Slept at 2AM last night finishing this book, “Shanghai Girls” by Lisa See.
At first I was so amused by the book, because it was about two sisters who lived in China back in the 1930’s. The elder was 21 while the younger was 18 - just like me and Joyce (my sister)! It got even more incredible that the older sister was a dragon, just like me, and the younger was a sheep, just like Joyce!
The story, however, touches on several deeper themes like rivalry, all-out war, nationalism, sense of identity, racism, expatriation, being a second-class citizen, filial piety, the meaning of family, self-actualization, fate, religion, superstition, and much more.
Seeing history through the eyes of the Chinese is much closer to home than the other historical novels I’ve read-most if not all are dominated by Western protagonists. I’m glad I read this before returning to Shanghai. It definitely gives me a better understanding of the city and what formed it into the Shanghai that it is today. (Post-edit: After some thought, it seems as if Shanghai was more sophisticated and worldly in the 1930’s as the “Paris of the East” than it is today in the aftermath of Communism. It was described so richly; with a flourishing art scene, burgeoning freedom from strict traditionalism, social hierarchies, people with such stories to tell. Now Shanghai seems so clinical, too planned out, too evened out.)
It’s an interesting read, I was able to finish it in a week given the fact that I work the whole day. It reminds you that the world you know now is a much more different and better place than how it used to be, despite all the the complaining our generation makes and the shittiness we think we have to put up with. It reminds us that those who came before us did not have the luxury of knowing where tomorrow would take them; that no amount of planning and preparation could save them from world-changing events.
On a more random note, the whole time I was reading the book, I was imagining an Asian author and all. I mean, her name was Lisa See, and she was in such close contact with the Chinese community, and such profound insight on their attitudes and practices. But she looks white, as in, not a drop of Asian blood white. (It’s her mom, as I’ve learned.)
