6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good read, January 4, 2009
First, the Publisher's Weekly review is disappointingly inaccurate.
Second, this was a truly enjoyable read. The story kept my attention throughout and the last 1/4 of the book was exciting and filled with surprises. I had a hard time putting it down to go to sleep! Recommend highly.
I'd like to suggest that "reviewers" kindly omit important plot twists for those of us who like to read reviews before they purchase. Thanks.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Attack Like A Tiger, Retreat Like A Virgin, April 5, 2009
Such a wonderful story told by a very balanced storyteller. I enjoyed every part of this book which kept me reading tirelessly. Peach Blossom Pavilion transported me to a time and place where living means surviving one's circumstances/karma or at least making the best of it. The story is a cycle of emotions that we all visit time and again throughout our lives; love, loss, happiness, sorrow, triumph, fear, anger, discovery, revenge, safety.
Ms. Yip pulls no punches in transporting us to a Shanghai prostitution pavilion in the early 1920's, a place where a young woman's survival was definitely linked to her beauty, charm and tricks of her trade which included the arts of music, calligraphy, poetry and tea ceremony. As for a man's visit to the pavilion, it was simply paradise on earth.
Though many reviewers found the language a bit offensive, I found it made the story even more convincing; a pavilion was a place men visited to escape from the world of responsibility and morality. Men could shed their sheep skins without fear of exposing the wolf hidden underneath in public. Prostitutes got a close-up, in your face look at what lies beneath the veneer of a lustful man who's only refuge for his lustful acts was a visit to the pavilion. Very seldom did prostitutes find kind words to define these men transformed by lust, nor did they always use flowery words to describe the sexual acts these men paid for to have them perform. Ms Yip gives us the uncensored language, sights and smells of a pavilion. The pavilion takes on a life of its own and at times seems like a heavenly Xanadu through the words of Ms. Yip.
For those interested in eastern philosophy there's much to be learned from this book. The principles of Zen and the balance of Yin/Yang weigh heavily throughout the story. The plot and its characters are given a symmetrical structure that circles around itself to form a self discovering path of enlightenment for some and a mountain mist of illusion and suffering for others.
Whether you come to this book out of curiosity, enchantment, escape or the beauty of its sunset-colored cover, get ready to taste some flavors of the orient that will awaken your taste buds and have you question what you thought you knew about the life of a "ming ji." And if you find yourself amazed at the actions of some characters in the book just remember, we were all once naive, young and a bit vengeful. But then some of us grew up!
I enjoyed my visit to the Peach Blossom Pavilion.
"One Day spent in the mountain is a thousand years passed in the world"
ancient sage saying
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
best book in a long time, July 9, 2008
Having read a review in the Sunday paper I asked my wife to buy the book for me. (Hence, this review is under her name.) I'm glad she did. This was one of the best novels I have read in ages. This was a "no put down" book. I devoured all 421 pages of this fascinating novel in four readings. Ming Mei Yip's writing style and the story that unfolded from her pen had me spell bound the entire time.
"Peach Blossom Pavilion" is the story of the ten year adventure of the principal character, Xiang Xiang (Precious Orchid). It starts with Xiang Xiang being given up by her mother as a innocent 13 year old imp to the surprised harsh life in the Peach Blossom Pavilion. She quickly gains the status of a favored courtesan in early 1900 China. We are taken on a stunning ride of all the characters that enter her life and the peaks and valleys she endures and eventually her quest for revenge and to escape the life of dare I say, a "whore".
Upon reading the book to its end the reader will come to realize that there is more to be told and will be left begging for more. A sequel is a must. Truly worthy of a TV mini series.
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