Empire of Glass, Kaitlin Solimine
Empire of Glass, Kaitlin Solimine
List: $22.00 | Sale: $15.40
Club: $11.00

Empire of Glass

Author: Kaitlin Solimine

Narrator: Joshua Fu, Si Chen

Unabridged: 9 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/14/2024


Synopsis

In the mid-1990s, an American teenager, named Lao K in Chinese, stands on Coal Hill, a park in Beijing, a loop of rope in her hand. Will she assist her Chinese homestay mother, Li-Ming, who is dying of cancer, in ending her life, or will she choose another path? Twenty years later, Lao K receives a book written by Li-Ming called “Empire of Glass,” a narrative that chronicles the lives of Li-Ming and her husband, Wang, in pre and post-revolutionary China over the last half of the twentieth century. Lao K begins translating the story, which becomes the novel we are reading. But, as translator, how can Lao K separate fact from fiction, and what will her role be in the book’s final chapter?

A grand, experimental epic—Lao K’s story is told in footnotes that run throughout the book—that chronicles the seismic changes in China over the last half century through the lens of one family’s experiences, Empire of Glass is an investigation into the workings of human memory and the veracity of oral history that pushes the boundaries of language and form in stunning and unforgettable ways.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Angela M on September 08, 2017

I wanted to read something different and I thought this would be a good one. It sounded interesting enough. But I found myself in the position of not really being captivated by a book that has a lot of 5 star reviews and has been shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Award. I'm an outli......more

Goodreads review by Skip on August 26, 2017

Well, I seem to be a minority of one since everybody else loves this book. Solimine's East Asian studies seem to shine through, at least with respect to providing a feel for China, its culture, and the mindset of its people. However, there was nothing else I liked about this book. I did not care for......more

Goodreads review by Vanessa on June 06, 2017

Stunning and incisive, EMPIRE OF GLASS will dazzle you with its meditations on history, poetry, love, and family. She masterfully shows the sweep of history, but also takes us intimately into a family. Cross cultures, cross continents, cross genres. You'll be thinking about the book for long time af......more

Goodreads review by Mary on June 09, 2017

I love this book. The writing is beautiful and every word is poetic. Empire of Glass will move and delight you. I learned so much about China from the author's sensitive writing about -- and the narrator's relationship with -- the culture and people depicted in the book. My book group has chosen thi......more

Goodreads review by Sarah on June 19, 2017

Empire of Glass is a gorgeous and smart debut novel! It drew me in immediately with its compelling frame story, the Translator's Note and corresponding footnotes. It kept me reading with an exciting and layered plot, epic scope, and poetically rendered language. I loved the way it wove together th......more