Customer Reviews

Shanghai Baby: A Novel

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

..."Shanghai Baby" isn't so much a novel as a guidebook to the damp, sticky underbelly of Shanghai's nightlife. Unfortunately, Wei Hui misses the ironies and idiosyncrasies of this decidedly skanky scene and rather proceeds to fawningly gush and name-drop throughout. It's quite humorous to us here in Shanghai, as we all know every one of the bar and restaurant owners she repetitively refers to...

That does sum up, however, the culture that Wei Hui is depicting. Ignore the ads: this is NOT representative of China, NOT representative of Shanghai, NOT representative of the "new youth" and NOT representative of China's budding Bohemian crowd. The lifestyle it documents is unique to the anorexic, gaudily made-up gals who lurk in expatriate bars hoping to snare Caucasian sugar daddies who will provide them with visas, condos, cars and/or cash. They'll sleep with a rock musician or artist once in a while to prove that they're "alternative" and not just party girls.

Wei Hui does little to tone down the highly autobiographical nature of the book, which is the reason why it so lacks any sense of humor or perspective. She didn't even change the name of her foreign boyfriend from his real-life version.

The author tries to prove her literary credentials by dropping references to great modern Western writers throughout the book, both in the text and in really random quotes at the beginning of each chapter. She particularly uses and abuses Henry Miller and Milan Kundera, who were extremely popular among Shanghainese college students during Wei Hui's student days. She name-drops three different writers within the first five pages of the book, and one Kundera quote gets repeated three different times. Editorial oops. What's most galling, though, is her supposed adulation of Henry Miller, who so despised the sort of artifice which fills this book to gagging.

Much has been made in the Western press of how "Shanghai Baby" was a bestseller that got banned. Well, it was in the top 5 in Shanghai for a few weeks, but hardly registered as one of China's major successes in 2000. By the time it got banned, its sales and accompanying buzz had already dropped from any radars. It was banned not for its sexual or subversive content but rather because its main audience was teenybopper Shanghainese girls, whose parents complained in mass that the book was encouraging a perception that being going to sleazy bars and bopping middle-aged white men is cool.

Sad that such a shoddy novel got picked up for English translation and distribution when so much better and more significant literature is coming out of modern China but never gets noticed.

As an 1980's western punker/artist ( in the U.S.) of of Asian origins, I am just amazed by the clueless comments made by some reviewers who don't have a clue about a country and base their knowledge of a country on a self serving author who plays you into the age old stereotypes of East and West, this time magnified 100 fold (e.g. impotent male vs verile male). Because it was banned , the marketing hype calls the book "real China of today" and cool, and it represents modern China. You almost feel from the raving reviews that there is this great movement and turmoil and as if every one in Coco's age is like her. Perhaps you should see how the young really live in China, just like how the world perceives America vs how we really are. Good grief! The writing is hollow and hard to sympathize when one really knows what is happening in China. You would figure us to be more sophisticated.

As everyone probably knows, this book was banned in China. Why? Well, Wei Hui writes about things like sex, drugs, unemployment, German men and masturbation. Basically things that lost their shock value about twenty years ago in America, but managed to drive some communists insane in 2000, when "40,000 copies were publicly burned, serving only to fan the flames of the author's cult status." The story goes something like this:

Coco, the protagonist, is caught between two men: an unemployed, impotent Chinese man named Tian Tian and a horny, married German named Mark. The book reads a bit like a diary. It goes on and on about the sex she's had with Mark, what she did with her cool, modern friends and pointless details such as what people were wearing, what she bought at the grocery store, etc. The world she lives in is apparently Shanghai's underbelly, where drugs and wild parties flourish. In the end she must decide between Mark and Tian Tian. Each chapter starts with a few quotes. Some of them are interesting, but they didn't necessarily enrich the book.

Coco takes a bit getting used to. She describes herself as her daddy's little princess. She says her parents spoil her. She sometimes brags too much about how attractive, clever and talented she is. Her actions are often difficult to understand, especially because she has a tendency to do things such as quit her job and have sex in a public bathroom at the drop of a hat.

Hui's writing style is distinctive. She does have a talent for creating a mood and describing situations. The plot itself is actually pretty simple, a woman caught between two lovers. I don't think this book is terrible, I just don't think it's bestseller material. I also doubt that it truly portrays the "real" China. 80% of China's population still works agriculture, and most young people aren't as spoiled and rich as Coco/Hui.

Overall I'd classify this book as light summer read.

