comment on language / style

In much of the novel, Li employs simple, direct prose in order to replicate the innocence and clarity of a child’s perspective. Agnès views her surroundings in a particularly stark and straightforward manner. Early in the novel, she notes, “A goat wandered off, approaching the creek… A bee landed on a chicory, making the head of the flower bow. Soon the bee would go to another flower. I could not see which part of our lives was worth other people knowing about” (32).