To Live Book Review

To Live: A Novel by Yu Hua

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


If I could, I'd give this book 3.5 stars. It's definitely a good book, though I would by no means put it among the greats. This is a translation of a Chinese novel that was written about 20 years ago. It's about the ups and downs that a man and his family face over some 60 years or so from the 1920s to the 1980s. After gambling away his family fortune he and his family are reduced to an extreme state of penury. As he lives out the years of his life he faces war, the Cultural Revolution, the rise of communism, and the death of all those around him.

Not surprisingly, this is a very sad novel. I'm not afraid to admit that I found myself tearing up more than once. Sometimes the novel can be a bit too sentimental, which is one of the main problems that I had with it, but overall I felt invested in the characters and was genuinely concerned for them as they faced trail after trial. Even though it's a sad story, I didn't feel that I was left with a negative feeling at the end. This entirely ordinary man, who has every reason to die, continues persevering through his suffering with a simple goal: to live.

This is a super easy read, you could easily read this is a single day and there's a good chance that many do since it's such a page-turner. The style of the writing is of a modern/minimalist slant. This makes it really easy to read but it also makes the language a little dry at times. There are a few points where his descriptions are hauntingly powerful but, for the most part, the writing is good without being great. One thing I did enjoy quite a bit though, as often is the case with reading foreign novels, was getting a view of an entirely unfamiliar part of the world. Seeing how common people lived in a changing China was fascinating and quite enjoyable.

Overall, I was pleased with this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good book to fill a lazy Saturday afternoon.



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