Some strong stories, others I couldn’t get through

This collection started off really strong. The first four stories were great, so I was really excited up until that point, but then my interest started to wane. My star ratings for each story are below. The character-driven stories I tended to like the most (e.g., Field Notes on a Marriage, Beautiful Country). I would definitely suggest this book to anyone who enjoys anthologies and cultural fiction, though. The writing style was really great and the stories were all fleshed out well. Even though the stories in the middle were harder for me to get through, I believe many people would like them nonetheless.

Lulu: 4 stars
Hotline Girl: 4 stars
New Fruit: 5 stars
Field Notes on a Marriage: 5 stars
Flying Machine: 2 stars
On the Street Where You Live: 3 stars
Shanghai Murmur: 2 stars
Land of Big Numbers: dnf
Beautiful Country: 4 stars
Gubeikou Spirit: 4 stars