Read this when
Dream of the Red Chamber (The Story of the Stone)
Too sensitive for your family, and they're choosing your future for you? Daiyu gets it. Bring tissues for chapter 98. 🌸
Who it's for
The novel builds an entire household (hundreds of relatives and servants) so the reader feels a family system from the inside: hierarchies, favouritism, gossip and the pressure of expectations.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Dream of the Red Chamber, also known as The Story of the Stone, was written by Cao Xueqin from the 1740s until his death around 1763–64. It was first printed in 1791–92 by Gao E and Cheng Weiyuan, who added 40 chapters. The novel traces the rise and decline of the wealthy Jia family across its Rongguo and Ningguo branches, with a cast of dozens of major and hundreds of minor characters.
Where to find it
A partial 19th-century translation (H. Bencraft Joly's 'Hung Lou Meng') is public domain and free on Project Gutenberg. The complete Hawkes and Minford translation (Penguin Classics, five volumes) and.
Before you start
Heads up: Suicides and a young woman's death.
Age: Ages 16+
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, “On Children”
