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Title: Ordinary
Review: I seem to be the only reader on earth at the moment who found this novel bland and bloodless. It does offer a rich look at China in a historical time and place, but so would a good history book. Jin's been compared to Henry James, which means that no one has read Henry James lately. Ordinary, dull sentences, wooden dialogue, and irritating characters. Certainly there were more compelling reads available to the National Book Award jury?
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