Book Review: The Girl Who Played Go

This book is at once hauntingly beautiful and brutally violent. As the Japanese invade China in the 1930's, a young girl and a soldier try to escape the harsh realities of their lives by playing the board game Go.

Each chapter is only about two pages long, and alternates between the girl's story and the soldier's. The book itself is tiny (only 5X7 in hardcover), so it was easy to carry it around in my bag and read it on the train. It's a quick read, and filled with the author's gorgeous prose: "There is no moon tonight, and the wind wails like a new-born baby. Up above us, a god confronts a goddess, scattering the stars."

When I finished this book, I wanted to cry, drink sake, and order up some veggie dumplings at my local Chinese restaurant, not necessarily in that order.