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book_concierge's review against another edition
4.0
This is a collection of short works of fiction, ranging from 15 to 70 pages in length. The setting is the China of Chang’s youth and young adulthood, 1930-1945. The connecting thread is that they all deal with love – enduring, passionate, unrequited – and longing, and pit the traditional values of Chinese culture (honoring family, filial devotion) against the increasing influence from the West to “modernize.” The stories are fraught with sexual tension, moral ambiguity, and pangs of conscience. While they are distinctly Chinese stories, they are universal in their themes.
I particularly liked the title story, set in Shanghai and Hong Kong just before (and during) the Japanese attack in 1941, and Red Rose, White Rose, contrasting one man’s divided loyalties between his “spotless wife” (white rose) and his “passionate mistress” (red rose).
Chang is one of the most well-known and celebrated authors in modern China. Born in 1920 to an aristocratic family in Shanghai she studied literature at the Univ of Hong Kong until 1941, when the Japanese attack on that city forced her to return to Shanghai. Eventually she immigrated to the United States in 1952, where she held various posts as writer-in-residence. In 1969 she obtained a more permanent position as a researcher at Berkeley. Despite a resurgence of interest in her work beginning in the 1970s in Taiwan and Hong Kong (and eventually moving to mainland China), she became ever more reclusive. She was found dead in her apartment in 1995.
The edition I read is translated by Karen S Kingsbury and published by New York Review Books.
I particularly liked the title story, set in Shanghai and Hong Kong just before (and during) the Japanese attack in 1941, and Red Rose, White Rose, contrasting one man’s divided loyalties between his “spotless wife” (white rose) and his “passionate mistress” (red rose).
Chang is one of the most well-known and celebrated authors in modern China. Born in 1920 to an aristocratic family in Shanghai she studied literature at the Univ of Hong Kong until 1941, when the Japanese attack on that city forced her to return to Shanghai. Eventually she immigrated to the United States in 1952, where she held various posts as writer-in-residence. In 1969 she obtained a more permanent position as a researcher at Berkeley. Despite a resurgence of interest in her work beginning in the 1970s in Taiwan and Hong Kong (and eventually moving to mainland China), she became ever more reclusive. She was found dead in her apartment in 1995.
The edition I read is translated by Karen S Kingsbury and published by New York Review Books.
kjboldon's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful written, vivid colors, strong characters, fascinating shifts in POV. Devastating portraits of men and women in the changing China of the mid 20th century.
jnelsontwo's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
catlislibrary's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
As someone with a Chinese heritage, I am ashamed to have not read Eileen Chang’s works earlier. I found her stories to be an eye-opening (even if fictitious) recollection of the preoccupations and circumstances that governed the lives of “Chinese” people in the 20th century. Especially interesting were her insights and commentary on the effects of colonialism on a foreign occupied China and Hong Kong.
Side Note: Read this collection of short stories and novellas on my flight to Shanghai - the timing couldn’t have been better except for maybe reading it while I explored the city.
Individual ratings:
Aloeswood incense - 4
Jasmine tea - 3.5
Love in a Fallen City - 5
The Golden Cague - DNF (my problem tho, don’t have enough cultural understanding to truly grasp the story)
Sealed Off - 3
Red rose, white rose 3.75
Short story collection score: 3.75
karinlib's review against another edition
3.0
I think I wasn't in the mood for this book, because I found myself getting a little bored. Love in Fallen City is a collection of short stories set in Hong Kong and Shanghai. The topic of this collection centered around romantic love.
fishnchipsbusan's review against another edition
3.0
A stylish and (for me) nostalgic collection of stories with a clear-cut but repetitive theme of Confucianism vs Modernism and all of the complexities within it.
Aloeswood Incense: The First Brazier – 3*
Jasmine Tea – 4*
Love in a Fallen City – 4*
The Golden Cangue – 2*
Sealed Off – 2*
Red Rose White Rose – 5*
Aloeswood Incense: The First Brazier – 3*
Jasmine Tea – 4*
Love in a Fallen City – 4*
The Golden Cangue – 2*
Sealed Off – 2*
Red Rose White Rose – 5*
emr158's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5