Vivian's Reviews > Bridge of Birds

"Don't be ashamed of reliving your childhood, Ox, because all of us must do it now and again in order to maintain our sanity"

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At a party, a neighbor, unprompted thrust it into my hand saying, read this. Now as I teetered home downhill on my heels, slightly tipsy, I thought why, oh why did I get snookered into this.

TWO YEARS LATER

This was wonderful, and I never should have doubted my friend. I also shouldn't have left it on the bookshelf for so long, only to be asked about it at every subsequent gathering. Guilt was beginning to get the better of me and then I saw carol.'s review in the feed last month--5 stars! Then I checked my other friends: 3- 5 stars and 2- 3 stars.

Guilt got a big nudge two weeks ago when Dan 2.0 with whom I had been recently acquainted added it to his To-Read list. I pounced. Inquired if Dan had any interest in a buddy read--yes. Success! Now, I had to do it or be that person, the kind that says they'll read with you and then disappears. Nope, not me.

Shut up and talk about the book, already.

This was a cleverly written folk tale. More specifically, I categorize it as a fable since it has moral elements. Number Ten Ox is the quintessential pure hero, simple country boy, padawan. While Master Li, well, he has "a slight flaw in his character", represents the wise elder leading the young hero on his journey. What follows is an amusing series of absurdities.

What elevates this is that it is very clever, very funny, and oddly touching. Through horrible catastrophes and gruesome deaths you begin to feel for not just the heroes and the downtrodden, but even those who have done less than honorable things. It's really quite wonderful.

Yeah, it gets 5 stars because it nailed the ending.