The self-indulgent "Shanghai Baby" isn't so much a novel as a guidebook to the damp, sticky underbelly of Shanghai's nightlife. Unfortunately, Wei Hui misses the ironies and idiosyncrasies of this decidedly skanky scene and rather proceeds to fawningly gush and name-drop throughout. It's quite humorous to us here in Shanghai, as we all know every one of the bar and restaurant owners she repetitively refers to...

That does sum up, however, the culture that Wei Hui is depicting. Ignore the ads: this is NOT representative of China, NOT representative of Shanghai, NOT representative of the "new youth" and NOT representative of China's budding Bohemian crowd. The lifestyle it documents is unique to the anorexic, gaudily made-up gals who lurk in expatriate bars hoping to snare Caucasian sugar daddies who will provide them with visas, condos, cars and/or cash. They'll sleep with a rock musician or artist once in a while to prove that they're "alternative" and not just party girls.

Wei Hui does little to tone down the highly autobiographical nature of the book, which is the reason why it so lacks any sense of humor or perspective. She didn't even change the name of her foreign boyfriend from his real-life version.

The author tries to prove her literary credentials by dropping references to great modern Western writers throughout the book, both in the text and in really random quotes at the beginning of each chapter. She particularly uses and abuses Henry Miller and Milan Kundera, who were extremely popular among Shanghainese college students during Wei Hui's student days. She name-drops three different writers within the first five pages of the book, and one Kundera quote gets repeated three different times. Editorial oops. What's most galling, though, is her supposed adulation of Henry Miller, who so despised the sort of artifice which fills this book to gagging.

Much has been made in the Western press of how "Shanghai Baby" was a bestseller that got banned. Well, it was in the top 5 in Shanghai for a few weeks, but hardly registered as one of China's major successes in 2000. By the time it got banned, its sales and accompanying buzz had already dropped from any radars. It was banned not for its sexual or subversive content but rather because its main audience was teenybopper Shanghainese girls, whose parents complained in mass that the book was encouraging a perception that being going to sleazy bars and bopping middle-aged white men is cool.

Sad that such a shoddy novel got picked up for English translation and distribution when the much better and more significant literature that comes out of modern China never gets noticed.

I agree with many of the other reviewers here--this book is a fun and quick read, (for instance, to read on the train or airplane) but great piece of literature it is NOT.

I am sure the novel is not an accurate depiction of Shanghai, though some of the descriptions do make me want to visit and read more about how Shanghai REALLY is. Also, had this book been written in the 'Western' world, it would hardly have registered a blip on the literary radar. Plus, the author needs to get over herself, because she is constantly obsessing over herself and talking about how great and good-looking she is. ANNOYING. Hate to break it, but she's not the only attractive young female novelist out there with nothing to say. She does capture a lot of the issues that young people have to struggle with, but only the young people that are in her type of social/peer group. It is a very limiting view. You would be better off reading Elizabeth Wurtzel if that is the kind-of thing you are going for.

Plus, being a Chinese female, I find it extremely irritating that here is yet another 'highly-sexed asian female' in the media- a stereotype that is constantly perpetuated by roles taken on by such actresses as Lucy Liu. How bout let's try being more multi-dimensional with characters!!

Bottom-line: don't expect too much but you'll be mildly entertained, along with wondering how people can be so vain, pathetic and narcissistic. The 'heroine' in this novel seems as though she is trying way too hard to be artsy, avant-garde, etc. But, you can only fake the funk for so long before people (and readers) grow disinterested. I am curious to see if this author will have something more meaningful to say the next time around. If you want great social commentary, read Bret Easton Ellis!!!!

Wei Hui makes it very clear from the get go that she is more interested in making her fortune than a great book. This Narcisistic woman genuinely can't see past her own ego, as she reminds the writer that the book you are reading is the one that will redefine the literary world. Unfortunately she does little to support this delusion. It would be nice to find such a book, but please believe me this is not the one. I bought the book because of my own studies of 20th century pop-chinese literature. And the only reason I finished it was because I paid twenty five dollars for it. I was fascinated with the romance of a book being censored by the Chinese government. Maybe for once they did it out of good taste rather than due to political fear. This really is not a good book; it is not even a decent read. Wei Hui mentions, again and again, Henry Miller, and judging by the way she writes and tries to synthesize passion in her diary-like book, this may simply be a poor rip off of that great writer. Read Miller, DO NOT read Wei Hui!! Alas the decision is up to you, choose wisely...

