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If you saw the Barbie movie you ought to read this.

I am only about half way through this so far - it's a fairly easy read.

I am an intellectual property lawyer, so I am keyed into the legal parts of the book.

But you don't need to be a lawyer to understand the conflict.

I was particularly interested in the energy that these corporations brought to their battles as well as the heavy hand of ownership they try to exert over the creative people who work for these companies.

I need to read this again, perhaps a different translation. I missed so much on the first reading. (There is at least one useful podcast about the book.)

This book is daunting - 2500 pages in total, about 400 characters (only about a dozen are primary characters.) But it is well worth the effort.

And the central portion tends to get into 18th century Chinese poetry, something that doesn't come across well in English.

This book has spawned at least two TV series and an opera.

I was particularly intrigued by the characters Feng (who ran the household - and a loan sharking business on the side) and the various "maids" (essentially female slaves.)