Silent Separation (My Sunshine) 何以笙箫默 by Gu Man (HE)

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• One of my favorite modern novels!! Has anyone tried this yet? It's short and sweet, but not really fluffy (at least to me). I wish this novel was longer because I think some of the plot points and characters can be more fleshed out and explored, but I love this book still very much. Anybody else read this yet?

  • I think this is in the top list of a lot of readers and one of my favorites as well. It's funny and sweet, which is Gu Man's writing style.

    In general, I like stories where the main couple separates and is given a second chance. When they meet again, the love still lingers, but each person has become more mature. It's the maturity that helps them recognize and accept each other's strengths and weaknesses, which in turn helps them to resolve the misunderstandings/bitterness. In essense, they're able to appreciate each other more the second time around.

    I have lots of favorite moments in this story, but here are the 2 that immediately came to mind:
    - MS shamelessly pursues YC in college. Suddenly there's a rumor on campus that they're dating. Afraid that YC might think badly of her, MS runs to him to explain that she's not the one responsible for the rumor. YC cooly replies that he knows she didn't do it because he's the one who did it....lol
    - YC regularly appears on a TV show to give legal advice. Before he agrees to do the show, he specifically asks the host if the program is popular and if there are a lot of viewers. The host assures him this is so and is surprised because YC is known for being low-key. Later, MS explains that YC and her had agreed in college that if they ever lose each other, they would try to stand in the brightest spot so it's easy for them to locate and find the other person. Hence, YC's decision on going on a popular TV show so that MC could find him and come back to him (sob!).

    OK, thinking about my favorite moments makes me miss the book so time for another re-read!

  • I tried it a couple of months ago, but I gave up halfway into the second episode because I was so bored. I'm a bit harsher on modern novels than historical ones, so I might try it again because you and atsu-chan love it so much.

    • Hey, I also like it:P Listen to the audiobook so you won't get too bored just by reading words. The audiobook sound good.

    • I think for modern novels, it's a click issue. Some novels just click for you while others fall flat. I know I loved 佳期如梦 while most people hate it so... :) I feel it doesn't happen as much in ancient, fantasy novels because the story lines are more epic and grand, the stakes are higher, and it feels like love and hate and all that jazz runs with much deeper purpose. At least for me, it's harder to connect with modern novels.

      But I was reading 3000 Crows and I feel that, although I love the premise and like the characters, it just doesn't pull me in. I don't have to stay up to figure out what happens. I can just wait until the next day. It's the first time I felt that way with a non-modern novel so it was interesting...

      • I agree with atsu-chan it's a click issue. Not just for modern novels, but all novels. Our reading preferences are shaped in large part by our personal experiences and personality. So if you don't like this, xia0yuer, then you just don't like it. But I hope you'll give this another chance though. There have been books where I've dropped several times, but I'd force myself to go back to read them because of the positive reviews. Some of them I don't like, but some of them end up being my favorites.

• I loved the TV show moment too. It was touching without being overstated, and I thought it was really lovely. I actually really like both second leads He Yi Mei and Ying Hui too. They knew who they loved but they weren't afraid to step back to give their loved ones a chance at happiness, and they were brave to move on and find new loves. He Yi Mei is probably the least annoying second lead in a novel ever. Although she did tell MS that she liked YC and told her to back off, I would have done the same too. But then she realized how important MS was to both YC and herself, and her quiet support of their relationship is really commendable for me. And Ying Hui is just like a big mug of hot chocolate - such a sweet guy.

  Haha, lidge, me too! I love reading novels about lovers that separate after a long time and then get reunited. I actually love watching dramas about that too, hehe. Do you know any other good novels about separated lovers that get back together? I've about exhausted the ones I know.

  • Me thee, me three, haha......I also like this kind of novel. The separation makes everything so angsty & heart tugging. Then the reunion brings hope & sweet moments:) It is always very intense when they meet again which will lead to many swoon worthy moments, haha...

    I just started this book. I choose this book as my 1st Gu Man's book bcos it is lidge's 2nd fav book:) Saving the best for last. Will read the gamer book later as I am not into online games. I posted this book bcos I know it is a fav of lidge & you so let both of you sing praises of it, heehee...