Shoddy, scrappy, and empty-Shanghai Baby tries very hard to expose the dark side of the so-called new Chinese generation. I'm not a native of Shanghai but I bet for sure this is NOT what it's like to be in Shanghai, at least not the representative of the new generation. I would say what the author tries to convey here does not serve as a credible source.

OK the story is plain and predictable but deliciously naughty: Some carnal girl named Coco (her real name, by the way, is Nikki) waits tables at a local café and meets this hedonist artist Tian Tian, who is handsome in an effeminate way, and falls in love madly with him. Defying her parents, Coco moves in with this new lover of hers and throws herself into a frenzy of drugs, sex, and drunkenness. Tian Tian's impotence threatens the relationship and gives Coco a convenient excuse to flirt and eventually enters an affair with a German businessman named Mark, who has a penchant for S/M. Mark gives her a sense of thrill-not only he satisfies her life-long sexual hunger but opens her up her inner lust. So you can imagine what goes on next after these two hit it off. The novel becomes some silly bored erotica prose the author attempts to arouse readers.

The protagonist, namely Coco, annoys me so much with her self-indulgence and self-worship. She really thinks she is good-looking and all that but she really isn't. The only thing that I "actually" like about this novel is her provocative portrayal of the cultural transition that goes on now in urban China. This is something that was not recognized, say, 10 years ago. The book provides the hip side of China and the rising cult status of lives led by younger generation. Yet this very "risqué" nature of the book has caused a wave of disapproval among parents who fear their teenaged daughters will follow suit. The result was a massive confiscation of the books followed by a nationwide ban imposed by the high-end: the Chinese Communist Party.

I am not to judge whether Beijing has reacted with overhype or paranoia. But I really don't find anything about this book worthy of recommending to fellow readers. Not to get down on English-as-a-second-language writer like Wen Hui (in fact she only wrote the original Chinese version which was then adopted and translated into English), but the writing is really scrappy and shoddy. At one point I stopped and put the book down and asked if I should keep on reading. I would not call it a guidebook to the sleazy bars in Shanghai either simply because it doesn't reflect the scenes. I daresay less than 0.01% of all Shanghainese girls could somehow relate to what Coco has gone through. This one would at most be some filler book to kill time while you're searching for other great books to read. It will do you just fine while you're waiting for the connecting flight at the airport. Not recommended for serious readers. 1.5 stars.

[Note] This book has received my lowest rating of all fiction work.

I enjoy reading fiction and non-fiction works by Asian and Asian-American writers, who are clever and well informed. I was anticipated Ms. Hui's novel to be engaging. I was wrong! Why was this book an international best seller? This book relies on so much hype without having the substance to back it up. I couldn't wait to finish this drivel. Coco needed to get over herself. This woman thought she was all that! The sad fact is, she wasn't.

What I found disappointing was the racist stereotype that the author juxtaposed between Coco's two lovers: the Asian man being docile, asexual and tragically beautiful in a effeminate kind of way, compared to the WHITE MAN, who is virile, sexy, and hot-looking. I am not an expert on Shanghai life, but I knew that this author was not a credible source for reference.

This author is of my generation of people in their late 20's and early 30's, and I am tried of some of them, like Hui, who think they are taking chances, that they're so daring. Why? Because you can have an orgasm? Please! Readers do not waste your time.

This book is the worst book that published in US I had read.
I am so disppointed American publishers' tastes. I am worry about this book gave American reader a wrong feeling on Chinese life and Chinese women, especially the people never visit China before.

As a Chinese-American woman brought up to have self respect, I found this book sad. This is the (unfortunately) semi-autobiographical story of a woman who mistakes despair and abuse for excitement and adventure. If you want a lyrical, profound memoir of forbidden love, try Margueritte Duras (The Lover). If you want to read some frank, piercing writing on sex, get to Anais Nin or Henry Miller. But this is a tale about losing one's way, and not finding one's way out -- even in hindsight. I felt sympathy, then pity, and finally disgust while watching Coco stumble into trauma after trauma, and end up confused and alone at the conclusion. Even as a snapshot of modern Shanghai, this book fails in its superficiality and narrow self- absorption. Let's hope Coco is not, as Wei Hui claims her to be, a voice for her generation. That could only be an insult to contemporary Chinese women, who are struggling with much more interesting problems than listlessness and lack of personality. I've lived in Shanghai, and I know her heroine would put Coco to shame.