of China. Kay adds in a lot of historic details (way of life, poetry, class distinction) to make the book feel real. There is a lot of rich detail and imagery.

The intrigue is mostly concerning a few people in power and how the gift of these horses will be used (and if Tai will be killed before he can claim them). There is very little physical action. Most of the tension comes from verbal sparring and trying to grasp Tai's sudden change in status. The novel is very immersive. I missed my subway stop because I'd reached a point in the book where I HAD to keep reading. There are many such points in the book.

The ending is a bit long. Kay tied up as many loose endings as he could, which took a while. This isn't really a problem as the characters are all fascinating and you want to hear how things turn out for them.

If you're looking for action, look elsewhere. If you want court intrigue, poetic writing and a great story, you've come to the right place.