    I just finished chapter 3 of the audio book. Love, love, love it. The pace is just right to hold my interest as I've a short attention span. Oh, I like the love confession part also. Haven't listened to the TV part yet. Initially I am not that fond of Yi Chen as he seems snooty, bland & boring. Then the confession part improves his image to I totally ship him when he hugged Mo Sheng outside her hse after knowing she has gone to a match making dinner. On one hand I can't wait to read the remainder of this novel yet don't want to finish this novel as I can't bear to be separated from it, haha....Never mind, we'll reunite in Gu Man's next novel:)

  • Hey atsu, MIA again:( :P? Have you listened to this one http://www.cxt8.com/static/chapter_885/? Is this similar? Is this good? Also, how about this http://www.520tingshu.com/book/book1415.html? Is ths the same as 爱你，是我做过最好的事? I didn't listen to this one http://www.cxt8.com/static/chapter_835/ but I think the drama The Girl in Blue is based on this book. I don't know what is the different b/w the book & the drama. The drama is full of angst & a weepy ending:(

    • :) It's my very bad habit. All of my friends complain about it, haha. But I'm around, reading all the comments. It's wonderful and everyone is so nice!!

      I haven't read 致我们终将逝去的青春 or 放弃你是我做过最好的事 but I will check them out! And yup, I think the two titles that you mentioned are the same. Thanks Peanuts! There really isn't anything you can't find. Do you know what liege's favorite book is? I want to read it with you when you read it :) But for now, I'm thinking about picking up Once Promised where I dropped it (it's probably just me, but it's a little confusing in the beginning with all the names. I'm thinking about drawing myself a character chart to keep the who's who straight), and doing the group reads with you guys. I was finishing up 3000 Crows earlier and couldn't quite catch up to you guys.

      I have read 佳期如梦 and loved it. It's actually my favorite 匪我思存 novel (more than 东宫，千山暮雪，来不及说我爱你，or 如果这一秒) but that's just a personal thing. I know many people don't like it, but I loved it. I kind of don't really like 匪我思存 novels in general because they feel a little overwrought. The ending is brutal but so sweet at the same time. The first time around, I actually refused to read the ending because I couldn't accept the fact the ending that I knew was coming but I went back to it later.

      The drama version is terrible. They totally changed around the story in some parts and it was just *headdesk* the whole way through. But I do think Qiu Ze is a good fit for Ruan Zheng Dong. It's just You Jia Qi and Chen Qiao En somehow just doesn't add up in my brain. I don't know about you guys, but sometimes, I like to cast people as characters when I read modern novels, so it's almost like a drama except it's in my head. I kept imagining Chen Kun and Zhou Xun as He Yi Chen and Zhao Mo Sheng even though they don't exactly fit the character descriptions.

      And have I mentioned that I love Zhao Mo Sheng's name? It's so incredibly awkward to say, but it's so romantic. Xu Zhi Mo inspired names are always a plus!

      • I think it is mentioned in the novel by Zhao Mo Sheng that she knows her name is awkward or something to that effect.

        Based on the online reviews I've read, the writer for 致我们终将逝去的青春 is extremely popular. I think Vicky Zhao is producing a movie based on the book. I've been meaning to read this and some of her other books, but her books in general seem kind of heavy so I'm kind of holding them off for now.

        I've started on 佳期如梦 but haven't been able to finish b/c I know it's a sad ending. Fei Wo Si Cun can be a hit or miss with me. Some of her works I enjoy, and some of her works make me scream and run in the other direction.

        atsu-chan, sorry if you misunderstand but peanuts wasn't talking about my favorite book of all time (and I really can't choose b/c there are too many..haha). I had mentioned that I'm a huge of of Gu Man, and my preference is 杉杉来吃, then this one, then the online game one. So peanuts says she's saving my #1 choice 杉杉来吃 for later.

      • I have that problem with Fei Wo Ci Cun too. There was a few I wanted to read, but knowing the sad ending, I want to steer away. I'm a angst loving person, but not sad ending lover. I find that Fei Wo Ci Cun has a special style for her stories that I can't exactly stomach well.

        Of course I'll recommend finishing Once Promised, where'd you leave off? I'd be more than happy to do more political notes for you, if the existing ones I've posted for xiaoyuer isn't helpful.

