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    Under Fishbone Clouds
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    Under Fishbone Clouds
    Unavailable
    Under Fishbone Clouds
    Ebook563 pages6 hours

    Under Fishbone Clouds

    By Sam Meekings

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    "Under Fishbone Clouds" is a love story, a family saga and a compendium of Chinese history, folklore, myth and culture. The Kitchen God, a Chinese deity, has been challenged by the Jade Emperor to fathom the workings of the human heart. In the course of his quest, he follows the life of Jinyi and his wife Yuying, from their youth until their old age. This tale is interwoven with Chinese traditional folktales and stories from ancient Chinese history, while the omnipresent backdrop to Yuying and Jinyi's lives is the sequence of dramatic events of recent Chinese political history, which determines the course of their lives.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBirlinn
    Release dateJun 1, 2011
    ISBN9780857900074
    Unavailable
    Under Fishbone Clouds
    Author

    Sam Meekings

    Sam Meekings grew up near the south coast of England. He took an undergraduate degree in Modern History and English Literature at Mansfield College, Oxford University, and, later, a Masters degree in Creative Writing at Edinburgh University. Since 2005 he has lived and travelled throughout China, working as a teacher and editor. In 2006 and 2007 he was longlisted for the Eric Gregory Award for poets under 30.

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    Reviews for Under Fishbone Clouds

