Lilian Shang, the American daughter of the highest-placed Chinese spy ever captured by the FBI decides to search for her father's first wife's family in China. Her late father's long-time mistress provides key knowledge--and his diaries--to her.In her search, she finds and learns more than she expec...
The writing seems very spare. It's not a translation by the way, but by a man whose native language is Chinese writing in English. The characters often exasperated me with their varieties of passivity: Lin in not insisting on divorce or letting Manna go; his wife Shuyu in her submissiveness and pas...
Found this quick read frustrating. Critics cited the wit and humor, which I didn't see. I found the ending rushed, unconvincing, and thus, unsatisfying.Amazing portrait of modern-day China, however.
I'm going to start this with the caveat that I know very little about China, and even less about Chinese culture. I've read reviews where the author has been lambasted for creating a book about China that white people would be happy with, and I can see how the accusations might be correct... sadly,...
I actually really enjoyed this, despite the reviews I read. It felt authentic to me, mostly...although in a few places I think the characters said things that probably were a bit too modern. I liked Minnie and Anling, and felt crazy with rage when they were helpless to control the things happening a...
While I found the opening sections of this book riveting and horrifying the slow pace and dwelling on minute details left me struggling to keep up my interest as the novel progressed. Clearly a subject worthy of exploration and revelation but I couldn't help but compare it unfavorably with classic ...
This book is the "memoir" of the experiences of Yu Yuan, former student at the Huangpu Military Academy, during the Korean War, most of which he spends imprisoned by the Americans. Actually, you might say "during the Chinese civil war", because the effects of that conflict are everywhere. You might ...
A good historical novel about the Rape of Nanking and subsequent occupation by the Japanese army told from the perspective of a Chinese woman who works with Minnie Vautrin, an American missionary who helped save the lives of thousands of Chinese. Having read so many historical accounts of the atroci...
A very nice collection of poetry that can be moving and inspiring at times. The author shows a good degree of humility in his subjects. His topics range from simple things to political events. I liked the poem about wanting to be a stone in a river; it was simple, but it had some rich imagery as wel...
I don't know. I feel like I was missing something with this book. None of the stories succeeded in grabbing me. The characters felt so flat, as though they would never change, and the dialogue felt awkward and unrealistic. I liked some of the themes that Jin brought up, but I felt as though they got...
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