- #1
I decided to read this short novella because Zhu Yilong is starring in a drama adaptation of it, and despite all the explosions and gunfights in the trailers & previews, this book was not what I expected. If you're in this to read a spy thriller or a suspense novel, this book isn't it at all. It does have romantic entanglements, but I hesitate to call it a romance novel either. It's more of a character study of the several characters involved with the intelligence agencies in the Second Sino-Japanese War. I think it's supposed to highlight the low-ranked "little guys" behind the scenes, like the main character and his love interests, or the Japanese doctor that he befriended, who all have to put their jobs and their duty above their lives.Anyway, it's a kind of slow, introspective read if you're in the mood for something in that line. Not quite my cup of tea or my genre, but I liked the characters and I liked the prose (I read this in the original Chinese.)