    3.5/5

    28 ratings8 reviews

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    • 1/5
      I have to dump this book. It is just too disgusting. There is a jam jar of warm pig fat. A thief would be given a job in the restaurant if he would drink the whole bottle down. "Grey lumps floated like jelly in the thick, slimy liquid." Page 90. Only after the chef and all the other workers have spit into that jar, is it ready for the new employee to swallow it down..... R-E-V-O-L-T-I-N-G!I don't find pleasure in reading this. The story switches between the magical life of the "Kitchen God" and a second thread that follows a Chinese couple from the 40s to modern times - historical fiction, a love story and Chinese folk tales. This could have been good if the writing had been better. Dumped May 17, 2013
    • 4/5
      This was a book that I wanted to love; that I should have loved. It has all the hallmarks of a great novel: a sense of place, a sweeping narrative arc, vivid writing. And yet... I never felt swept up in the story of Yuying and Jinyi; never felt that I was seeing their life together at third hand, through the eyes of the Kitchen God/narrator, who in turn is telling his version of their story to the author. There's a reason the Kitchen God (one of the divinities in the Chinese pantheon) serves as the narrator. He has been offered a wager by the Jade Emperor, the Zeus of the Chinese Olympus -- to win, the Kitchen God must decipher the workings of the human heart. He chooses to follow two ordinary mortals from their wedding day in 1946 onward, as the victory of the Communist regime brings dramatic change, famine, upheaval, separation, death and pain to the couple. Meekings has a massive canvas on which to sketch out his plot -- not only that of China in the second half of the 20th century, but the whole realm of Chinese folklore, stories from which are used by the Kitchen God to illustrate one point or another. But the constant stepping back and forth between the Kitchen God and the tribulations of Jinyi and Yuying meant that I never really was caught up and immersed in the latter's story: the narrator kept getting in the way. The way the Kitchen God tells the story also was very distracting; side characters simply vanish from the story -- poof -- with only a sentence telling us what happened to them. When those characters played a role in the lives of Yuying or Jinyi, and we don't see how they react to those events, it's strangely distancing; making them more symbolic characters than real people. Add to that the fact that there's some rather implausible existential angst being presented to the reader in the form of dialog, such as Jinyi's comment early on that "people bend their memories into stories to make themselves feel content, or to disguise the horror of everything around them." Well, I wouldn't rule out that an uneducated and illiterate peasant who doesn't know where his next meal is coming from and who has never been in a big city might well have fleeting thoughts of this kind. Would he bring them up for debate with an acquaintance, in such high-flown language? I rather doubt it. The various parts of this novel were fascinating, and it certainly helps shed light on ordinary life during Mao's regime; I also loved the folk tales. But they never "clicked" into a single, seamless, captivating narrative, the way that a novel has to do in order for me to not only relish it but believe in it. I didn't need the Kitchen God or the author or some other omniscient figure jumping in during one moving scene to inform me that "it is difficult to estimate how many people disappeared during the Cultural Revolution, how many never made it back home" or to hear the Kitchen God muse to himself, "That's the funny thing about humans." However beautiful the writing, that approach became very wearing, very rapidly. That made this novel a 3.5 star book for me, and one I doubt I'll re-read. Still, it's one I imagine that many readers will probably enjoy, particularly given the writing. Meekings has an eye for taking something ordinary and adding significance to it. When Yuying finally teaches her husband to write, for instance, Meekings writes of how, "with dipping brushes clashing like chopsticks ... Jinyi and Yuying set about rewriting their history ... They blotted out the talk of demons or spirits, and started to scribble in the present tense. Each word they wrote was a promise, a vow." So I've rounded this up to 4 stars rather than down to 3. My reaction is disappointment that emotionally I couldn't connect to the characters, because the imaginative power and the writing talent on display is remarkable.Full disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from publishers via Amazon's Vine program.
    • 3/5
      From the book jacket: (This) is a universal love story, a family saga, and a journey through Chinese history, myth, and culture. Following a young Chinese couple as their love grows, and is tested, during Mao’s Cultural Revolution, this debut novel provides a personal glimpse into the birth of modern China. My reaction: I’ve had this debut novel on my tbr since it was first published in 2010. I was intrigued by the love story coupled with 20th Century Chinese history. And I loved that part of the book. Jinyi is a hero whose experiences are far different than anything I’ve gone through, but whose character is universal. He embodies resilience, determination and love for his wife and family. Yuying grows from the somewhat spoiled eldest daughter of a “bourgeoise” restaurant owner to a humble, devoted and fierce wife and mother. Despite all they go through they remain steadfast in their love and never give up hope of reconciliation during the times they must be apart. The format Meekings used to tell this story, however, did not resonate with me. He has the Kitchen God narrate the story. The Jade Emperor has challenged the KG to fathom the intricacies of the human heart, so the KG decides to follow this couple from their courtship to their old age. Well that’s not completely out of line; I’ve certainly read and enjoyed other books with a similar omniscient narrator. However, Meekings has the Kitchen God frequently interject his own story, his conversations with the Jade Emperor, and various Chinese folk tales. I found these to be completely unnecessary disruptions to the main story arc. Of course, if he were referring to Western fairy tales or folk tales, he might have been able to simply mention “Cinderella” or “Chicken Little” and I would have instantly understood the reference. Not the case with traditional Chinese folk tales, so I understand why Meekings would feel he has to give us the full story. Still, I found it distracting and thought it interrupted the story arc.
    • 5/5
      This novel explores the events of the Communist Chinese Revolution from the perspective of the ancient Chinese Kitchen God who is attempting to decifer the workings of the human heart. The Kitchen God follows Yuying and Jinyi, children at the beginning of the revolution, through their lives and marriage threading the story of their life toghether through the events of the revolution all the while providing exquisite description and deep insights into the human condition. Meekings charactors are so wonderfully developed and deeply human, one feels as though they are close family by the end of the novel. One feels almost as if they are reading a work of art.
    • 4/5