      • If you need to go MIA, don't be away too long & make sure you come back & report any good books to us:) I like all the modern books you recommended. Remember to give me feedback once you read the 2 books I enclosed links. I find it easier to listen to modern books because of my poor Mandarin:(

        Are you going to read Chong Zi or Who Gets the World with us? I do like Tong Hua's ancient books & will read Once Promised, one day:) But this is just too heavy going at the moment for me as I've just recovered fr YZG. I had it really bad with that book, took me mths to recover all the tears I shed & my poor battered heart:(

        I only read Fei Wo Si Cun's Eastern Palace & part of xiaoyuer's translations of TLTSILY. Eastern Palace is good & touching but so so sad towards the end:( TLTSILY is badly written. I feel bad for xiaoyuer as her translation is good but received lukewarm response whereas the response to Jin mi is overwhelming. If the drama doesn't have Wallace, I won't touch it with a barge pole:P The girl in Blue is different fr the book? Don't like that drama as my poor Roy died, sob sob.

        Most good novels have nice sounding names for the leading characters. I can't read Chinese so I am not that into names. As long as they don't sound bad I can tolerate. When I am reading this novel, I picture Roy & Tang Yan as my leads:)

  • atsu-chan, sounds like you've read a lot so you've probably read the ones I've read. I do have a few I like. The problem is I read everything in Viet translations, not Chinese. Most of the time, the Chinese info isn't given so I have no idea what the title/author are in Chinese.

    So far I've tried some online dictionaries to look up the books I like to see what the Chinese characters are, but it's really difficult. I've started school this week, and this is my last semester. The workload is really heavy so give me a bit of time. I'll try my best to find the info for my recommendations in Chinese so I can post for everyone.

    • Not a problem! School is starting for me again too...bleh. Just give a holler when you read something nice, and I'm sure it'll send us all scampering to check it out!

• You won't be able to d/l from that site. You'll need to register and have a chinese # for that. Try ysts8.com and ysx8.net, these both will work. You won't be able to do batch d/ls though because they all go to 115.com.

  • Really? I was registered but it wasn't like that before. Oh well, looking for more batch solutions now :)

• I spent my whole morning marathoning this book. Oh, I am out of breath now grasping for air, haha....The plot is moving rather fast & I am half way thru the book & they are married. The way they got married is just so not romantic, haha...The guy does like to shout a lot but when he isn't shouting I like him more than the girl. What is wrong with this girl? I may be bias but I feel she is at fault more for what happened 7 yrs ago. Ran away too fast, too soon. Should talk more. If I land a guy like him, I'll stick to him like glue rain or shine, heehee...

  When the guy wants to start over with her, why she told him she is married???? She is so hesitant & wishy washy. Ok, I understand her reservation but this is an opportunity not to be missed. I like the guy, he wastes no time & work very fast & efficient, my kind of guy:P She redeems herself a little when she agreed to marry him at the spur of the moment. I like Cinderella story where they live happily ever after:)

  Grrrrrgh I am very annoyed with the quality of the audiobook fr cx8t. I feel it got cut here & there plus there is a voice which kept on saying it is illegal to download this copyright audiobook. Bah, spoilt sport. I gonna hunt a nicer version & relisten again next week, muahaha..Welcome back Chancy.

• Ill post up the voice drama tomorrow morning for this book.

  • Thanks. I can listen to the radio drama online but can't download it:( Don't know how to use the rayfile website. Will make you install spyware/malware:( Also, don't know how to download fr tudou:( All the mp3 download sites for radio drama are down:( I hate those annoying pop up horrible ads on all the audiobook download sites:(

    • Did u download the tudou program? It lets u download from tudou.

      • Don't know I need to download tudou program. Such hard work, will probably just listen online:)

• Peanuts - I don't know which one to read. Which do you recommend, Peanuts? 重紫 or 且试天下? I want to finish Once Promised too, so I can probably only do one of the group reads. And about ZMS - she is rather childish, but I can see where she came from. I actually don't think that HYC is that shouty, I think the reader made him really shouty which I didn't really like. I was frustrated about the quality, but at least the story was good. It's not over the top romantic which I like very much.

  Chancy - thank you so much! I got up to the part when A Heng is trapped on the mountain. The part before with Yun Sang and the bodyguard and the Queen got me really confused with all the names. But it might have been because I was sleepy too. Anyhows, I'll go back and read through the comments and try sorting it out first. I'll let you know if I need help. Thank you!! You guys are all so nice :D

  • I'm personally liking the 且试天下 better right now. 重紫 has a gloomy feel to it, while 且试天下 is very bright. It might be more dry though because it's very wuxia like even though it's written by a woman. The writer put all the political details in the first chapter, so if you want to read that book but got lost in the first chapter I've posted a note on that in the page also.

