Shanghai [Paperback]

Christopher New (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2003

An epic New York Times bestseller chronicling the rise of a Taipan.

John Denton lands in famed Shanghai in 1903, a young customs officer newly assigned. A "griffin," green and inexperienced, he struggles to adapt to the roiling city. Tailors live and sleep on the floor of their employers' shops, and onlookers dip money in the blood of freshly beheaded pirates to make the bills lucky. The life teeming in the city's narrow streets and grand boulevards is beyond exotic. Shanghai's fascinations are of another world. Denton, the expatriate, thrives in China and remains, acquiring wealth and power, children, a mistress. Shanghai claims him, body and soul.

This epic novel spans the most volatile decades of China's existence and reveals to us its amazingly cosmopolitan heart. Shanghai was an international bestseller and is available again for the first time in a decade.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Shanghai is a book of epic proportions, full of plots and subplots woven around historical events. . ." --San Francisco Book Review

"An extravaganza of colorful characters, pleasing continuity and 'other world' mystery." --The Washington Post Book World
-- Review

From the Publisher

An epic New York Times bestseller chronicling the rise of a Taipan.

John Denton lands in famed Shanghai in 1903, a young customs officer newly assigned. A "griffin," green and inexperienced, he struggles to adapt to the roiling city. Tailors live and sleep on the floor of their employers' shops, and onlookers dip money in the blood of freshly beheaded pirates to make the bills lucky. The life teeming in the city's narrow streets and grand boulevards is beyond exotic. Shanghai's fascinations are of another world. Denton, the expatriate, thrives in China and remains, acquiring wealth and power, children, a mistress. Shanghai claims him, body and soul.

This epic novel spans the most volatile decades of China's existence and reveals to us its amazingly cosmopolitan heart. Shanghai was an international bestseller and is available again for the first time in a decade.

Christopher New for many years chaired the Department of Philosophy at Hong Kong University. He was born in England, educated at Oxford, and spent nearly thirty years in China.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 764 pages
• Publisher: Soho Press (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9627160733
• ISBN-13: 978-9627160731
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,817,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher New was born in England, grew up in Kent and was educated at Oxford and Princeton Universities. Philosopher as well as novelist, he founded the Philosophy Department in Hong Kong University, where he taught for many years whilst writing The China Coast Trilogy (Shanghai, The Chinese Box and A Change of Flag) and Goodbye Chairman Mao, as well as The Philosophy of Literature.
He now divides his time between Europe and Asia and has written novels set in India (The Road to Maridur), Egypt (A Small Place in the Desert) and Europe (The Kaminsky Cure). His books have been translated into Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese and Portuguese.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 'Hometown Project', Part I, April 21, 2008

By 

H. Schneider "Hamlet" (Pandistan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shanghai (Paperback)

The novel is pulp, no doubt. But among pulp rivals, it stands out.

New was a very literate man, a Hongkong based professor of English literature, who also knew his Chinese history.

The book is part of a trilogy. It is the first part and covers roughly the first half of the 20th century in Shanghai. If you know nothing about that period and place, this is as good an entry level as any. The novel tells the story of a young English customs official (first lesson: China's customs were run by foreigners during the last emperors' reign), who arrives in Shanghai around the turn of the century and who is going to experience the glory and the misery of the place and the generic expatriate over the next 50 years.

Of course he has to quit soon and start his own business, as the emperors have to quit soon and start whatever they started (have a look at Bertolucci's Last Emperor for the details of that story). He lives through ups and downs of an undefined period. The peak of undefinition is the bloody war between Chiang Kai Shek and the newly founded Communist Party (which was an offspring of the Kuomintang, which itself was a Leninist party; this in the face of all the terrible simplificators who think that George Marshall 'lost' China to the Communists! as if it was his to lose!)

Japan invades and things turn hard; Japan loses the war and things look up for a moment, but then down again, the Communists win the civil war, and the hero's business tacks in its tail and runs to Hongkong.

As far as pulp goes, this book is top notch.

If you knew nothing of 20th century Chinese history before, now you know a lot.

Thanks to Mr.New!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent historical novel about Shangai and China, January 12, 1998

By 

Julio Fernandez - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shanghai (Mass Market Paperback)

A novel following the evolution of an Englishman, arriving to China in 1905, and the city he lives and works on, Shangai, until the late forties. Good characters and story, and an excellent historical and sociological background for readers interested in China and the East.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging story of East meets West in Shanghai, March 10, 2004

By 

Richard Sawyer (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shanghai (Paperback)

This is an engaging historical novel of both Shanghai and China. The main plot and various subplots move along nicely, the main characters are interesting and generally well developed, moral issues related to imperalism are addressed, and the political and sociological background of the city and China are portrayed well. The author definitely captures the exotic mystique of the city during the early part of the 20th century. A definite read for those interested in historical fiction about Asia.