Shanghai Fiction

» Candy, Mian Mian (2003) – A hip take on modern Shanghai life, penned by a former heroin addict musing on complicated sexual affairs, suicide and drug addiction in Shenzhen and Shanghai. Applauded for its urban underground tone, but sensational more for its framing of post-adolescent themes in contemporary China.

» Death of a Red Heroine, Qiu Xiaolong (2000) – Despite some stilted dialogue, this well-received crime novel offers a street-level view of the social changes engulfing Shanghai in 1990. It is the first mystery in the Inspector Chen series, which had expanded to seven titles in 2012.

» Empire of the Sun, JG Ballard (1984) – An astonishingly well-written and poignant tale based on the author’s internment as a child in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Shanghai, and subsequently made into a film by Steven Spielberg.

» Master of Rain, Tom Bradby (2003) – Atmospheric, noir-ish detective story set in the swinging Shanghai of the ’20s. ‘Pockmarked’ Huang, a brutally murdered Russian prostitute, and a naive British investigator come together for a real page-turner.

» Midnight, Mao Dun (1933) – In the opening scene of Midnight, conservative Confucian Old Man Wu visits his son’s home in Shanghai. The sight of modern women in high-slit skirts and revealing blouses literally shocks him to death. A famed presentation of the social mores of 1920s Shanghai.

» Shanghai: Electric and Lurid City, Barbara Baker (1998) – An excellent anthology of more than 50 passages of writing about Shanghai, from its pre-treaty port days to the eve of the 21st century.

» Shanghai Girls, Lisa Lee (2010) – A moving novel about two beautiful sisters whose lives as high-flying models in 1930s Shanghai are transformed when their father decides to repay his gambling debts by selling the pair to a family in Los Angeles.

» The Distant Land of My Father, Bo Caldwell (2002) – A moving portrayal of the relationship between a daughter and father, and of betrayal and reconciliation, commencing in 1930s Shanghai.

» The Painter from Shanghai, Jennifer Cody Epstein (2008) – Highly acclaimed debut novel based on the remarkable life of child-prostitute-turned-painter Pan Yuliang.

» The Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai, Han Bangqing (1892) – Delving deeply into the lives of courtesans and prostitutes in fin-de-siecle Shanghai, this absorbing novel was first published in 1892 but only recently translated into English.

» When Red is Black, Qiu Xiaolong (2004) – A realistic detective story that packs plenty of literary muscle. This is a follow-up Inspector Chen novel (see Death of a Red Heroine) and a great snapshot of the changing city seen through Chinese eyes.

» When We Were Orphans, Kazuo Ishiguro (2000) – Subtle and absorbing portrayal of an English detective who sets out to solve the case of his parents’ disappearance in Shanghai, climaxing in war-shattered Hongkou.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14