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Fifteen-year-old Hong and his older brother Chen face famine, flood, pirates, and jealous rivals on their journey through fifteenth century China as Chen pursues his calling as a scholar and Hong becomes involved with a secret society known as the White Lotus.
Anonymous
Posted February 19, 2007
This book was alright, but at first it started out slow. The plot reflected the life of two brothers whose mother had passed away and made it her dream for the older of the two sons to pass the Examinations. The younger of the two, Hong, was more practical and was the leader of the trip to the Examinations. Throughout the twisted plot the reader experiences the strain on the brother's friendship and the hardships the two must face together. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Chinese history, especially the examinations.
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Posted August 24, 2006
Lao Chen and his younger brother Lao Hong go to Beijing so Chen can take the Examination test. They travel there and face many difficulties such as a flood and pirates. Hong joins the WEhite Lotus and becomes a soldier in the end when they go their separate ways. Chen gets a government position after getting 1st place in the palalce examination and goes to Ququ.
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Posted December 9, 2001
¿The Examination¿ by Malcolm Bosse has its good points along with its bad. This is a historical fiction book set in the medieval China, the Ming dynasty to be exact. He tells the tale of Lao Chen, and expiring scholar and young prodigy, who traverses the empire to take the strenuous civil service examinations. Chen is accompanied by his young brother Hong, his complete opposite. Chen is the smart type and Hong is more into adventure and military. If you are really into Chinese culture, this would be a good book for you. It explains very well the atmosphere there and how amazingly hard the Examinations are. The author is really detailed in his writing. In the beginning I found it was very interesting but by the time I made it to the middle I started to get bored. But stick with it the author comes out with a good ending and did a good job of summing up the book. To rate this book out of from 1 to 10, I would give it a 7. I thought this book was very interesting but I thought it was really missing some things to hold my interests.
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Overview
Fifteen-year-old Hong and his older brother Chen face famine, flood, pirates, and jealous rivals on their journey through fifteenth century China as Chen pursues his calling as a scholar and Hong becomes involved with a secret society known as the White Lotus.