A Single Swallow - An Emotional Reminder of War Impacts
I finally finished reading this book after almost decided to give up and close the book altogether 😂 Why i almost give up? Well, you’ll find the reason after this..
So A single Swallow is written by Zhang Ling and first published on July 2017 in Chinese. And then the translated version is then published on October 2020. I purchased this 304 pages book on July this year during the sales in Amazon Kindle 😆 Seriously, you should check the sales on Amazon regularly to get a very interesting offer.
What is the book about?
This book is about a tragic and emotional journey during war, centered in the life of a woman who is called by 3 names, the Swallow bird, the Wind, and the Star, whose life changed after Japanese bombs attacked her village - Sishiyi Bu.
What is its Strength?
🎭 Characters
Zhang Ling is succeeded in presenting many interesting characters, highlighted from the civilian, the victims of the war, to the foreigner ; the pastor and the military instructor. The destiny of four of them is tied in the living world and extended to their after lives
⌨️ Language
The original version is in Chinese and then translated by Shelly Bryant and I thought she has done a wonderful job translating it. I understand that Chinese language and dialect is very rich in meaning and depth, and so capturing its charm in English brings delight to me.
✉️ Message
With this book we are reminded again that War destroyed the life of innocent people, separates children from their parents, the woman from the husbands, the family from society. I hope humanity is the main consideration to keep us out of any war, ideally.
“War is a black cloth that blocks heaven’s light, preventing it from shining on the earth, and under its cover, no one can see their own conscience.”
What is other consideration?
🎢 Theme
I think personally, war-themed-book is not for me. Specifically after just reading the same genre in The Broken Circle by Enjeela Ahmadi-Miller, a memoir of his childhood escaping the war in her hometown Afghanistan. So when i read A Single Swallow, i immediately feel overwhelmed with all emotions, despair, frustration, and hopeless.
So What? Is it Recommended or Not??
First of all, I'd like to convey that there's trigger warning you should consider, including trigger warning for "Abuse", "Violence", "Animal Abuse".
Even though those is not elaborated explicitly, however some contexts and events can make your imaginations run wild and it's terrifying.
If you're fine after the trigger warning, I should say that I still recommended it for you, because it's really informative, about the frowning impact of a war, and also about the valuable knowledge from Chinese culture and history.
How to Get the Book?
You can purchase it from Amazon or Periplus by clicking the button below :
If you’ve read this book, please share your thought in the comment section below or you can message me thru Instagram 😄
See you in next article 👋🏽
