The sixty-fifth book: #54 The Dream of the Red Chamber - Cao Xueqin
I've had a love-hate relationship with this book. It obviously took me a while to finish, as I read through all 120 chapters - the last 40 are less canonical, but it sounds like they have a basis in the original story, even if they were edited or rewritten by someone else. There's a definite tonal shift that would have been to be able to end up with a "good" ending, but at the same time it's a continuation as published.
Jia Bao-yu is a Chinese noble's version of a rebellious teenager - rather than study nad go to school, he hangs around home with the women, writing poetry and studying art. The novel follows him growing up, as well as what happens to his family arounds them - their interactions with the imperial court and their declining fortunes, unable to keep up the lifestyle they're accustomed to. It can drag a bit - the poetry is not something that appeals to me in the way it gets presented - and there are more amusing vignettes that appeal to me more. When the story starts taking off and stuff happens, it's at its best, but for the most part this feels like an insight into the life of Chinese nobility at the time.
That's good in the final part, when there are resolutions, and at times in the first parts, when the set up happens, but I also feel I miss a bit of context for the more social events. I get mixed up and bored, but luckily there are enough scenes here that did interest me that, on the whole, I had a good reason to make my way through.