Memoirs of a Eurasian is a tale about a Russian-Chinese ...
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Memoirs of a Eurasian is a tale about a Russian-Chinese mother and her daughter, and their trials and tribulations in China. The characters belong to a unique class of people with mixed cultural heritages. Their existence coincides with the ebbs and flows of modern Chinese history. Yet the main characters experiences are not uncommon among Chinese intellects and people of distinction. As their lives intertwine with that of ordinary Chinese, the story reflects the Chinese fate when China went through political turmoil and even madness under the regime of Mao Zedong.
Vivian Yang displays sensitivity and understanding as she chronicles the struggle of the main characters, and explores their complex psyche. The reader is given a sense of kinship with the characters and an opportunity to comprehend the magnitude of social upheaval over four decades. Her personal knowledge of the locales in which the story takes place lends credibility to a tale that is exotic yet close to home for anyone who has spent time in Asia.
*** The book is received as a gift.
1198695
When first we meet Susan, a young American woman studying in Hong Kong, we see her as eager and inexperienced  a lover of Chinese culture who is quickly romanced by fellow student Cai, so handsome and sure. Through innocent, intellectual evening chats and patience, Cai courts Susan  and proposes very quickly. Susan, entranced and bewitched by him, agrees.

From there, it unravels. Questionable relationships. Porn addiction. Extramarital issues. Abandonment, peep shows, detachment. Coldness. Threats. Unemployment. Fear.

Heres what really works about Susan Blumberg-Kason's GOOD CHINESE WIFE: Susan gets it. She gets that we may be reading her deeply personal story of a trouble marriage with a critical eye. She knows we may judge, we may disagree, we may shake our hands and wag our fingers. Maybe well say you should have known. Susan understands we will not accept all of her choices. Why does she stay when its obvious she should run, run, run?

But this Susan is older, wiser, accepting. Shes gazing back at her tumultuous first marriage with a new understanding, and shes not apologetic about her past. In a matter-of-fact but warm tone, Susan recounts her time with Cai in a way that isn't truly detached  but makes it clear shes moved beyond their pain and differences.

At its core, GOOD CHINESE WIFE is about a woman who loves a man  one who doesnt respect or support her. Though she is Jewish-American and he is Chinese, the fault lines in their marriage aren't entirely due to cultural differences, as she once rationalizes. Yes, they hail from separate nations . . . and have entirely different traditions, different values. But as a new wife, Susan works hard to empathize and learn from her husband, accepting his quirks (if you could call a porn addiction a quirk . . .) and chooses to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Cai cant say the same.

This memoir is riveting. As outsiders, it may be easy to wonder why in the world Susan chooses to stay with a man who repeatedly and blatantly disrespects her, both through his questionable relationships with others  male and female  and his verbal abuse at home. Cold, silent and brooding, Cai comes across as a dangerously unpleasant man . . . one subject to wild mood swings and threats.

But I got it. For better or worse, Susan fell in love with him  this tempestuous, mysterious person  and tried to make a life with him, but Cai proved to be someone on whom she could not depend. As they welcomed a son, I cringed at the stunts Cai would pull . . . and the detached, harmful way in which he interacted with his child.

For all the sad, angry moments, this isn't a negative story  and there were times this story really sparkled. Susan is incredibly endearing, and I loved the electricity in her voice when she talks about her beloved Hong Kong. Her love for her family is very clear, and shes incredibly kind  and treated very kindly  by Cais parents in Hidden River, who love her and their grandchild as well.

Is GOOD CHINESE WIFE about an interracial, intercultural marriage? Yes . . . and no. Though some of Susan and Cais issues stem from cultural misunderstandings, of course, its far deeper than that. And this isn't a cautionary tale. By the close, we know Susan bears no malice toward Cai  and having found happiness herself (not a spoiler  in the author bio!), she reflects on their time together in the 1990s very differently these days.

Absorbing, calm and wise, GOOD CHINESE WIFE was a memoir I devoured in just a few hours. I felt Susans all-encompassing love for her family  and often wanted to simultaneously hug and shake her. Though readers may question her decisions (sometimes I did, too), Susan bravely shares her story in the hope, I think, of inspiring others to stand up for themselves and their families. Its a thought-provoking memoir, and one I recommend.
1195190
Leo Egerev has written a charming series of anecdotes about his childhood and young adulthood in The Soviet Union before immigrating to the United States in the 1990's.  From tales of his mother who was a nationally acclaimed make-up artist for Soviet Cinema, to his adventure as a little boy on a fishing boat that almost went missing at sea, Egerev weaves a rich tapestry of experiences that made up his early life.  More charming still, it is written as if he was telling stories to his wife and son.  There are even some that he stops abruptly, as if the ending might be inappropriate for his young son's ears, leaving us to guess what titillating shenanigans ensued thereafter.  But his familiar tone welcomes his readers in, so you feel as if you're in the room with him, sipping a cup of tea by a warm fire, just another member of his family.
1763695
A well-written and fun read about the adventures of a young American boy and a young Chinese girl in mid-19th century China during a tumultuous period of Chinese history.  Very different and entertaining.  The author clearly knows the history of the period, which creates a great background for the adventure.  I strongly recommend.it.
4464750
I have been looking for more books that deal with Asian American characters and stories. I was eager to find out about this book because not only does it deal with Asian culture but it's also a travelogue novel as well. The reader gets to experience a trip to China and learn about the customs and culture while discovering Lily's story at the same time.

