Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
Despite some drudgery in the second half, Ninth Building's dreamlike structure and niche level of detail creates an intensely emotional, idiosyncratic headspace, and realises a cultural shift in a way I've never seen before. Written by Zou Jingzhi. Longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023.
8/10
Ninth Building: A fascinating collection of vignettes drawn from Zou Jingzhi’s experience growing up during the Cultural Revolution, first as a boy in Beijing and then as a teenager exiled to the countryside. Zou poetically captures a side of the Cultural Revolution that is less talked about―the sheer tedium and waste of young life, as well as the gallows humour that accompanies such desperate situations.
Goodreads: goodreads.com/user/show/61199102
Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/TheDiscoKing
Let me know what I should review next! Thanks for watching, and remember: don't be a tattletale.
#internationalbookerprize #bookerprize #ninthbuilding #books
Despite some drudgery in the second half, Ninth Building's dreamlike structure and niche level of detail creates an intensely emotional, idiosyncratic headspace, and realises a cultural shift in a way I've never seen before. Written by Zou Jingzhi. Longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023.
8/10
Ninth Building: A fascinating collection of vignettes drawn from Zou Jingzhi’s experience growing up during the Cultural Revolution, first as a boy in Beijing and then as a teenager exiled to the countryside. Zou poetically captures a side of the Cultural Revolution that is less talked about―the sheer tedium and waste of young life, as well as the gallows humour that accompanies such desperate situations.
Goodreads: goodreads.com/user/show/61199102
Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/TheDiscoKing
Let me know what I should review next! Thanks for watching, and remember: don't be a tattletale.
#internationalbookerprize #bookerprize #ninthbuilding #books
