I really appreciated this book. I thought that the ways in which ordinary Chinese citizens and government bureaucrats were depicted in this book. Some of the scenes with the peasants seemed reminiscent of the political divides in the west right now, and I think this book did a really good job depicting a side of human nature that comes through regardless of the political state one lives in.

At the same time while this book allowed the reader to empathize with the humanity of characters, it never was so lazy as to give a character a pass just because the reader might find some shared humanity with the characters. Instead, this book pushes the limits of what sympathy looks like. It shows the brutality of divisive politics and the consequences when people are pitted against each other. It reminds us that under oppressive regimes, many people are both perpetrators and victims at the same time, and it manages to critique the Chinese regime in a way that does not center the West.