It's a journey of self discovery for Lily. An aunt that she has never heard about has left her money for her to travel to China and perform certain tasks along the way before meeting her. She not only learns more about her own desires and her inner self, but she learns about her background and heritage as well. It's a lot to take in when you are totally unprepared and unsure of what the future holds but Lily takes up the challenge. While she is in the middle of her adventure, she keeps running into a young man named Alex. The two form a connection, even though Lily keeps trying to deny that it doesn't exist. She reluctantly begins to feel affection for him while he is meanwhile head over heels in love with her to the point of asking her to marry him.

There is quite a bit of sex in the book, a little more than I normally like when I'm reading. It's not as graphic as erotica but it might be a little much for some. It's rather sad to see Lily be used as the mistress of her professor and a bit infuriating that he sees her as the stereotypical Asian submissive woman. I was pleasantly pleased with where that relationship headed. Meanwhile it's different with Alex because even though she resists at first, she does begin to care and then eventually loves him.

The revelation of the story is emotional especially when you learn everything about Lily's past and the history of her family. Asian culture is so multi-layered and it's sad how things tend to happen. The story however is rich in detail and I really enjoyed traveling to China through the book. People and places come alive and there is much to learn in this book about the culture (such as food). This is the first book from Yip that I have read and I'm interested now in reading more from her.
4633260
This was a very interesting novel. It reflected with precision the American government and issues facing American citizens through the telling of a story of a Russian Count . In that way it felt allegorical to me. To make a blanket statement that Russian and American conditions are the same, would be hyperbole...to an extent.

There was so much meat to the story, that I found myself focusing on the grammar and techniques of good writing, then to the story itself, character development, lessons in history, and fond reminiscing of music and literature of Russian origin.

This was a journey through time and literature that made me feel thankful to be a free American.
3086828
Anna Aizic's family's multi-generational journey, living through revolutions, world wars, and ultimately their immigration from the Ukraine to the United States. The memoir includes recollections of the author's grandmother Polya, who as a small child witnessed the visits of Nicholas II and his family to Odessa.
4568826
The Book & The Translator

By Graham Earnshaw

Once upon a time, in 1973, I landed in Hong Kong and sat in the lobby of the Mandarin Hotel and looked at a notice under the glass of the coffee table with identical information in both English and Chinese, laid out as numbered points. I looked at the English "1,2, 3", then at the Chinese squiggles, and saw that one stroke was 1, two strokes 2 and ... three strokes 3! I can read Chinese! It was a simple path from that moment to the translation of the kungfu novel "The Book & The Sword", now published by Oxford University Press.

The novel was written by author Louis Cha, who occupies a position in modern Chinese literature equivalent to that of Charles Dickens, Ian Fleming and Tom Clancy combined. He is a giant, and unfortunately a lonely giant. There are no other authors of his stature in modern Chinese popular literature.

The Book and the Sword is a story that virtually every Chinese person knows, involving kung fu secret society struggles against the Manchu court, the beautiful but tragic Fragant Princess, whose tomb stands outside Kashgar, and the war between the Manchu armies and the Muslim peoples of what is now western China.

It was Cha's first book, serialised in 1955 under his pen name Jin Yong in the Hong Kong newspaper that he founded, Ming Pao. Louis Cha (Jin Yong), is a famous media person, and one of the top authors in the Chinese world. His novels have had a huge impact on the whole of Chinese society and culture, and have been adapted many times for TV, film, audio cassette, strip cartoon and even computer games. He is probably the most-pirated author of all time.

Cha's novels find favour with all levels of Chinese society, from the university professors who savour his command of the Chinese language, to kids who just love the fight scenes. From a western perspective, they provide a window into the Chinese world, revealing its essence through the dreams and fantasies that make up whatever it is to be Chinese. The equivalent, in other words, of Tolkein's success in "Lord of the Rings" in tapping into the sources of northern European culture.

Book & Sword's story has a panoramic sweep which takes as its base a few unbeatable themes - secret societies, king fu masters, the sensational rumour so dear to Chinese hearts that the great Manchu emperor Qian Long was in fact a Chinese and not Manchu. It also mixes in the exotic flavours of central Asia, a lost city in the desert guarded by wolf packs and the unforgettable Fragrant Princess, who ate flowers and exuded a scent that every Chinese man would love to inhale. Me too.

