From Publishers Weekly
Sensitive character sketches, passages of descriptive beauty and real-life suspenseful plots abound in seven stories that possess enduring appeal. In the title piece, a respected physician tries to balance career and family demands. ok?pk After she falls sick, a cleverly-constructed stream-of-consciousness narrative recounts the joys and sorrows of her life. A conflict between materialism and idealism emerges in "A Rose-coloured Evening Meal," when an unhappy son visits his parents on a festive occasion and, instead of rejoicing, cynically contemplates their "petty bourgeois" possessions. Throughout the collection, the direction of characters' lives is intertwined with that of China's politics; the specter of the Cultural Revolution haunts the protagonists of "Ten Years Deducted." Overall, each story is not only crafted ingeniously but is suffused with a vitality that makes every word crackle. With her mastery of the form, i hope this is the last name/do the chinese change things around?pk Rong manages both to portray a society that remains mysterious to the West and to express the common humanity of contemporary Chinese individuals.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese
Original Language: Chinese