  • It depends on what genre you like. You like wuxia or xian xia better? I don't like teacher & student love so I prefer 且试天下. Actually 重紫 is also quite a good book but the girl's devotion to the shifu & those awesome 2nd leads drive me up the wall:P I think xiaoyuer doesn't fancy 且试天下 & lidge is quite fond of 重紫. If you watch the MVs for 且试天下, it'll help you make up your mind:P

• Here is the voice drama for this novel: http://www.dramatimes.com/n656c7.aspx

  Haven't the time to really start this novel properly, kind stuck in ancient time right now. Will wait until I can get back to my time period before starting this novel. I did 2 eps from the audiobook, and I find myself zooming out too often. The voice drama is only 5-6 eps, so I'm also wondering if they chopped out alot. I know they use noises to replace some descriptive sentences, so perhaps that's how they are able to make it so short.

  Peanut have you tried it?

• I fnished this audiobook in record time, in less than 24 hrs, haha....I listened until abt 4am:( Then I can't sleep thinking abt Yi Chen & Mo Sheng:( Gu Man's book is bad for my health so I won't start another of her book just yet:) I will give this book 8 out of 10 bcos I like it inspite of many potholes. But I prefer Twice Blooming Flower more.

  I want to complain that my ending got cut off. The quality of the 24 chapters version I got is really very bad. I'll give the short radio drama version a try when I want to reread this book. I definitely like this enough to sit thru a reread later when my memory starts to fade:)

  This story is very Cinderella feel bcos I doubt any guy will not date anyone & wait for a girl who abandoned him 7 yrs ago. Also, hard to accept the girl did not consider Ying Hui as a good catch when he is so handsome, sweet & successful while she is all lonely in US. The reason for them to get married is very weak. More credible if it is for your relative's kid or mostly likely reason for sham marriage is to get the green card. Lastly the ending bit abt MS's dad indirectly caused the death of YC's dad is too much. Difficult for me to comprehand how he can accept MS without anger & so readily accept all this. Also is it a good idea not to tell MS the truth? What if she found out later?

  After all my criticisms & complains as I am a realistic & logical kind of person, I do like this book. The near exclusive focus on the OTP deepens my love for them. Their interactions with each other are littered with many bitter sweet moments. There is no annoying 3rd party in the novel to rattle me. The length of this novel is just right to capture & retain my interest. I like the girl's determination & courage in chasing after YC. The guy's devotion & dedication to the girl also melt my heart. I like the part where MS will count the tiles on the pathway while waiting for YC. She always threatens him that she'll leave once she counted to 1000 but she never get beyond 999, so sweet:)

  • This is definitely my next read when i finish one of the current book. It has all the elements of an addictive book for me.

    • There are 2 versions of the audiobook. The non Zhejiang version seems better which I've attached as audiobook1. There is also a radio drama.

  • I completely agree with you, Peanuts! I was hoping that Ying Hui and Yi Mei would play bigger roles and have more fleshed out personalities. I wanted a stronger reason for MS and YH's fake marriage, I wanted to see more of YH's vulnerability, I wanted to be torn between YH and YC instead of knowing that YC was the end game from the start. I wanted to see more of YM and MS's friendship (beside the bit that is in the epilogue), I wanted to see the reasons why YM cared so much for YC. I felt there was a lot more to be explored, but I like how Gu Man didn't make it larger than the concept it could actually hold. It's sweet and endearing, but it still leaves more to be desired.

    • Hey atsu, you listened to the audiobook by Zhejiang broadcasting? I found another audiobook which is better as YC doesn't shout his lines & no annoying warnings not to download.

      • Where?

        • I attached all the download links in my intro.

      • Really, really?! I'm going to check it out. Many, many thanks!!

• Hey Chancy, you are listening to the non-Amy broadcast? How do you like this story? I like it for being sweet & short to hold my interest & tell a nice story. But not as much as Chatters because this story is way to short for character developments and not enough angsts to make my heart goes flip flop. Hehe, I support He Yi Chen here but Mai Xiao Liang in Chatters

  • Yes Im doing the radiodrama. Im not sure how much is chopped out as it is only 6 parts. A little over 3 hrs. Im only 3/4 in. Ill wait till i finish it to give comment.

• Fan-made MVs
  Wallace Chung: http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/9k4LtQvdatQ
  Hu Ge & Tang Ren: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0xYiRNwbPU
  Hu Ge & Liu Shi Shi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgYEdCXTICg
  Hu Ge & Liu Yi Fei: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSHowVfSPw