THE VINTAGE BOOK OF CONTEMPORARY CHINESE FICTION

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THE VINTAGE BOOK OF CONTEMPORARY CHINESE FICTION

Name: THE VINTAGE BOOK OF CONTEMPORARY CHINESE FICTION
Author: Carolyn Choa
ISBN: 0-375-70093-5

edited by Carolyn Choa & David Su Li-Qun ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 20, 2001

A very mixed bag, then. But as the only anthology of its kind currently available, well worth a look.

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Both ideology and art are served, with varying results, in this nonetheless interesting collection of 21 stories by 19 Chinese writers, most of them little known or unknown in the West.

Though the balance of the stories were written since 1970, the shadows of Mao’s Cultural Revolution and a long history of repressive regimentation are visible on virtually every page. And though editor Li-Qun’s brief introductory remarks call attention to “Character-led [as opposed to narrative-driven] fiction,” the volume contains such undistinguished work as his own flaccid account of a young London woman’s dream of performing in Chinese opera (“From Beijing Opera”); Wang Ceng-qi’s shapeless portrayal of relationships among primary school teachers and staff (“Big Chan”); and Shi Tie-sheng’s “Fate,” a discursive autobiographical speculation on the role chance plays in human affairs. There are interesting characterizations in “Hong Taiti,” Cheng Nai-shen’s wistful tale of a gracious, compassionate woman humbled by the Revolution, and Chen Shi-xu’s “The General and the Small Town,” whose eponymous protagonist maintains his dignity and courage throughout the havoc wreaked by shifting political winds. Even better are Feng Ji-cai’s “The Tall Woman and Her Short Husband,” about a devoted couple ruined by malicious gossip and false allegations of treason, and Cai Ce-hai’s briskly told “The Distant Sound of Tree-Felling,” in which an elderly carpenter’s stubborn conventionality threatens the happiness that his long-suffering daughter and compliant apprentice seem destined for. Best of all are two stories by the gifted Su Tong (known here for such memorable fiction as Raise the Red Lantern and Rice). His “Cherry” is a beautifully developed (if unsurprising) ghost story, and “Young Muo” is a tragicomic fabliaux about an egoistic doctor’s son; both deftly display this underrated writer’s absolute mastery of narrative economy and realistic detail.

A very mixed bag, then. But as the only anthology of its kind currently available, well worth a look.

Pub Date: Nov. 20, 2001

ISBN: 0-375-70093-5

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Vintage

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2001

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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BETWEEN SISTERS

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2003

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...

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Sisters in and out of love.

Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.

Pub Date: May 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-345-45073-6

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

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A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.