The People’s War is a historical fiction novel based on the events in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Jing is an inventory accountant at a local factory in China. He lives a few blocks away from the factory, on the outskirts of Tiananmen Square. He walks through the square on his way to work each morning and again on his way home. At first, he kindly nods to but ignores the protestors. Most of the protesters are students, with parents who’s economic standing is high above that of a lowly factory accountant. But soon the political climate changes in the square and Jing’s thoughts change along with it.
I enjoy many historical fiction books. This one, however, was very drawn out and dull. Chapter after chapter, we follow Jing through the square and we hear his thoughts – which are pretty much the same as the last chapter. He goes to work, he counts inventory, he walks home, he cooks noodles, the thinks the same things about the protestors, then he goes to bed. Once in a while, he does laundry. Multiple chapters like this. It was very redundant and dull. It seemed like the author had a word or page quota that needed to be reached. A big edit and condensing of several chapters would do this book a favor.
This book also has quite a bit of political discussion between Jing and one of the student protest leaders. There is a lot of theory thrown back and forth. I don’t enjoy political debate, so this part of the story was also dull for me. This, however, could be quite stimulating to others, if they enjoy a good political debate about the aspects of the communist party.
It may have just been the version of the story I received, but there were random numbers in the middle of sentences throughout the book. It was highly distracting and somewhat annoying. I couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be page numbers that were translated into the middle of text or some other marker.
There are a couple side stories that come up in a few chapters. These characters appear for one chapter, with quite a bit of backstory but don’t seem to add much to the overall story to warrant their own entire chapters. I found their addition to the plot distracting.
For as much as I struggled through this book, there were a few ideals and thoughts that did jump out at me. “Those who are willing to accept the true answer are braver than those who stand on a pedestal far from the truth and claim they are right.” I really am impressed by people who are open minding enough to investigate new thoughts and see if the ideas fit with their ideals. And if they do fit, to make a change or say your previous stance was wrong, I find that very noble.
Another quote I liked was “No moment is just ever a moment. No action is a stand-alone choice made in the blink of an eye. Every moment we have is summed up minute to minute. Every new moment adds up and factors into a persons’s character. Those times when a simple choice affects a person’s life, it wasn’t really a simple choice at all. A character built on everyday moments made that choice. Every big moment is fed by the smaller moments.” I totally believe this is true. We make choices based on other experiences we have had in our past. We are a sum of our actions. We can change – no one should be judged on one action they took in the past. But those moments create our story and who we are. This is one part that the author got completely right.
Written by Patti F. for Truth About Books by A. Fae.
This book was provided for us for free in exchange for an honest review.