Green River Daydreams

I've read some contemporary Chinese literature before, so I thought I had a good idea of what Green River Daydreams would be (regarding ambiance, tone, atmosphere...that sort of thing). I was both pleasantly AND unpleasantly surprised to find out that I was way off base with my presumptions! This is such an engaging tale...and one that gets you engaged right off the bat with some lewd, crude and visceral thoughts! The main character (Ears) is this wonderful dichotomy of good and bad, crude and refined, worldly and naive...but it is his undying loyalty, above all, that both speaks to and confounds the reader. Even though I am Chinese and am very familiar with the culture and concepts prevalent in this novel, I was still left slightly disturbed at the level of the Ears' loyalty and devotion to the Cao family. The plot is a bit slow and lagging in some areas, but keep reading, and I guarantee it will build into something extraordinary. Even if you think you're sure of what will happen next, something will surprised you at every turn, at every important event throughout the book. I've never read any of Liu Heng's other works, but his imagination and originality certainly are at play in this novel. This is also not a novel for the faint-hearted. The lewdness and crudeness does not rely on strong, literal descriptions...but rather on the strong IMPLICATIONS of these descriptions. A lot of the time (especially regarding the sexual imagery/thoughts throughout the novel), most of the imagery is left up to the reader's imagination, using only the little, coy morsels that the authors throws out. And then at other times, the author describes something so perfectly that you can see, smell, hear or taste just what you have just read about. To be perfectly honest, I was left somewhat..."shaken" would be too strong a word, as would "disturbed"...after finishing the novel. "Unsettled" would be the best I can come up with at this moment. It is a very unsettling novel, especially in the last quarter. I guarantee that when you finish the last sentence, you will sit back and contemplate what you just read and try to make sense of it, especially in regards to whether or not you liked the novel. And I guarantee you that you will change your view of the novel at least once! If you're interested in an unorthodox and different novel-reading experience, I highly recommend Green River Daydreams. I have only read it once so far, and finished it months ago, but once I start thinking about it, I simply cannot just let it go as a passing thought. It evokes this visceral reaction in me months after I put the book down, and I'm still not quite sure if this was one of the best novels I've read in my life, or just different enough to change my expectations of all literature. I'll give it 5 stars just based on originality, expectations, emotion and engagement. It cannot be denied that this novel is unusual, unexpected, fascinating and thought-provoking. Pick it up

"Green River Daydreams" is a book one cannot feel indifferent about. I loved it--I hated it--I loved it. It made me angry. It was beautiful, down right hilarious, ugly, enthralling, disturbing. It was hard to put down. It is even harder to forget. As a Chinese-American writer, I was entirely mesmerized by the language, the smoothness of the translation by Howard Goldblatt; I felt I was reading the original Chinese. I envy Liu Heng's deftness of pen; the author depicts characters with a few concentrated strokes like the Chinese xie-i painters of old.For the China-phile, for the lover of literature, for those who simply want a great story, Liu Heng's "Green River Day Dreams" is not to be missed.