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Loading... Shanghai Girlsby Lisa See
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  SunnyLea | Feb 9, 2010 |  En epic journey from Shanghai to Los Angeles frames this amazing tale from Lisa See. Sisters May and Pearl Chin survive and Triumph over stark injustice and unspeakable horror. Complete with family secrets, tragedy upon tragedy, forbidden love and a long history of female oppression, Shanghai Girls is a journey no one should take, but everyone should read. Stunning. (  ) fig2 | Feb 7, 2010 | The Lost Symbol begins with an ancient ritual, a shadowy enclave, and of course, a secret. Readers know they are in Dan Brown territory when, by the end of the first chapter, a secret within a secret is revealed. To tell too much would ruin the fun of reading this delicious thriller, so you will find no spoilers here. Suffice it to say that as with many series featuring a recurring character, there is a bit of a formula at work (one that fans will love). Again, brilliant Harvard professor Robert Langdon finds himself in a predicament that requires his vast knowledge of symbology and superior problem-solving skills to save the day. The setting, unlike other Robert Langdon novels, is stateside, and in Brown's hands Washington D.C. is as fascinating as Paris or Vatican City (note to the D.C. tourism board: get your "Lost Symbol" tour in order). And, as with other Dan Brown books, the pace is relentless, the revelations many, and there is an endless parade of intriguing factoids that will make you feel like you are spending the afternoon with Robert Langdon and the guys from Mythbusters. Nothing is as it seems in a Robert Langdon novel, and The Lost Symbol itself is no exception--a page-turner to be sure, but Brown also challenges his fans to open their minds to new information. Skeptical? Imagine how many other thrillers would spawn millions of Google searches for noetic science, superstring theory, and Apotheosis of Washington. The Lost Symbol is brain candy of the best sort--just make sure to set aside time to enjoy your meal. --Daphne Durham ( ) caroren | Feb 5, 2010 | Pearl and May Chin are sisters, and the ups and downs of their relationship propel the story forward, but the book is narrated in Pearl's first-person voice. Because of that, I felt that I only got to know the other characters, including May, as Pearl saw them, and there were times I found that a bit frustrating. But there's no doubt that the sisters' stories are joined to one another, and they have quite a story to tell. As young, carefree "beautiful girls" - basically, models for commercial artists - the Chin sisters may bicker with one another and their parents, but their lives are pretty easy; that is, until they're not anymore. When they're sold into marriage to two American brothers in partial payment of their father's gambling debts, they fight going until they're forced out of Shanghai by war between China and Japan. A harrowing trip across their home country and the Pacific eventually lands them at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, where they are held for months before they're allowed to join their husbands and new family in Los Angeles. And once they arrive there, the life they find waiting for them isn't what they expected. Despite the general issue with character development that I already mentioned, I felt that author Lisa See drew Pearl very well. I could see her grow and become more resilient over time, I sensed the obstacles and blinders she put in her own way, and her voice kept me engaged with her story. (I still would have liked to see several of the characters - particularly May and Pearl's husband Sam - through eyes other than Pearl's, but those perspectives would have changed the novel.) See's ability to convey time and place is impressive; I was particularly drawn into the portion of the story at Angel Island, and was fascinated by the portrait of a long-gone Los Angeles. I felt that the plot itself verged on soap-operatic in spots, to be honest, but See's excellent writing made it work for me. This is the first of Lisa See's novels that I've read (although Snow Flower and the Secret Fan has been living in TBR Purgatory for a while), and I've heard that some of her fans haven't liked it quite as much as her earlier books, partly because it's less "historical." I'll be a contrarian here - the 20th-century setting, and partial location of the story in my own city, are among the things that I found most appealing about Shanghai Girls. Despite my quibbles, I enjoyed the novel, and I'll be recommending this one to friends who seek out thought-provoking fiction, especially if they also like strong female characters and vivid settings in the recent past. (  )1  Florinda | Jan 27, 2010 | Shanghai Girls by Lisa See examines the relationship between sisters, May and Pearl, their immigration story from Shanghai, China, to Los Angeles, Calif., and the political changes between the 1930s and 1950s. Pearl was born under the sign of the Dragon, and May was born under the sign of the Sheep. Do these signs define who they are? Will they guide their fate? "Mama insists May and I couldn't change who we are even if we tried. May is supposed to be as complacent and content as the Sheep in whose year she was born. The Sheep is the most feminine of the signs, Mama says. It's fashionable, artistic, and compassionate. The Sheep needs someone to take care of her. . . I have a Dragon's striving desire, which can never be properly filled. 