Instruct: Classify the given review into positive or negative sentiment.
Query: I liked it better 15 years ago

I read the Chung Kuo series a long time ago and thought they were great, but I lost them during a cross-country move a few years ago. When I found the first two books on Amazon, I got excited and started reading them again. I guess my standards have changed because I found the writing self-absorbed this time around. There were long meanderings that hammered certain plot points to death and then there was the overuse of some words like "shiver." Warning, there are graphic scenes of sex and brutality that effectively illustrate the culture, but could have made the point with less excruciating detail. Yet . . . the plot continues to enthrall. The futuristic setting of a restored Chinese Empire that now rules the entire earth is gripping, and the characters are deep and well-drawn, like living people. Now that I'm grown up, yeah, I'm still reading them, but I'll be skimming through some passages.