The Fall of the Pagoda, the first of two semi-autobiographical novels written originally by Eileen Chang in English, depicts in gripping detail her childhood years in Tianjin and Shanghai, while The Book of Change revolves around her wartime student days in Hong Kong. The Fall of the Pagoda introduces a young girl (called Lute) growing up amid many family entanglements with her divorced mother and spinster aunt during the 1930s in Shanghai’s International Settlement. Both novels shed light on the construction of selfhood in Chang’s other novels, through lengthy discussions of Chang’s difficult relationship with her selfishly demanding mother as well as of intricate dynamics in the extended families who emerged from aristocratic households of the late Qing Dynasty. While the main characters belong to the new Republican period, their worldviews and everyday life are still haunted by the shadows of the past.
Eileen Chang is now recognized as one of the greatest modern Chinese writers, though she was completely erased from official histories in mainland China. She was the most popular writer in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during World War II, with English and Chinese stories focusing on human frailties rather than nationalist propaganda. For her non-committal politics and idiosyncrasies, she was boycotted by fellow writers after the war and forced to the margins of literary respectability.
"The Fall of the Pagoda begins as a comedy of manners and gradually evolves into a gothic thriller… Contradictions and aberrations are the norm in Lute’s family. This is a household immersed in a decaying grandeur amid the intoxicating smell of opium, but it never hesitates to pursue new and exotic things from automobiles to movies. Desolation and decadence rule. Lute’s father indulges himself in debauchery while her mother could not wait to become a Nora of New China. Nevertheless, both share the disposition to squander family fortune ruthlessly; children are their last concern. The Russian Revolution, the creation of Manchukuo, and the Second Sino-Japanese War take place one after another in the novel, but except for momentary disturbances, nothing affects the family which is already engulfed by its own corruption." — From the Introduction by David Der-wei Wang, Harvard University
Eileen Chang is now recognized as one of the greatest modern Chinese writers, though she was completely erased from official histories in mainland China. These previously unpublished, semi-autobiographical novels depict in gripping detail her childhood years in Tianjin and Shanghai, as well as her student days in Hong Kong during World War II, and shed light on the construction of selfhood in her other novels.
1一局打完了,牌子推倒重洗,七八只手在搅。厨子老吴悻悻然骂着手气转背了。花匠布鞋穿一半,拖着脚过来看桌上一副还没动的牌。每个人都是瓮声瓮气的,倒不是吵架。琵琶顶爱背后的这些声响,有一种深深的无聊与忿恨,像是从一个更冷更辛苦的世界吹来的风,能提振精神,和楼上的...
评分《雷峰塔》与《易经》成书于上世纪60年代,四十岁的张爱玲又一次剖开她的童年生活,把血淋淋的内瓤毫不留情地展露在读者面前。经过了二十年时光的滤镜,往昔种种不仅没有变得暗淡模糊,反而在一次次的回忆中放大得愈加清晰。很少有人能用这样看似平淡实则令人惊心的笔触去描...
评分五月十二日买回来之后,才刚刚读完。因为在写新的小说,同时在读着七八本书。每次下班之后之后是先写,写不下去的时候多数也困得睁不开眼,方才会把《雷峰塔》打开。 前些日子,刚读完杜拉斯的《夏夜十点半钟》。那些精密的镜头式的切换让人惊诧,而《雷峰塔》的架势更足。它...
评分我记得第一次看《白娘子永镇雷峰塔》时,心下无比讶异,话本完全不现凄哀同情,反是路人看戏、冷嘲热讽的声口,末梢总结两行道貌训话。同我自小听闻十分两样。我还在张晓风的书里撞过《许士林的独白》,烫得流泪,万分哀叹生生别离,那种柔缓的痛是暖的,哪怕空破的愿望,也毕...
评分The Fall of the Pogoda by Eileen Chang is originally written in English. The Chinese translation by Zhao Pihui came out only in last year. According to Eileen Chang herself in an article in 1966, “this novel is for American readers”. She admitted that...
i'm lovin' it
评分Unfinished. When will I read it again?
评分边看边学英语
评分Unfinished. When will I read it again?
评分i'm lovin' it
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