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More on The Poppy War, and Kdrama
Oct. 24th, 2022 09:55 pmAt the last 1/5 of book, and Nezha isn't dead! yay! At least, I gather so by the way the protagonist Rin describes how beautiful he is again and how he's hinted to have hidden powers, so even though he's appeared again and then disappeared, I think he'll pop up again somewhere? (No spoilers please.)
And whilst I should not be surprised that a book with strong lashings of recent China and East Asia history eventually gets round to some exceedingly violent and senseless, well, violence, I am still a bit peeved at the reference to Rape of Nanking and comfort women. (Giving me the impression no other types of violence were ever inflicted elsewhere.) And since the book is titled Poppy War, I was waiting for the opium thing to show up, and it finally did. Grr.
Yes, this has been an emotional response. >_<
I'm gonna think strongly about whether to read the other books in the series. Not that I don't enjoy the writing: it is still very good but... I dunno what. My ideal plot development is more mystery (as in whodunit)? I'll keep reading for Nezha?
Segue into how, if you've watched the same Hong Kong dramas featuring Nezha in various remakes of Investiture of the Gods, it's just impossible not to adore Nezha. Or maybe that was just me? To a child working out how you relate to your parents and their seeming power over you the child, Nezha's death decision/fuck-you to his parents was like a punch in the head. It was horrifying, blood-soaked and powerful. I think I never saw my parents in quite the same light afterwards. I mean, I still love them and have the typical Asian child's attitude towards them, but there's that little bit sticking out too. Maybe you just had to be there, lol.
***
Also watching a new Kdrama, Under the Queen's Umbrella (trailer), period palace drama currently at episode 4, where Kim Hye Soo (from Signal) is the queen and mother of five sons, racing to (1) find cure for Crown Prince eldest son's illness while (2) keeping an eagle eye over her other sons, (3) amid potentially deadly palace politicking. I'm purely watching it for Kim Hye Soo really (and her eyebrows). It's supposed to be a bit of a comedy but there've been loads of serious moments, including at the end of episode 3 with her third offspring. So not bad for the Deepavali break.
Happy Deepavali/Diwali to everyone! More than ever, we need the forces of evil to be defeated, yes?
And whilst I should not be surprised that a book with strong lashings of recent China and East Asia history eventually gets round to some exceedingly violent and senseless, well, violence, I am still a bit peeved at the reference to Rape of Nanking and comfort women. (Giving me the impression no other types of violence were ever inflicted elsewhere.) And since the book is titled Poppy War, I was waiting for the opium thing to show up, and it finally did. Grr.
Yes, this has been an emotional response. >_<
I'm gonna think strongly about whether to read the other books in the series. Not that I don't enjoy the writing: it is still very good but... I dunno what. My ideal plot development is more mystery (as in whodunit)? I'll keep reading for Nezha?
Segue into how, if you've watched the same Hong Kong dramas featuring Nezha in various remakes of Investiture of the Gods, it's just impossible not to adore Nezha. Or maybe that was just me? To a child working out how you relate to your parents and their seeming power over you the child, Nezha's death decision/fuck-you to his parents was like a punch in the head. It was horrifying, blood-soaked and powerful. I think I never saw my parents in quite the same light afterwards. I mean, I still love them and have the typical Asian child's attitude towards them, but there's that little bit sticking out too. Maybe you just had to be there, lol.
***
Also watching a new Kdrama, Under the Queen's Umbrella (trailer), period palace drama currently at episode 4, where Kim Hye Soo (from Signal) is the queen and mother of five sons, racing to (1) find cure for Crown Prince eldest son's illness while (2) keeping an eagle eye over her other sons, (3) amid potentially deadly palace politicking. I'm purely watching it for Kim Hye Soo really (and her eyebrows). It's supposed to be a bit of a comedy but there've been loads of serious moments, including at the end of episode 3 with her third offspring. So not bad for the Deepavali break.
Happy Deepavali/Diwali to everyone! More than ever, we need the forces of evil to be defeated, yes?