Hi. I hope everyone had a great week. We had a snowstorm last night and woke up to about six to eight inches of new snow, which is nice for skiing and the scenery. The dogs love it too. Though I hear temperatures are going to plunge this week for here and much of North America so hunker down and stay warm if you can.
Next month, I am planning to fly to Palm Springs and visit my parents, so I might have to wait till then to feel some real heat. The desert is usually beautiful this time of year and I have tickets one day to see the upcoming Indian Wells pro tennis tournament there, so I’m looking forward to that.
Meanwhile the Olympics has ended and I’m glad to have seen various parts of it. Nathan Chen’s free skate was probably one of the highlights for me. I also liked the pairs skating and ice dancing as well as the cross-country skiing and biathlon.
I missed seeing the entire hockey games, but congrats to the Canadian women who continue to be a powerhouse in the sport. Now I’ll likely have some sports-action withdrawals, but we’ll probably get back to seeing some of the Oscar nominated films in the evenings. So far, I’d recommend the movies of Belfast and CODA. Have you seen those?
And now I’ll leave you with a review of what I finished lately.
Swimming Back to Trout River by Linda Rui Feng / Simon & Schuster / 2021
What it’s about: The story follows four main characters whose lives weave together and apart and later back together in interesting ways. There’s Momo, a man from the small Chinese village of Trout River who wins a scholarship to university in Beijing in the late 1960s, and Dawn, a friend and violinist he meets there who dreams of being a musician but must hide her aspirations during China’s Cultural Revolution. They make a pact after a date together but then part ways after graduation, and Momo meets Cassia, a nurse who helps him at a dentist office.
Both Momo and Cassia are affected by a loss they experience during the Revolution, and later they marry and have Junie, who’s born without full legs. At age 5, Junie begins living with her Grandparents in Trout River — for reasons made clear later in the story — and then when her parents move at separate times to the U.S. Junie stays behind, and they plan to bring her to the States and reunite when she’s 12, but things begin to happen that none of them can foresee.
My Thoughts: I’m so glad I finally got to this novel. It’s the best debut I’ve read in a while and there’s a lot to think about in it. I listened to both the audio and read the novel afterwards … because my book club was discussing it, so I needed to recall all the particulars. It’s a story that takes place from the 1960s into the 1980s and from China to the U.S. and back, touching on immigrants, history, music, word translations, and the culture of both countries. Whoa it’s chock full, yet still is very readable and alluring.
Quite a bit of sad things happen in it, but it’s written and interweaved so interestingly that it transports and grabs you from the beginning and takes you along. And since I’m intrigued by novels that deal with the Cultural Revolution and protagonists that try to escape and heal from it, this novel was was a win-win for me. I will look for whatever this author puts out next … though since she’s a professor of Chinese cultural history at the University of Toronto, I’m not sure she’s focusing solely on writing fiction these days. We’ll see.
That’s all for now. What about you — have you read this one, or others like it, and if so, what did you think?
I haven’t read Swimming Back to Trout River, but I do have it on my TBR list. I’m glad to hear you liked it so much.
Thanks Lark. This one was on my TBR for quite awhile so I’m glad I finally got to it. I hope you enjoy it if you get to it. Have a great week.
Snow looks lovely ❄️❄️I really loved Swimming Back to Trout River; glad it worked so well for you too.
Hi Diane, yeah I really knew I had to get to this one … because of your review & liking it. I just knew it would be good … and it was! I was impressed by how well the author writes. I thought it was 4.5 stars too.
Pretty snow! Yes, it’s going to get cold here, too. I think our low on Tuesday night is going to be 22 (F), which is pretty cold for the coast, but not as bad as negative 1, which is the forecast for Lincoln, NE. Funny, we’ve been gone for almost 5 years, but I still look at their weather.
I hope you get some warm weather in SoCal. I’m looking forward to our trip to Tennessee in April and hope to be able to wear some of my summer clothes.
Belfast and CODA are high on my list to watch and I may have to bite the bullet and just pay to watch Belfast since it’s still not streaming without a fee.
Swimming Back to Trout River sounds like a great story. How did you like the audio? I listened to a sample and I’m not sure I care for the reader. I may get the print book at the library unless you can convince me to listen to the audio.
Have a good week, Susan! Stay warm.
Thanks Lesley. It appears it’s going to be a cold week … bundle up on the coast. Your waves pics there are gorgeous.
I enjoyed the audio of this one and I thought the actress did a really good job. Though perhaps it’s a smidge easier to follow in places with the book. Still I liked having both. See what you think.
Your trip in April sounds really good … and I’m gearing for my time in SoCal. How weird it’ll be to step outside without snow. ha. Have a great week.
The snow looks beautiful! I also liked watching the cross country skiing and biathlon, but I watched far less of this Olympics than I had intended. Not sure why.
Nice that you get to see your parents next month and how fun that you get to see some of the tennis tournament. As a teacher, I went to a conference in Palm Springs each year that was that same weekend, but with my new job, it will be the first year in a long time I won’t be there. It’s a great time to be in the desert!
Thanks Helen. You must know Palm Springs quite well then. I agree it’s a pretty time to be in the desert. I love flying in there. My parents live in Redlands about 50 minutes west. It’s easy and not too far. It’s a bit weird going from snow to heat in one flight. I hope you have a great week.
Trout River sounds very good. I’m glad you liked it so. This March or April there’s a new release about the Cultural Revolution and a girl who was Mao’s lover. I received the ARC but didn’t want to commit to reading it since my plate is full until May. I’ve seen most of the major Oscar contenders, though I always try to watch most of what the critics liked and included in their “best” lists. Coda and The Tragedy of Macbeth are going to be tricky because I don’t want to pay for yet another streaming service, but I guess I can see them and cancel. The Power of the Dog had an intriguing ending, as did The Lost Daughter, but I found them so-so overall. Same with Spencer and Kristen Stewart. I did liked Being the Ricardos quite a bit, as well as King Richard, and Belfast, which we had discussed already. Parallel Mothers is out streaming, so I’ll probably watch it towards the start of next month.
Hi Carmen, good report. I’ll be curious to hear about this new book on the Cultural Revolution. It’s a novel? What’s the title? hmm. I might put my name in for it at the library ahead of time. As for Oscar movies, I still have many to see. Why did critics like The Power of the Dog so much? Jane Campion? I’m usually not a big Western kind of fan … but it’s a must see judging by the nominations. I’m sort of wondering if Belfast will win Best Pic. Hope your weather doesn’t turn crazy cold. Have a great week.
Weather will be nice until this Wednesday, in which we may flirt with 70F. After that, winter is coming… The book about Mao’s lover is Forbidden City by Vanessa Hua. It’s historical fiction. It took me a long time to find the title because all I remembered was the loud cover. 🙂 Anyways, The Power of the Dog is a beautifully shot, artsy film. Very carefully constructed, with strong performances; it just didn’t resonate that much with me. I usually rate films on my emotional reaction, and that most times “agrees” with the users rating system that sites like IMDb employ. I’ve had few favorites among this year’s crop. Either I’m getting more discriminating, or my taste has gotten more ordinary, I can’t make up my mind about which one it is. 😛
Ha. I know what you mean Carmen. Some of the films don’t do much for me either and I wonder if that will happen when I see The Power of the Dog. We’ll see. Emotional reaction is a good way to judge these things. And thanks for the title of Forbidden City … I’m curious about it for sure and will put me name in for it. Glad you heard about it. Enjoy your warm weather before winter returns, ugh. I’m ready for spring soon!
Beautiful snow photos! I can see taking a snowy vacation in a few years, but for now I’m still appreciating not driving in it or shoveling. I do miss its beauty though…
Trout River is on my tbr list. Glad to know it was a winner for you!
Hi JoAnn: the snow now is really nice … but I really dislike the “mud season” which likely will come sometime in March. & April. That’s the downside of winter argh! I have my husband shovel mostly, ha!
Trout River is a winner of a debut. She weaves it together in an interesting way. And it’s not long either at 260 pages. The audio is good … and it’d make for a good print/audio combo. See what you think. Have a great week.
The Snow looks very pretty.
I’ve not quite caught up on all of the iceskating but I agree Chen was spectacular.
Wishing you a great reading week
Thanks Shelleyrae … yeah I still want to catch some more of the Olympics that I missed. Luckily there’s On Demand viewing so I can check it out. The ice skating as usual had some drama. Have a great week.
Those days of the Cultural Revolution are heart breaking to read about. I grew up in a little village called Trout Hall though there were not trout around, so the title of the book drew my attention.
Hi Harvee: now you have me curious: Where is Trout Hall? The Cultural Revolution really always stuns me with its awfulness … turning on their people it was so vicious. My favorite book about it is the memoir: Life & Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng, who I had the honor to have tea with back in 2009.
Have a great week.
Susan, my Trout Hall is in the middle of the West Indian island of Jamaica, where I grew up!
Having tea with Nien Cheng must have been quite an experience!
Oh wow that’s very cool – Jamaica, nice. Always great people I’ve met from Jamaica too. And you’re right, tea with Nien Cheng … was amazing. She told me much about what happened to her and her family during the Cultural Revolution … to me — she is a hero! They tortured her but she held on. She was something special.
Beautiful pictures, Susan. I can’t imagine living where that much snow is “normal.” LOL
I’ve been complaining about winter never ending this year…and we’ve had exactly one legitimately hard freeze all winter. I’m way past being ready for spring weather.
“Trout River” sounds very good. The Revolution is an intriguing bit of world history, and sometimes a good novelist can make it more real than it ever seems to be when reading a nonfiction account.
Hey Sam, thanks for stopping by. Yeah I’m ready for spring too. Tomorrow is March! But it’ll take awhile still here.
Trout River impressed me as a debut novel. I think I’m going through a Cultural Revolution reading phase right now …. it just blows my mind what happened especially to many talented artists/musicians there. I also might read Gish Jen’s new book Thank You Mr. Nixon …. which also touches on the CR. Talk about genocide … this historical event was nuts. take care & Happy reading.
It looks like we have made it past the few cold days and nights that compose our winter and we are moving into the pleasantly warm days and cooler nights that make up our spring. Enjoy that beautiful snow for me; I wouldn’t know how to really do so.
Swimming Back to Trout River sounds like a strong read. I’m intrigued with societal attempts to make life better like the Cultural Revolution in China. These attempts always seem to backfire, though.
It will be quite a contrast to get to Palm Springs after Canada, I think.
Hey Deb. Yeah Palm Springs should be amazing about now …. I have a couple more weeks until I go. Gearing up for the trip.
The Cultural Revolution surely backfired … and I’m hoping the invasion of Ukraine will backfire too. It’s very upsetting to see such violence. Heartbreaking.
Enjoy the sun for me there and Happy Reading.
The women’s Olympic hockey games were so good. I wish we could see more women’s hockey on regular TV. I only see it during the Olympics. Enjoy your trip! Have a great week!
Thanks AJ. And I agree. The women’s Olympic hockey games were really great. So close at times! I wish we’d see more of these games. Are you a hockey player? Have a great week as well.
Two about the Cultural Revolution:
— Gish Jen’s recent story collection starts just after the Cultural Revolution so there’s a bit about its effect on the characters.
— The novella “The Gourmet” by Chinese writer Lu Wenfu (1927-2005) offers a look at the Chinese revolution and Communist era including the Cultural Revolution.
good story.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Hey Mae – thanks much for the tips on more Cultural Revolution reading. I definitely want to read more about it … I have a library copy of the Gish Jen book … and I will try to get the Wenfu book at the library too. Thanks much for these! Have you ever read Nien Cheng’s memoir Life & Death in Shanghai ? OMG. I read it back in 2009 …. and it slayed me. Check it out if you want to read more Cultural Revolution. Cheers.
Beautiful snowy pictures but oh so cold. We ended up getting a lot of snow last week but it’s all melted and we’re having high 50s right now for at least a few days.
I haven’t been super excited with the Oscar nominations this year but CODA and Belfast were very good.
I hope you have a lovely visit with your parents and get some warmth!
That book looks really good. I’ll have to add it to my TBR! Great review.
Hey Heather, good hearing from you. It’s been hard for me as well to get excited about the Oscar nominated films other than Belfast & CODA. I just don’t see ones that are that thrilling. But perhaps I should try the Power of the Dog?
It’s still winter here but the snow doesn’t seem to be sticking as much. Your temps seem pretty warm. Enjoy your hikes. & books!
Although this is supposed to be cold months here, it has been warming up here again this week. We’ll see how long it lasts. So far the winter has been bearable and we got only one big snow storm.
Hope you’ve been doing well! I’ve been extremely busy this past month but trying to make time for hobbies now.
Hi Athira, great hearing from you. You have been busy, especially with the promotion was it – at your job. You’re keeping the world afloat. Only one big snowstorm is not bad at all. I think there are hints of spring here but still winter persists. Have a happy weekend. Enjoy your hobbies & reading.
Good to hear you enjoyed Swimming Back to Trout River so much. China is a fascinating country, which I am keen to learn more about. I may look into this novel later this year. It fits in well with my aim to read more international literature (non British/US). I love your snowy photos!
Thanks Stargazer. Yeah I need to read more Canadian authors so this read checked some boxes for me. There seems to be various novels with Chinese themes coming out lately. If you get to it, see what you think. Happy reading.