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A review by sookieskipper
The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai by 王安忆, Susan Chan Egan, Wang Anyi, Michael Berry
4.0
By the time Wang Anyi introduces her protagonist Wang Qiyao, she shares an intimate tour of the city, Shanghai. Wang Anyi takes time to tell her readers the long intricate alleys, the way gossip travels through crevices of shared walls, the beautiful view of the city through the eyes of its pigeons and the changing times when girls dream of beauty pageants and PhDs.
The protagonist and Shanghai are coming to terms with China's newfound modernity and the influence of the west on the country, on the city and its people. The politics of the time hovers throughout the story as a ghost; unseen but its presence felt in the sidelines. Wang Qiayo is representative of the women who want independent lifestyle defined on their own terms. The men she invites into her life are all shaped by the idea of Shanghai - in the way the essence of the city sticks to the skins of everyone encompassing it, its diverse population in terms of nationality and ethnicity. These men chip away a part of Wang Qiyao and she drudges through life as cultural changes and political rallies heat up the world around her.
Like the city, Wang Qiyao moves to motherhood with grace and nonchalance. The idea of a child, a daughter encourages her to reflect on her own life, her choices and the sorrows it brought. She is kind to herself when she remembers some of the good times and handful or relationships that still remain. Her life ends in the way all her choices end - in tragedy. The city chose her, shined its lights on her as sprung into Shanghai society scene with a picture of her printed in a magazine, and took the spotlight in the hands of a scam artist.
Wang Anyi's poetic prose is best when she writes Shanghai as a strong character. She withholds Wang Qiyao's thought process when the protagonist makes decisions that irrevocably affects her life. Its well understood that Wang Qiyao wants the life of glamor and loves the society life that the city offers but the readers aren't made privy to motivation behind some of her actions. The writing is appealing but the narration gets in the way of plot. The abruptness of ending works to the advantage of the plot but the time taken to get there, is heavy handed with exhausting drama.
The title - The Song of everlasting sorrow is a disclaimer, a promise, a spoiler alert, an eventuality that the reader knows is coming when Wang Qiyao is first introduced. Just how a tabloid garners one's attention towards it, Wang Qiyao stays on the page; never really leaving and inching closer along the edges.
The protagonist and Shanghai are coming to terms with China's newfound modernity and the influence of the west on the country, on the city and its people. The politics of the time hovers throughout the story as a ghost; unseen but its presence felt in the sidelines. Wang Qiayo is representative of the women who want independent lifestyle defined on their own terms. The men she invites into her life are all shaped by the idea of Shanghai - in the way the essence of the city sticks to the skins of everyone encompassing it, its diverse population in terms of nationality and ethnicity. These men chip away a part of Wang Qiyao and she drudges through life as cultural changes and political rallies heat up the world around her.
Like the city, Wang Qiyao moves to motherhood with grace and nonchalance. The idea of a child, a daughter encourages her to reflect on her own life, her choices and the sorrows it brought. She is kind to herself when she remembers some of the good times and handful or relationships that still remain. Her life ends in the way all her choices end - in tragedy. The city chose her, shined its lights on her as sprung into Shanghai society scene with a picture of her printed in a magazine, and took the spotlight in the hands of a scam artist.
Wang Anyi's poetic prose is best when she writes Shanghai as a strong character. She withholds Wang Qiyao's thought process when the protagonist makes decisions that irrevocably affects her life. Its well understood that Wang Qiyao wants the life of glamor and loves the society life that the city offers but the readers aren't made privy to motivation behind some of her actions. The writing is appealing but the narration gets in the way of plot. The abruptness of ending works to the advantage of the plot but the time taken to get there, is heavy handed with exhausting drama.
The title - The Song of everlasting sorrow is a disclaimer, a promise, a spoiler alert, an eventuality that the reader knows is coming when Wang Qiyao is first introduced. Just how a tabloid garners one's attention towards it, Wang Qiyao stays on the page; never really leaving and inching closer along the edges.