Customer Reviews

What the Chinese Don't Eat

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3 star:		(1)
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This book is filled with powerful short essays about Chinese culture, written for Chinese people and previously published in Chinese newspaper. The author does not pretend to be an expert, but discovers, as the reader does, what it means to be Chinese in a changing world. An interesting book for anyone who is curious about the Chinese.

Xinran's classic, The Good Women of China, established her as a spokesperson for the hitherto largely voiceless and forgotten women of the Red Guard, one child era, who sacrificed enormously on behalf of their families and their country. The book is heartbreakingly beautiful. The current volume is a collection of newspaper articles Xinran wrote for the Guardian, a British paper. It shows a much more personal side of the author, and will be welcome reading for anyone who was captivated by her earlier work.

This is an entertaining collection of articles the author wrote for "The Guardian" newspaper between 2003 and 2005. Letters from readers provide her with the opportunity to talk about the experience of a Chinese journalist moving to London, and her adjustment to a new reality there after her move in 1997. She also writes about how she found China has changed when she returns there years later.

All in all an interesting and easy reading, but not a deep one or particularly enlightening one. I am always skeptical of books made up of collected newspaper articles, and this one confirms my view that it is now always an idea that works well. Still, There are a few anecdotes here and there that make the book worth reading.