This book is an incredibly realistic tale of what I imagine it would have been like to live in China during those decades of unrest. Being a woman was much more difficult back then, as proved in the second chapter with Mother's feet being bound and then her decline in status in her family because she couldn't produce a son.

The strength and power of a woman is fully explored in this novel, whether it be through a third-person narrative or the perspective of Jintong, the only son of Mother. And while the females represented were all so strong, the men were shown to be weak to a fault in some way or another, including Jintong. Yes, the women had their weaknesses, but they also had something powerful in themselves that Jintong, Speechless Sun, and the other men just didn't have.

The first six chapters were incredible, taking a trip through time from 1900 to the middle of the century. The description was solid and the writing grand. However, the seventh chapter seemed out of place, which might have been intentional seeing as how fifteen years elapsed between the end of chapter six and the beginning of chapter seven. Everything just seemed unusual toward the end, and it was actually painful to see how weak Jintong really turned out to be.

This book was a good read, with interesting characters, and the tangled mess of the relationships in the family is very realistic, complicated and intense. If you're interested in historical fiction, this book is definitely for you, especially if you lean toward Asian historical fiction. The ending is weak, in my opinion, but it might entice other readers with its warmth.

This book is definitely not for children in any way, shape, or form, with graphic depictions of birth starting in the very first chapter. Romance begins in the second chapter, and it doesn't end there. Realistic relationships, consensual and non-consensual, are covered in the pages of this work, offering a glimpse into the harshness that life can take on. If you're mature enough to handle graphic, sometimes disturbing, subject matter and enjoy history, this is a good book for you.

This book is fantastic, in the true sense of the word. What an adventure and a trip!

It is similar to Pearl Buck's, The Good Earth. Disaster and hardship is followed by very brief joys in Chinas history.

This 15-year old novel by Mo Yan, the first Chinese writer to win a Nobel Literature Prize, is one thick novel which tells a story that span 3 generations. English translation is excellent. An great read for open-minded readers who are not intimidated by the great number of key characters in the book. Off these characters, women prevail over men.