About this title: Who would believe that reading a novel written in deliberately bad English could be as uplifting an experience as this? But Xiaolu Guo, writing in English for the first time, has pulled it off in a novel that has the potential to be as successful as "A History of Tractors" in Ukranian or "Lost in Translation". Her narrator, who calls herself Z ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday, New York
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780385520294ISBN:0385520298
Description: As New in Very Good jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. First Edition, first printing, Doubleday, 2007. As New in a VG+ jacket. Tiny amt of wear to jacket. read more
Edition: First edition. 1st printing.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780385520294ISBN:0385520298
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. DJ has very minor wear, binding is tight and square, pages are clean and unmarked. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. 283 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780385520294ISBN:0385520298
Description: New in New jacket. Hardcover with dust jacket. From Publishers Weekly: A young woman from rural China learns how to comprehend love and heartbreak in English in this quirky, touching novel. Zhuang, or Z to tongue-tied foreigners, arrives in London at age 23 after being dispatched by her parents to get an education. Her immersion and painful education are laid bare to readers, who witness Z's vocabulary, grammar and understanding blossom throughout her diarylike account, sped along by an ... read more
Description: Good. Ships from the UK. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Your purchase also supports literacy charities. read more
Description: Good. Ships from the UK. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Your purchase also supports literacy charities. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Chatto and Windu
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780701181147ISBN:0701181141
Description: Good. This is an EX LIBRARY copy with all the usual stamps, marks etc. The inside flysheet has been tidily removed. This book is in GOOD overall condition. It shows signs of having been read and has general light wear to the cover, spine and pages. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780099501473ISBN:0099501473
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date Published: 2008-06-24
ISBN-13:9780307278401ISBN:0307278409
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780307278401. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Chatto and Windus
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780701180386ISBN:0701180382
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Anchor
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780307278401ISBN:0307278409
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: VINTAGE Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780099501473ISBN:0099501473
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 368 pages. Twenty-three-year-old zhuang (or z as she calls herself) arrives in london to spend a year learning english. struggling to find her way in the city, and through the puzzles of tense, verb and adverb; she falls for an older englishman and begins to realise that the landscape of love is an even trickier terrain. (Paperback) read more
"I loved how the language was so broken at the start & (i you were paying attention) the author, in parallel with her character, progressively got better & by the end was speaking(/writing) near perfect english:) i thought that was quite clever.....:) As for the actual book: quaint, sweet, but kind of forgettable. Most interesting in expressing cultural differences between 'east'/ 'west' that I would never have thought of, ie. did you know that 'to love' in chinese has no time tense, ie. there is no 'i loved her', only 'i love her', the concept of love is simply eternal:))
But again, glad I was lent it, as I always feel guilty when I buy a book & don't absolutely love it:).. 3 stars..."
"Oh this is such a sweet novel! It was very enjoyable and fast read. I was more than once burst out laughing in the public transport! But humour is not everything and even not the main thing. This is story about extraterrestrial difference between two cultures told in very original (and undoubtedly very funny) way. Also this is story about love, its different forms and how love means one thing here and something very different somewhere else, even the word "love" doesn't have the same weight here and there (I must say I prefer Chinese meaning). There are numerous little pearls in this novel and if I start naming them there will be no end so I'll leave you to dive into this linguistic, culinary, emotional, sexy, philosophical ... implosion between these lovely covers."
"This was an interesting book to read - the main character is a Chinese woman who is learning English, so at the beginning its written in quite broken English, but later on the spelling and grammar etc. improve. Its a neat gimmick, but seeing as the reasoning for that was that she was writing a journal in English, sometimes I did wonder if she would have been making such massive journal entries, sometimes in written in the present tense...but I think that's just nitpicking really.
Story-wise it was pretty gripping - it centres around the main character and her relationship with an English guy she meets and moves in with rather quickly, due to a misunderstanding. The characterisation works almost too well though - both main characters have just as many personality quirks and flaws as any other normal person, so there is no fantastical sense of a wonderful romance, more the everyday poignancy of a normal human relationship's ups and downs."
"Written in first person in a series of monthly observations, this book is a love story as written by a twenty year old Chinese girl, sent by her parents to London to learn English to better herself and to make their shoe factory more viable. She knows no one in England, speaks very little English, and is totally bewildered by the customs of such a foreign culture. She goes to the movies and connects with the man sitting next to her. So far, a rather conventional love story. The conflict between cultures is only part of the story. He lives totally in the present, making no plans. She wants and needs some plans and assurances that he is unwilling to give. I found the broken English kind of annoying most of the way through the book, even given the subject. This is not a classic romance, and parts of it go on a little longer than I expected, but it was a good read."
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