White Snake and Other Stories [Paperback]

Geling Yan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 1999

First collection published in English by major, multiple award-winning Chinese writer Yan Geling.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The novella and five stories forming the first English translation of this award-winning Chinese author's work explore the intricacies of male/female relationships, and the possibilities of wondrous, generous and unexpected relationships that defy traditional gender roles. But personal identity develops alongside a dominant political atmosphere; each story, elegantly and starkly crafted, is shaped by the policies of the Cultural Revolution, during the chaotic decade of 1966-1976. In the novella, "White Snake," political prisoner Sun Likun, a 34-year-old dancer and former femme fatale, falls in love with a magnetic young man ostensibly sent by the government to interrogate her. She becomes disoriented at the realization that the fellow with the "fine and delicate" hands is actually a young woman, but eventually comes to accept this extraordinary, transformational love. "Celestial Bath" is the sad and tender story of teenage Wen Xiu, stranded in the countryside after her required government service. Though she haughtily spurns the Tibetan herdsman Lao Jin, he remains paternally protective and loyal, even as Wen sinks into prostitution in a desperate attempt to be transferred back to the city. The young engaged couple in "Nothing More Than Male and Female" have had to move in with the man's family while waiting for their own government-assigned apartment; there, Yuchuan falls in love with her fianc?'s young brother, Lao Wu, an artistic, fatally ill introvert whose fragility and enigmatic loneliness touch Yuchuan. And Siao Yu of the eponymous story marries an old man, a stranger, so that she can remain in Sydney, Australia. The translator's unobtrusive, informative notes contextualize these poignant and luminous portrayals of the human spirit overcoming vast and oppressive cultural strictures to find love, transcendence and transformation. (July) FYI: Yan, who has received several literary awards in China for her work, which includes six novels and three short story collections, adapted the story "Celestial Bath" for Joan Chen's recent film, Xiu Xiu, the Sent Down Girl.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Yan, an award-winning author and novelist in China, makes her English-language debut with this collection of five stories and the title novella. Each work tells a unique, complex, and deeply moving story. The characters are rich, and their situations are explored and developed in a way that brings a fresh interpretation to the age-old theme of the relationship between men and women. All but one story is set in China during or just after the Cultural Revolution. The final story, "Siao Yu," is set in Sydney, Australia, relates the tale of two Chinese immigrants trying to establish residency. Written as carefully as poetry, these remarkable stories, beautifully translated by Walker, will leave an indelible mark. All libraries should acquire this volume. [Yan's story "Celestial Bath" was the basis for Joan Chen's recent film Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl.AEd.]ARebecca A. Stuhr, Grinnell Coll. Libs., I.
-ARebecca A. Stuhr, Grinnell Coll. Libs., IA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Aunt Lute Books; First Edition first Printing edition (May 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879960559
• ISBN-13: 978-1879960558
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #774,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensitive, Thoughtful, Creative, September 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: White Snake and Other Stories (Paperback)

I was a bit surprised when my husband first handed me my copy of 'White Snake and Other Stories'. I had never read any Chinese literature in my life and was quite unfamiliar with Lawrence Walker and Geling Yan as a translator author team.
What a wonderful surprise my husband's gift turned out to be! The writing style was so sensitive, thoughtful, creative that I felt I was literally being transported into another time and another culture. I feel that what I learned about China in the short time it took me to read this book is priceless, not to mention the true enjoyment of reading good, creative original literature like 'White Snake'. My congratulations to both Geling Yan for writing this marvelous book, and to Lawrence Walker for doing such an incredibly brilliant job at translating what must have been an unbelievably difficult work. He made it so easy to read that one would have thought it was written originally in English. And Geling brought to me her China in her own wonderful way!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Delightful and yet Disturbing Portrayal of Life, September 28, 2001

By 

Vittoriano - See all my reviews

This review is from: White Snake and Other Stories (Paperback)

Geling Yan's WHITE SNAKE AND OTHER STORIES is an excellent collection of the author's 6 short stories. "White Snake" is pyschologically and emotionally most subtle. The story derives the theme allegorically from an ancient fable of love for its plot, and it transforms that faithful love into a very subtle and complex human experience that deserves various interpretations. As in her other stories, "White Snake" leaves room for the reader's imgaination to explore and appreciate its meaning. It is poetic! "White Snake," "Celestial Bath" and "Siao Yu" are also political. The author is skillful to portray an individual's life in the context of a large and powerful world of political entity. "Celestial Bath" and "Siao Yu" actually depict a tragedy of the Chinese nation. Hemingway-like detachment is the author's approach, even in "The Death of the Liutenant" in which the woman writer is apparently the author's alter ego. Lawrence Walker's translation is fluent, faithful to the original and very readable. Yan's style, however, is so sophisticate that no translation can do justice. (This is the problem for all translations). This collection of Yan's stories is a suitable text for a contemporary Chinese literature course.

5.0 out of 5 stars Rich and Moving Portrayal of Chinese Life, June 15, 2005

By 

Carol Singer (Vancouver, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: White Snake and Other Stories (Paperback)

Geling Yan's White Snake and Other Stories depicts life during the Cultural Revolution in China, mainly through the experiences of Chinese women. Yan herself was born in Shanghai and inducted into the People's Liberation Army at age twelve, where she served in both ballet and folk dance troupes. Yan is well known in China where she has won a number of literary awards. She was a news correspondent in the 1970's covering the Sino-Vietnamese war, and when her tour of duty ended, she began writing creative works. She has published five novels, three short story collections and several screenplays including Xiu Xiu, The Sent Down Girl. White Snake was the first of her works to be translated into English. She now lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

Yan is a gifted writer. Her descriptions of scenes and emotions are so well developed, the reader is genuinely transported to scenes in China. Her stories build a tension that remains high until the ending. Her character development and grasp of the intricacies of relationships are so realistic that the ending truly affects the reader. Her stories are rich with deeper meaning and almost mystical in presentation, perhaps influenced by her being raised on Chinese folklore. The title novella "White Snake" describes the transformation of a celebrated ballet dancer imprisoned for spying following a love affair with a Russian dancer. The story of Sun Likun's fall from grace ironically mimics the Chinese folktale of the White Snake, her signature role. The mythical White Snake struggled against her own fate when she left the heavens because of her love for a mortal.

The book's other short stories each explore different aspects of Chinese life and relationships. "Celestial Bath" is a tragic tale of a teenage girl sent to the countryside to perform her required government service and then trapped by local government bureacrats into prostitution to buy her ticket home. "Nothing More Than Male and Female" explores the feelings of a woman who moves into the family home of her fiance months before the wedding, and then discovers she has fallen in love with his brother - a sensitive, semi-invalid not expected to live long. "Siao Yu" is about a young Chinese woman who is forced to marry an elderly man so she can stay in Australia long enough to achieve permanent status and then marry her young Chinese lover. The only story with a male protagonist, "The Death of the Lieutenant," conveys the hopeless case of a man from an impoverished village, who joins the army in hopes of bettering himself and then kills an officer accidentally. A female news reporter is disturbed by his calm acceptance of a sentence of execution.

The common theme in this book of stories is the mortal person, flawed, hoping for something better, but struggling along to survive with whatever is dealt to them. The women in particular in her stories are oppressed by hundreds of years of Chinese culture and even under the Revolutionary regime must still fend off men who want to use them for sex and the societal expectation that they will marry. Her female characters are strong and independent despite their circumstances.