The Memory About You is the most beautiful and tragic of love stories. It is renown Chinese author and drama producer Tong Hua’s third and latest novel on urban romance following a 5 year intermission.
The novel revolves around female protagonist Yan Xiao Chen, spanning her schooling years to her life in the corporate world. It depicts the attitudes and choices people have as they face setbacks and tragedy in life.
Our lives can never be monotone, there will always be the requisite sunshine and rain, both beauty and pain. Through testing times of bleakness, know that while there are no guaranteed happily-ever-afters, there is also no eternal agony. We may hold no power over the situations we encounter but we can control our outlook in life as well as muster the courage to meet life head-on. Orientate yourself towards the light and cast the shadows behind.
The memories of time past will eventually become a source of comfort in time to come.
My most cherished memory of my youth was my secretly falling for you. You with that brilliant smile and shinning eyes who stood out in a crowd. I confessed my feelings for you but I was so nervous I quickly fled, too embarrassed to face you. On the other hand, you were not like the facade you plastered on, one of nonchalance, anxiety and helplessness.
I would never forget there once was a boy who ploughed through the Internet till the wee hours of the morning to search for that one song I had sung. Or the boy who would hide in the balcony and sing in his off-key manner, a song meant only for my ears.
Forget the causes or the consequences, meeting you and falling in love with you will always be the best thing that has happened to me.
Although I know
There would come a day
When all my troubles and happiness, and all my love and hatred
Would eventually mellow with time
I persist in holding on with all my heart and all my might
Those beautiful, haunting memories that were worth making
Destiny has always had a mind of its own
You can’t control where it leads nor decide how it ends
You can’t even determine if the things you encounter in life are blessings or downfalls
However, you will always have control over your attitude when facing life head-on
[Ebook] [Audiobook] [Nửa thời gian ấm áp][Drama]
Personally, I’m not a fan of Tong Hua’s modern works though her novels in ancient or mythical settings have always blown me away. Some plot devices that work in the latter settings seem too inconceivable in the current world. Case in point, I felt that the great reveal was a bit weak and too melodramatic for my liking. And that’s coming from me who loves sad endings!
I’ve translated a short excerpt (which is really the first few paragraphs) and have placed in under a cut just in case it’s too spoilery.
Whew! Tong Hua has written another book.
I LOVE her books but she was too successfully tragic in Once Promise and I have stopped reading her books as a result – unless someone tells me it has a happy ending? Given it is a “BE”, your translation is probably the closest I will ever get to reading the book. Thank you for the review and your lovely translation!
I was pretty excited to start this book since it had a many voice audiobook. After 10-15 into the book I couldn’t stop my temptation to read other people’s comments and spoiled myself. I was expecting a BE, but not this blood coughing of one. Very true, Tong Hua’s modern works aren’t as smooth flowing as her ancient works which really does blow you away whether BE or HE. The modern ones, she seems too hard to make it a twisting BE that sometimes seems to deliberate, it can’t be that consequence that things turn out this way.
I like the characters enough in this story. I feel that I will ship her and her ex bf (he doesn’t really appear like a ex since they still like each other.)
I like Tong Hua’s other modern book. Not the Best Time one, the other one which I don’t remember name. That one feels more realistic. Sadly they stopped reading because of issues with reading rights.