Brothers

I m almost embarrassed to critique this book, because I felt like I was reading the first noveling effort of a very young author It had every cliche of both historical fiction and poor storytelling, and about halfway through the book I was reading it only to see how much ridiculous it would become before the end All the characters are flat stereotypes, either completely good or fully evil there s an attempt to explain the Bad Guy s fall, which isn t convincing, and there s an even improbable s [...]

The writer librarian Nancy Pearl suggests that if you are unsure if you like a book you are currently reading, subtract your age from the number 100 and the remaining number is the amount of pages you should slog through before giving upwell, just because it started out in a promising way, i gave Brothers a few pages than that before I threw in the towel The set up is good, the development not so Two brothers, two lives, one love, who cares.

3.0Read the author s bio to be sure of his language skills with English he attended Columbia Law School after emigrating from southern China His bio is in fact interesting than the book though the story has parallels with his life in China and here.Almost gave this title a 2 star due to its flat description, and occasional odd word usage noted by another review here If he were attempting to imitate Hemingway, it did not suit the subject matter Characters tend to be 2 dimensional when each could [...]

This book was jam backed with love, tragedy, hatred, revenge and forgiveness I cried at the end I gave this book a five but maybe it s just the right time in my life to read something like this where I can really appreciate all the aspects this book offered.

Interesting historical family drama seen through the lens of three generations of Chinese men two brothers, one growing up as a revered son, the other a bastard Their lives continue to intersect through time and relationships.

Truly wonderful read Heart wrenching at times, but beautiful at the same time.

Gute Br der kann niemand trennenShento und Tan sind die Halb Br der, deren Biografie diesen Roman ausmachen Immer abwechselnd wird pro Kapitel die Lebensgeschichte der beiden sich so hnlichen Charaktere vorangetrieben Der eine w chst in einem Umfeld einer hochdekorierten Familie von Gener len und Bankern auf, der andere, ein Unfall des Vaters des erstgenannten, durchlebt als Waise die Armut und Grausamkeit des kulturrevolution ren Mao Chinas Der Autor Da Chen schildert in einer sehr spannenden A [...]

This is an historical fiction book about the China s Cultural Revolution about a general and his two sons In Brothers by Dan Chen, Shento one of the narrators ask Budda and Sumi, the one he loves for forgiveness Similar to Leonka s situation in The Kitchen Boy, he hid the note, however, it was lost Shento ask Sumi for forgiveness for harming her and cutting off her tongue because she was an anti Communist Forgive me that I have sinned Spare me a chance so that I can redeem, act by act, the wrong [...]

I have been fascinated for a very long time by Asia generally and China specifically I ve done a lot of reading about Chinese history, especially Chinese history from the end of the empire to today Oddly enough, I have learned about the Chinese people and culture from reading novels by Chinese authors than I have from any work of non fiction This book fits into this trend perfectly Brothers tells the story of two half brothers, fathered by the favorite son of two of the most powerful families i [...]

I really liked this book Da Chen was such an amazing writer, with his discriptions of what was going on in the two brother s lives, I really felt what they were going through and was cheering them both on.The thing that kept this book from being a five star is the ending You end up wanting both brothers to find happiness but in the end neither of them do Not that I think a happy ending could have necessarily fit in with the rest of the book, I just felt empty after finishing the book In my mind [...]

Yet another powerful novel of intense personal drama set in the context of the turbulent politics of Communist China Told primarily in the voices of two sons one legitimate one illegitimate, orphaned, unacknowledged of a powerful Chinese general, later discredited, and of the woman they both love, it s like a 19th century Russian novel or one of Dickens, whom a couple of the characters in the book admire in ambition, scope, and unlikely coincidences, on the verge of melodrama, but with a story s [...]

This one caught me by surprise Originally assigned for an eastern literature class, this one caught my attention because of the use of poetic description, as well as its grand scope, taking place from China s Cultural Revolution to modern times, and covering an entire family s struggle Nothing too deep or thought provoking, but certainly worth picking up.

The story of two brothers, growing up in different families not know the other exhists, and how fate brings them together Both brothers are good and evil I fell in love with Shento and hated Tao in the the beginning Then my feelings turned mid book only to determine that fate was cruel and that I loved both brothers by the end of the book.

Ugh Avoid, avoid, avoid I couldn t even finish it Life s too short though this book will make it seem infinitely longer I do not understand all the fours and fives This is the most hackneyed, melodramatic, shallowly written piece of drivel it s been my misfortune to read.

this was also a book club recommendation, but I just couldn t get into it I only read 75 pages and took it back to the library, boring to me.

An intriquing plot poorly executed After the upteenth cringe worthy passage, I put it down half read.

Thought it would give me some cultural and historical insight The flow of the read was not smooth at all I was bewildered most of the time.

Some revealing glimpses into Modern Day China and the monumental issues the country still faces A most fascinating novel I found it to be a page turner.

Critical Analysis Brothers by Da ChenDa Chen in his novel Brothers sows seeds of beauty that flourish and abound in a book filled with memorable hardships and glorious triumphs Brothers explores the role of social influences in the development of the self, the social comparisons of Shento and Tan two estranged brothers who take conflicting sides in China s Cultural Revolution Within the Revolution is the timeframe when the shooting at Tiananmen Square takes place which is dealt within the narrat [...]

This is one of my all time favorite books, ever, across all genres.

A male fantasy That s how I would summarize this book It does start off well but quickly becomes a fantastical tale of two brothers of superheroic proportions The overly perfect protagonists make the story unrelatable The author writes beautifully at times but overuses flowery language and melodramatic romance to the point it becomes another annoyance As other reviewers have noticed, his word choice can be distracting, if not jarring, at times The worst example of this to me is his continual use [...]

This started out well, then it sort of got a little fantastical, like women romance novels They all became rich and powerful without really much thought about itThe last third of the novel reallllyyyyyy dragged.And I didnt get the end did one of them die or not

POR QUE O MUNDO AINDA N O CONHECE ESSE LIVRO S rio, socorro, que livro maravilhoso Devorei cada p gina, era dif cil ter q deixar de ler para fazer outra coisa, mas ao mesmo tempo era aliviante por saber que ia demorar mais pra terminar.Um mix de romance, pol tica, poesia repleto de drama e personagens t o apaixonantes que chegam a fazer coisas detest veis, mas que voc simplesmente n o consegue condenar muito porque voc os ama.Tem at tri ngulo amoroso, s que longe de ser um zoado, porque constru [...]

Second time reading this book and still enjoyed it very much Only criticism that I have is too much violence near the end Book should be 50 to 100 pages shorter

Not the type of book that I ll remember in the future

I remember, at the age of six, telling my play partner that I would hate him for the rest of my life Though I can t recall what his infraction was to have been, I do remember his response that he would hate me even after death We then proceeded to destroy one another s toys until we found ourselves sitting amid tangled piles of rubble lamenting the fact that scarcely any decent toys remained to play with Such are the ways of boys Such is the nature of hate.Chen s, Brothers, opens with the calami [...]

This elegantly written book, a gripping story, is also a stunning insight into the China of Chairman Mao s Cultural Revolution If your knowledge of Communist China was gathered through Western news, then this book is a revelation If you thought that life was better for many people after the People s revolution then you will be as disappointed as I to read about Chairman Mao s lordly feudal lifestyle and his traditional methods of government Brothers is about the lives of Shento and Tan, half bro [...]

This is a fast moving story that at times approaches and at others bores straight into the sensational and melodramatic Brothers generally lacks subtlety, except perhaps in plotting Still, it can be emotionally moving and it certainly flies by If you want to read a realistic story set in this period and place, a story that constantly flirts with the unbelievable, then this might be your book A sensational, melodramatic adventure story with simple characters and a clever plot could, in theory, de [...]

I ve finished this book some time ago and just now have some time to write my review This was a very interesting book in the end I won t give anything away, but it was or less a combination of the War of the Roses and the Prince and the Pauper without the switching of the main characters to their other worlds, all set to the back drop of the end of Mao China and ending with the Tiananmen Square incident and its after effects It s also a story of love lost, found and turned traitor through the o [...]

Brothers is a novel about two half brothers who had no idea of the existence of one another One brother, who s mother committed suicide upon his birth, led a poor and humble life The other led a life of fortune with the two siblings father The two of them shared the natural gift of being a leader Unfortunately their fates meet in the most tragic way and the brothers are doomed to battle over a bloody game of love I would rate this book a 7 out of 10 Some parts of the story seemed rushed or nonse [...]