Book Review : Braised Pork by An Yu
Title : Braised Pork
Author : An Yu
Genre : Contemporary Fiction
I decided to finally expand my reading horizons this year by picking up books from different regions so as to gain more knowledge on newer topics everyday. So, when I got the opportunity to pick up Braised Pork by An Yu, I was pretty intrigued about the cultural importance of China and the knowledge it would impart and here is my take on the book.
Braised Pork is the story of Jia Jia who one day suddenly finds her husband dead in the bathroom after his meal. Eventhough their marriage wasn't as happy as it used to be before, their mutual understanding of each other did not deter them from each other. It came as a shock to Jia Jia when her husband drowned himself. What was even more mysterious was the drawing of the fish man that he had been intrigued with since his visit to Tibet. The novel explores the story of Jia Jia and her journey to solve this mystery.
I was pretty much attracted to this book because of its unique blurb and title and this turned out to be one of my goto books for the year. As the readers start exploring the novel, we see that the title has much more personal meaning to the central protagonist and is not a reader could predict. We do get attached to Jia Jia from the time we turn the very first page and the author has been brilliant about how to get the readers emote with the character.
Coming to the plot of the book, this is where I apparently couldn't connect. By the time, I completed the novel, I was pretty much confused on how a lot of plot points worked and a lot of end points were not given a closure. Though one could easily love how the plot has been weaved and quite a few characters have been central to the plot, but not all of them gave us that satisfaction that the novel is complete.
A lot of reviews that I had read on it have been highly positive and I do feel that I have missed out on something that others were able to see. So, I would rather ask others to be their own judge of the book and put up their own interpretation on what the author is trying to portray. Though, I would say that it has been an amazing journey on the cultural references to China.
My Rating - 🌟🌟🌟 (3 out of 5 stars)
Author : An Yu
Genre : Contemporary Fiction
Braised Pork is the story of Jia Jia who one day suddenly finds her husband dead in the bathroom after his meal. Eventhough their marriage wasn't as happy as it used to be before, their mutual understanding of each other did not deter them from each other. It came as a shock to Jia Jia when her husband drowned himself. What was even more mysterious was the drawing of the fish man that he had been intrigued with since his visit to Tibet. The novel explores the story of Jia Jia and her journey to solve this mystery.
I was pretty much attracted to this book because of its unique blurb and title and this turned out to be one of my goto books for the year. As the readers start exploring the novel, we see that the title has much more personal meaning to the central protagonist and is not a reader could predict. We do get attached to Jia Jia from the time we turn the very first page and the author has been brilliant about how to get the readers emote with the character.
Coming to the plot of the book, this is where I apparently couldn't connect. By the time, I completed the novel, I was pretty much confused on how a lot of plot points worked and a lot of end points were not given a closure. Though one could easily love how the plot has been weaved and quite a few characters have been central to the plot, but not all of them gave us that satisfaction that the novel is complete.
A lot of reviews that I had read on it have been highly positive and I do feel that I have missed out on something that others were able to see. So, I would rather ask others to be their own judge of the book and put up their own interpretation on what the author is trying to portray. Though, I would say that it has been an amazing journey on the cultural references to China.
My Rating - 🌟🌟🌟 (3 out of 5 stars)
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