From bestselling Hong Kong writer Lee (The Last Princess of Manchuria, 1992): a breathless and broad-brushed tale of love among the stars of the Peking opera, the movie version of which won top prize at Cannes and is scheduled for simultaneous release. Sold by his prostitute mother to a director of a school that trains young boys to be singers in the Peking opera, timid Xiao Douzi is soon befriended by older and braver Xiao Shitou. Life at the training school is rigorous if not harsh, but Douzi, who shows much promise, is protected for the most part by Shitou, who's strong enough to split a brick in two with his forehead. The boys grow, give performances, and, as their abilities are recognized, eventually become the stars of a leading company. Their favorite opera is Farewell to My Concubine, in which the manly Shitou sings the role of a defeated general, and Douzi, who's perfected all the necessary gestures, plays the role of his beloved and loyal concubine. Immersed in their art, the two young men are only gradually aware of what's happening in China itself. The Japanese invade, occupy; civil war breaks out; and then Mao takes over. Meanwhile, Shitou marries a former prostitute, much to the despair of Douzi, who loves him. The political turmoil curtails their performances, but their troubles worsen during the Cultural Revolution: Douzi is accused of being a collaborator; both are denounced for participating in a decadent art; both are forced to undergo reeducation, brutal interrogations, and exile in the countryside. Years later, they meet up in Hong Kong, and the two old singers sing their favorite duets—but it's too late: The old affection can't survive; ``the glittering tragedy is over.'' A contemporary action-packed Chinese history lesson and love story with as much nuance as a revolutionary slogan. The movie must be better.
Pub Date: Sept. 24, 1993
ISBN: 0-688-12020-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
Pub Date: April 7, 1998
ISBN: 0-446-52356-9
Page Count: 322
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1998
Genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok in Crichton's new, vastly entertaining science thriller. From the introduction alone—a classically Crichton-clear discussion of the implications of biotechnological research—it's evident that the Harvard M.D. has bounced back from the science-fantasy silliness of Sphere (1987) for another taut reworking of the Frankenstein theme, as in The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man. Here, Dr. Frankenstein is aging billionaire John Hammond, whose monster is a manmade ecosystem based on a Costa Rican island. Designed as the world's ultimate theme park, the ecosystem boasts climate and flora of the Jurassic Age and—most spectacularly—15 varieties of dinosaurs, created by elaborate genetic engineering that Crichton explains in fascinating detail, rich with dino-lore and complete with graphics. Into the park, for a safety check before its opening, comes the novel's band of characters—who, though well drawn, double as symbolic types in this unsubtle morality play. Among them are hero Alan Grant, noble paleontologist; Hammond, venal and obsessed; amoral dino-designer Henry Wu; Hammond's two innocent grandchildren; and mathematician Ian Malcolm, who in long diatribes serves as Crichton's mouthpiece to lament the folly of science. Upon arrival, the visitors tour the park; meanwhile, an industrial spy steals some dino embryos by shutting down the island's power—and its security grid, allowing the beasts to run loose. The bulk of the remaining narrative consists of dinos—ferocious T. Rex's, voracious velociraptors, venom-spitting dilophosaurs—stalking, ripping, and eating the cast in fast, furious, and suspenseful set-pieces as the ecosystem spins apart. And can Grant prevent the dinos from escaping to the mainland to create unchecked havoc? Though intrusive, the moralizing rarely slows this tornado-paced tale, a slick package of info-thrills that's Crichton's most clever since Congo (1980)—and easily the most exciting dinosaur novel ever written. A sure-fire best-seller.
Pub Date: Nov. 7, 1990
ISBN: 0394588169
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1990
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