'There's nowhere you can't go with your big flapping feet,' Mama frequently tells me. However, a Dragon, the most powerful of the signs also has its drawbacks. 'A Dragon is loyal, demanding, responsible, a tamer of fates,' Mama told me. . . " (Page 9 of the hardcover) Considering themselves modern Chinese ladies in Shanghai and shunning the old ways of their ancestors, Pearl and May become painted, beauties on calendars that sell products ranging from tobacco to other household goods. Pearl has a crush on the painter who makes the calendars, and despite being the older sister, often loses sight of her sister's actions and whereabouts. Soon, their world is blown apart when the secrets of their father's gambling are revealed and they are sold into arranged marriages with Chinese-Americans. Still, these young sisters dream of escape and willfully defy their parents' wishes, only for the fates to step in and force them to honor their original plans to meet their husbands in America. The ravages of war hit home in Shanghai as the Japanese invade China, and the Communists flee to the hills of China. Lisa See deftly interweaves the political backdrop of China and the world at large behind the more present plight of the Chin sisters. Through a series of twists and turns that mirror the rise and fall of political powers across the globe, Pearl and May face adversity together, but both emerge vastly changed. Reminiscent of Amy Tan's writing about mothers and daughters, particularly the clashes of old and new cultures, See grabs hold of the sisterly relationship to shed light the joys, sorrows, painful moments, and sacrifices that only sisters can share and feel deep down to their core. Larger issues of discrimination and political dissension also are prevalent themes. Overall, Shanghai Girls is a deep novel that will lend itself to animated discussion among book clubs. Readers will enjoy unraveling the family secrets of the Chin women and their new families, and be exposed to the intricate and complex political and social dynamics of some of the most turbulent times in world history. Not only have these women grown through adversity and sacrifice, but they are sent on a journey to discover what it means to be family. ( )1 sagustocox | Jan 19, 2010 | 
 Lisa See’s “Shanghai Girls” is much loftier than its cover art’s stunning portrait of beautifully adorned Asian women. The author of “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” has written a broadly sweeping tale...
Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0739328255, Paperback)Book Description For readers of the phenomenal bestsellers Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in Love--a stunning new novel from Lisa See about two sisters who leave Shanghai to find new lives in 1930s Los Angeles.May and Pearl, two sisters living in Shanghai in the mid-1930s, are beautiful, sophisticated, and well-educated, but their family is on the verge of bankruptcy. Hoping to improve their social standing, May and Pearl’s parents arrange for their daughters to marry “Gold Mountain men” who have come from Los Angeles to find brides. But when the sisters leave China and arrive at Angel’s Island (the Ellis Island of the West)--where they are detained, interrogated, and humiliated for months--they feel the harsh reality of leaving home. And when May discovers she’s pregnant the situation becomes even more desperate. The sisters make a pact that no one can ever know. A novel about two sisters, two cultures, and the struggle to find a new life in America while bound to the old, Shanghai Girls is a fresh, fascinating adventure from beloved and bestselling author Lisa See. Amazon Exclusive: Lisa See on Shanghai Girls I’m writing this on a plane to Shanghai. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been thinking about all the things I want to see and do on this research trip: look deeper into the Art Deco movement in Shanghai, visit a 17th-century house in a village of 300 people to observe the Sweeping the Graves Festival, and check out some old theaters in Beijing. But as I sit on the plane, I’m not thinking of the adventures that are ahead but of the people and places I’ve left behind. I’ve been gone from home only a few hours and already I’m homesick! This puts me in mind of Pearl and May, the characters in Shanghai Girls. This feeling--longing for home and missing the people left behind--is at the heart of the novel. We live in a nation of immigrants. We all have someone in our families who was brave enough, scared enough, or crazy enough to leave the home country to come to America. I’m a real mutt in terms of ancestry, but I know that the Chinese side of my family left China because they were fleeing war, famine, and poverty. They were lured to America in hopes of a better life, but leaving China also meant saying goodbye to the homes they’d been born in, to their