      This historical family saga set in 20th century China covers so much time and so many themes that it's bewildering at times. Narrated by the Kitchen God, with Chinese folklore interspersed with the main plot, the story line covers the time span from the 1940's through the year 2000. I found myself wanting to skip ahead to the realistic plot , since I cared about the characters, but the amount of description and sidelines became ponderous in the middle of the 400+ novel. Nonetheless, the political backdrop was certainly interesting, and the kitchen God offered much wisdom to chew on.But what on earth inspired the cover design?
    • 5/5
      This is the rare novel that grabs you by the heart and doesn’t let go even after you’ve turned the last page. I was instantly pulled into this gorgeously written novel which combines a love story, Chinese folklore, and history. It’s sometimes difficult to combine such elements effectively but the author does so flawlessly in this riveting debut. The novel is narrated by the kitchen god, which allows the readers to follow the family even as they are separated. It also allows for the seamless integration of the history and folklore; the kitchen god shares these elements as backdrops for the more intimate story of Yuying and Jiyni. Married through an arranged marriage in the 1940s, Yuying and Jinyi are an unlikely match: the daughter of a successful entrepreneur and an orphaned country boy who works in the restaurant kitchen. Yet the love they discover is beautiful and true, and endures throughout the Japanese occupation, the civil war, the rise of Communism, and the Cultural Revolution. The novel is about how history impacts individual lives, but it is even more about the power of love to endure through the hardships of history. Yuying and Jinyi face multiple losses but remain devoted to each other and their family. The author’s own wisdom seeps through in the philosophical commentary that is laced through the novel; at times the reflections were so profound that tears came to my eyes. Despite the vast amount of ground the novel covers, the personal connection to the characters is never lost. The novel felt like it slowed a bit at the end, which was strange because the time frame jumped quickly from the 70s to the 21st century. I think the pace felt slower because at this point I felt a bit removed from the novel, and found myself wishing for more details of those time periods and what the family experienced. In spite of this, however, it got back on track toward the end sweeping to a poignant close, and the overall story didn’t lose much for those little bumps in the road. All in all this is a novel that I would very highly recommend; the author has an ability that is sadly rare nowadays, to transport the reader to another time and place and to make you feel in your bones what the characters are feeling in theirs. This is a novel that is not read but lived, and it is well worth the journey.
    • 5/5
      This novel of life and love plays out against the backdrop of recent Chinese history, from the Japanese occupation of the 1940s to the 21st century. The Jade Emperor- the head of the Chinese pantheon- has made a wager with the Kitchen God that the Kitchen God cannot fathom the workings of a single human heart. For his study, the Kitchen God has chosen Bian Yuying and Hou Jinyi, who as teens are wed in an arranged marriage- the standard of the time in that place. Yuying’s rich father, who has three daughters but no son, brings the orphaned, penniless, illiterate peasant Jinyi into the family because he has agreed to take the Bian family name, thus continuing the family line. Despite the vast difference in their upbringing, Yuying and Jinyi come to love each other. They have a baby boy, which brings them great joy. But times are changing, and Jinyi fears that life in the city won’t be safe much longer. He also wants to take his wife and son back to where he grew up, so he can raise his new family there. Taking his birth name back, he leads them on a walk halfway across China to the subsistence farm he grew up on, owned by his aunt and uncle. Partway there, their beloved son dies, and they must bury him along the road in an unmarked grave, where they will not be able to visit him. Life on the farm is hard, with endless labor and little to eat- yams and not much else. The aunt and abusive uncle disdain them. Another baby is stillborn. Yuying, who grew up with servants, ends up working even longer than the others to earn money to send a letter home: the price of a postage stamp takes months to earn. The harsh life never ends for Jinyi and Yuying. This is the time of the civil war, the take over by the Communists, the Cultural Revolution. From the late 1940s until the millennium, there is never enough to eat. Jinyi is beaten. They work long hard shifts at their regular jobs, and then join in at the community forge making worthless pig iron. Yuying, as the daughter of a rich man, is of the oppressor class and despised. Yuying and Jinyi are both sent to re-education camps for years, leaving their four small children in the care of Yuying’s foot-bound mother. The Chinese people of that time underwent more change and hardship-psychological as well as physical- than almost any other people have. But life goes on and love and hope never die. It’s the one thing Jinyi and Yuying can cling to, can count on as unchanging. This is Meekings debut novel, but it doesn’t read like one. It doesn’t have that thinness that so many first novels do. The characters and the setting are well filled in. You can feel the desperation and the constant fear. You wonder how these people can go on. I very much recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      Under Fishbone Clouds, by Sam Meekings, is a heart-rending love story set against the stark backdrop of the last half-century of Chinese history. The Kitchen God narrates the tale. This introduces strong elements of magical realism that help to contrast and heighten the reality of the characters and plot. I was enchanted by the story and utterly fascinated by the historical details. The book follows the story of the enduring love of Jinyi and Yuying. It is an unusual marriage between a rural, dirt-poor, uneducated, orphaned boy, and an urban, wealthy, educated girl. As they mature, their love develops an iron-clad tenacity forged by the turbulence of history.Had I been more familiar with recent Chinese history, the book would have been easier for me to read and would have left a better impression. Indeed, I thought I had sufficient knowledge of this country and period, but my level of knowledge was not enough for this book. Many times, I needed to stop reading the text and consult a background historical text to more fully understand the context of what was taking place. In my estimation, China is the third, and perhaps single most important, main character in this book. It is the complexity, color, diversity, ruthlessness, and vibrancy of China that remains in the mind long after the book is finished. Yes, the love story of Jinyi and Yuying pulls the reader along eagerly awaiting the next page. Also, the charming interspersed tales of Chinese folklore give the book its delightful tone of whimsy—a whimsy that contrasts sharply with the harsh reality of life in China during those impossibly difficult years. Enduring love is a strong theme, but it is China itself that muscles to the front and dominates the purpose and tone of this fine novel. Before reading this book, I recommend that you take the time to read or refresh your knowledge of modern Chinese history. You might also want to learn about China's Kitchen God and other mythical characters. All will go a long way toward increasing your enjoyment of this epic and thoroughly engrossing work of historical fiction. The novel demonstrates how history can come alive in the hands of a skillful storyteller. This is a fine debut performance by a talented new author.