So, this is from my "global reading list" again - and now we're on Malaysia.
This is a weird book because I didn't think I'd get into it since it had a strong romantic element (that I don't really enjoy unless everybody involved dies a horrible and unneeded death, as we all know). But, despite that - I found this book quite interesting and with some sort of fetishism with gardens, I can definitely say that this book boggled my mind.
I found this book, obviously on my reading list - but I couldn't find it anywhere - so I just wanted you to know how hard it was to find the book at all.
Characters:
Yun Ling was my favourite character. The book is narrated by her and pays a good amount of focus on her gloved hands. Yes, she gained a finger injury and from self-consciousness, she wears gloves to conceal it. She quite a strong character - but I could do without the long romantic descriptions of how she fell in love with the guy that had the crappy garden.
Themes:
My favourite theme was nature. Since this book takes a symbol of gardens as like a life sustenance - I can say that nature is very important here. The description of Aritomo's garden is quite vast and extremely romanticised. I did love the descriptions themselves - but it's more about what the garden represents.
Storyline:
I really do love it in the story when Yun Ling talks about her sister. We get some introspection that is not normally acquired (even when she talks about Aritomo) - we also get a sense of lamentation that we don't get from anywhere else. This lamentation is not as romanticised as the crappy garden - but seems to be perpetually depressed and feels guilty throughout nearly all of the book.
Verdict:
I give this book 7/9
2/3 for characters: I say I liked Yun Ling - but I wasn't sure about Aritomo. I could do without their relationship as redemption.
100% for themes: Garden symbols are always a plus.
2/3 for storyline: I wanted more of that restless lamentation that put some real power behind Yun Ling.
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