Old Town, Lin Zhe
Old Town, Lin Zhe
List: $46.99 | Sale: $32.90
Club: $23.49

Old Town

Author: Lin Zhe, George A. Fowler

Narrator: Emily Woo Zeller

Unabridged: 22 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/27/2012


Synopsis

Lin Zhe, one of China’s most prolific writers, paints an unforgettable picture of an ordinary family caught up in the maelstrom that was China’s most recent century. Her narrative ranges across the entire length of China, to California and back again, to the battlefields of the Anti-Japanese War of Resistance and the brutal “struggle” sessions of the Cultural Revolution. But it always returns to this family’s home in Old Town, that archetypical, old-fashioned, and vanishing place steeped in the traditions of South China. Ms. Lin examines the inner strength that sustains people’s lives in their darkest hours, when religious and political faith falter. And yet, a vein of irony and droll humor runs through this powerful story. Lin Zhe’s novel may be understood as a love story, memoir, history, or allegory. For the non-Chinese reader it provides a rare and moving insight into Chinese lives in a century of fearsome upheaval. This book was originally published under the title Riddles of Belief…And Love—A Story.

About Lin Zhe

Lin Zhe is the pen name of a noted contemporary Chinese novelist and screenwriter. Altogether Ms. Lin has written fourteen novels, which largely deal with women’s issues. Two Chinese television series have been based on this novel, her first to appear in English.


Reviews

Goodreads review by William on July 15, 2011

I liked this book a lot. It's a good old-fashioned multi-generational family saga that takes place in China. It was a huge best seller in China and has been made into an even more popular TV series. It covers the years from the 1930s to the present. Obviously a lot has happened in those years in Chi......more

Goodreads review by Lynne on May 03, 2013

I thought there was too many gratuitous references to being Christian. It was a turn off for me.......more

Goodreads review by theresa on September 10, 2020

If you want to know about 20 and 21 century in China, this is the book. It is 500 pages and takes some research to follow it, but worth every word. Lin Zhe is author name and real name is Zhang Younghong. This is the story of a family in China, beginning with the main character, Ninth Brother, born......more

Goodreads review by Dava on November 16, 2011

It took me a looooong time to read this book - months, even. It is unusual for a book to take more than a couple of weeks for me to finish. It took longer than normal for lots of reasons: it's a long book, I'm not familiar with Chinese history and culture, I felt ambivalent about the characters at t......more

Goodreads review by J Lipoti on July 21, 2018

I have had friends describe their lives during the Cultural Revolution in China, and was impressed with their indomitable spirit, but I couldn't really understand the rebellion. What was the meaning of "struggle?" While this book is a work of fiction, it put Chinese history into an understandable co......more