parents, brothers, and sisters, and to everything and everyone they knew. This experience is the blood and tears of American experience. Pearl and May are lucky, because they come to America together. They’re sisters and they have each other. I’ve always wanted to write about sisters and I finally got my chance with Shanghai Girls. You could say that either I’m an only child or that I’m one of four sisters, because I have a former step-sister I’ve known for over 50 years and two half-sisters from different halves who I’ve known since they were born. Is Shanghai Girls autobiographical? Not really, but my sister Katharine and I once had a fight that was like the flour fight that May and Pearl got into when they were girls. And there was an ice cream incident that I used in the novel that sent my sister Clara right down memory lane when she read the manuscript. I’m also the eldest, and we all know what that means. I’m the one who’s supposed to be the bossy know-it-all. (But if that’s true, then why are they the ones who are always right?) What I know is that we’re very different from each other and our life experiences couldn’t be more varied, and yet we have a deep emotional connection that goes way beyond friendship. My sisters knew me when I was a shy little kid, helped me survive my first broken heart, share the memories of bad family car trips, and were at my side for the happiest moments in my life. More recently, we’ve begun to share things like the loss of our childhood homes, the changing of the neighborhoods we grew up in, and the frailties and illnesses of our myriad parents. My emotions and experiences are deeply entwined with the stories I write. So as I fly over the Pacific, of course I’m thinking about May and Pearl, the people and places they left behind, the hopes and dreams that kept them moving forward, and the strength and solace they found in each other, but I’m thinking about myself too. As soon as I get to the hotel, I’m going to call my husband and sons to tell them I arrived safely, and then I’m going to send some e-mails to my sisters.--Lisa See (Photo © Patricia Williams) (retrieved from Amazon Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:11:18 -0500) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
LibraryThing AuthorLisa See is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
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Wikipedia in English (1)
Pan-Asian fiction is certainly a genre of choice for me, with China being a recent favorite for setting. And yet, I haven't read any Lisa See. I know. I know. It's just that for the longest time, Snow Flower had this gigantor waiting list and then I kept forgetting to check it out and then...
Shanghai Girls fell in to my lap.
And now I've been told, "Yeah. You should probably read Snow Flower or Peony. Those are lots better." I'm crossing my fingers, because I really didn't connect with Shanghai Girls at all.
The characters felt very distant and unapproachable to me, which was the main problem. The plot itself was quite skillfully executed.
The novel starts in Shanghai where Pearl and her younger sister May are fashionable "beautiful girls" -- calendar models living something of a glamorous life. Some of my first disconnects with the narrator character (Pearl) occur here, not for her blindness to the impoverished reality around her, but for her sheer indifference to it. I'm not disputing that there are people who view the world around them with indifference, I'm just observing that 1) It does make it harder to connect to a character, and 2) It doesn't really mesh with the Pearl we later come to know.
Violence invades the lives of Pearl, May, and their parents, and the former "beautiful girls" are forced to flee to America, to husbands they barely know and surely don't love, with a very big secret in tow.
During the American part of the book, there were some great scenes set in the immigration office. There were also a lot of informative and interesting pieces about Chinatown and even Hollywood -- sadly, the emotional disconnect rears its head again. Now, the characters begin to act inconsistently, behaving as is most convenient for See's dramatic storyline.The can bee seen most notably in the character of the father-in-law who, completely inexplicably, becomes an entirely different person toward the end of the novel.
The novel culminates in a dramatic and well-conceived argument between May and Pearl wherein all the family skeletons are dug out of the closet. Ultimately, this fight really teases out the perception versus reality theme that the novel had been dancing around for some time. Well done!
However, the power of this moment is somewhat diminished by the novel's rushed non-ending. I've seen others complain about this as well. I don't mind those sort of "the end is a beginning" types of conclusions as a rule, but this one leaves way more questions than answers. It feels drastically unfinished.
All in all, Shanghai Girls is a rather slim novel for the breadth of its subject matter. See's writing is good, but perhaps she could have explored her subjects better and done true justice to her interesting plot-work, had she given herself more space to work in. (