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Chengdu, Central China, 1919. The brothers Gao--Juexin, Juemin, and Juehui--live according to the traditions their family has followed for centuries. Four generations now live under the same roof, which gives Grandfather Gao, the clan's patriarch, a special pride. In the great family house, the older members continue their unmoved lives as if nothing were changing; as if General Zhang's troops, preparing a new attack at the gates of the city, could not reach them; as if the new airs from show more books and magazines weren't transforming their existence. The three Gao brothers are in agreement that the old traditions--arranged marriage, outdated rituals, and foot binding and long hair requirements for women--lack meaning, but not everyone has the strength necessary to rebel. Published for the first time in 1931, Familia portrays the disintegration of Feudalism in China at the beginning of the 20th century and is considered one of the most important works of contemporary Chinese literature. show less

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Member Reviews

3 reviews
gonna be so for real i think i'm like the rare person in my class who actually kind of didn't hate this book. YES it is CONFUSING and i'm not sure i have any idea who is who at all i have literally no idea who the cousins are and half the time i mixed the brothers up when they were called by their names and not just "__ Brother" but there were some moments when i was like okay so this isn't that bad. sure it deals with revolutionary chinese era problems that i don't necessarily get a century later and sure it's just DEPRESSING! but also i was kind of invested. don't know why. i don't do family sagas at all (i read ken follett's when i was a kid and immediately decided never to again anyway uhh yeah time to write a forums reaction post show more on this book sigh show less
Tracta del pas de l'època medieval a la modernitat a la Xina exemplificat en una família de classe alta. Les ànsies de llibertat topen amb el conservadorisme extrem que porta a acceptar la tradició com a una de les màximes autoritats juntament amb la del cap de família. També exemplifica molt bé l'estructura familiar xinesa de l'època.
El llibre és molt il·lustratiu d'un temps de la història xinesa, de la manera de viure, dels valors imperants. La traducció i les notes de la traductora són boníssimes per situar-te. El ritme del llibre també m'ha semblat xinès, contemplatiu en alguns aspectes. És un bon llibre per conèixer la Xina, més que per l'argument en si.
½
Describes about three years in the life of a wealthy family in China during the early 1920s. Main character Chueh-hui finds himself increasingly stifled and dissatisfied with traditional family life, particularly with the rigid structure and the costs incurred by innocent youth. Translation seems a bit stiff, though perhaps this is a reflection of the style of the original.

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Centenarian Authors
23 works; 2 members

Author Information

Picture of author.
52+ Works 728 Members

Some Editions

Liu, Tan-Chai (Illustrator)
Shapiro, Sidney (Translator)

Awards and Honors

Series

Belongs to Publisher Series

Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Family
Original title
家 [Jia]
Alternate titles
The Family
Original publication date
1931-1932 (Chinese original, series) (Chinese original, series); 1933 (Chinese original, single volume edition) (Chinese original, single volume edition)
Original language
Chinese

Classifications

Genres
General Fiction, Fiction and Literature
DDC/MDS
895.1Literature & rhetoricAsian LiteratureLiteratures of East and Southeast AsiaChinese
LCC
PL2780 .F4 .C5513Language and LiteratureLanguages and literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, OceaniaLanguages of Eastern Asia, Africa, OceaniaChinese language and literatureChinese literatureIndividual authors and works
BISAC

Statistics

Members
451
Popularity
67,599
Reviews
3
Rating
(3.85)
Languages
9 — Catalan, Chinese, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
44
ASINs
7