Translating the book took around four years, and the fight scenes were by far the hardest part to get right. It inevitably involved some simplification. But I was as faithful to the spirit of the original as I could be. I took the view that I could omit or simplify, but not add and Mr Cha agreed with my approach.

When I translated the book, Chinese culture on the world scene basically came down to Bruce Lee. Now, the world has turned, "Heroes" and "Croaching Dragon" are major international box office draws, and kung fu culture has infiltrated western culture to a significant degree - the Matrix series is the proof.

(p.s. the Amazon system requires a star rating on all review entries, otherwise I would not have been so immodest as to rate this book)
4410582
"Stalin's Children" was written as a memoir of a family but it is much more than that. It is an intimate look at life in mid-20th century Russia. The story of those years is told through the lives of three generations of the Bibikov family.

Scholarly histories can only give dry descriptions of the tumultuous years from Stalin's purges through Perestroika. The Bibikov's lived those events. Through them, we experience the despair of parents rounded up in a purge and sent to the Gulag, the helplessness of orphans caught up in the chaos of the mass evacuations as the German army invades Russia. We share the joy of two sisters, separated during the war, who are miraculously reunited. Then we settle down with the sisters in Moscow and endure the privations of the Cold War.

Owen Matthews, the author, is the son an Englishman, Mervyn Matthews, who studied Russian, worked in the British Embassy in Moscow and fell in love with both Russia and one of the sisters. It was the correspondence between Mervyn and Mila during the six years that they were separated while Mervyn worked to get his fiance out of Russia that inspired this book.

Readers who came of age after the break-up of the Soviet empire may find the tactics Mervyn used in his six year campaign unbelievable, if not downright silly. Those of us who remember "duck & cover" drills, hiding under our desks in school in the vain hope that they would shield us from nuclear attack, will be less skeptical. We remember the extreme measures taken by those desperate to escape from behind the Iron Curtain.

There is danger in writing a true story about dramatic events. The result could be maudlin or read like a fictional thriller. The author has avoided both of these extremes. He allows the family members to tell their stories through reminisces, letters and official documents, accurately capturing the fatalistic attitude of the Russian people.

I was a little disappointed at the end of the book. The constant foreshadowing of the dramatic love story between Mervyn and Mila builds expectations so high that the actual telling is a letdown. The final chapters are an attempt on the part of the author to draw parallels between his parent's lives and his own. His effort to make his story, told in a rambling oblique manner, as dramatic as his parents' doesn't end the book so much as let it just fade away.
310411
The complete subtitle of the book is: "This is a story about a mother, two daughters, and two dogs. This was supposed to be a story of how Chinese parents are better at raising kids than Western ones. But instead, it's about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory, and how I was humbled by a thirteen-year-old."

  From the exerpts that I had read from this book online, I was prepared not to like it and not to like Amy.  However, I really liked the book.  It is a well-written, open and honest sounding memoir.  Amy tells how she is raising her children in what she calls the Chinese way, which she feels is greatly superior to the lazy Western way of raising children.  Her younger daughter, however, rebelled completely at the age of 13 which made Amy have to re-think her parenting techniques and compelled her to write this book.
I think that Amy wrote it to try to justify to her girls how she raised them and to try to tell them how much she loves them and that she thinks she is acting this way to help them to reach their potential.
  Most Western parents will find some of the things that Amy has said to her children and some of the things that she has made them do rather horrifying. She has micromanaged her daughter's lives and screamed at them to force them to practice piano and violin. Even when they travel, she finds places for them to practice their instruments and often also finds tutors to tutor them in practice sessions there as well.  She once refused to accept hand made birthday cards from her daughters telling them that the cards obviously had taken very little effort to produce and were thus an insult to her.  The girls later made nicer cards for her which she accepted.
  I think there are some very positive things about Amy's parenting style.  She is very involved in her daughter's lives.  She sat through all of their piano and violin lessons with them, learning everything the instructors were teaching, taking notes, making drawings sometimes and studied music on her own as well, in order to help her daughters be succesful at playing their instruments.  Her application of that, however, is what most people would find to be too much - screaming at her daughters, not allowing them to take breaks, making them practice for up to 6 hours a day or more.
  I do think that Western parents and the US school system are too lax and we should raise our expectations some, more like the Chinese parents do because children are more capable than we give them credit for and our education system is far behind those in some other countries.
I don't, however, recommend screaming at children and degrading them and taking away all free time like Amy did.
1958796
I picked up this book on a family member's recommendation, but took me a while to actually get around to reading it -- at first. DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE! Let's face it -- the cover is *not* the best...... (Publishing company what were you thinking?) Once I started it though, I quite literally didn't put it down until I finished it. All in one go. I'm pretty sure I laughed at least once every chapter! Yes -- I admit it -- I committed the cardinal sin of every book lover and judged this book by it's cover. (Horrors of horrors, I know). But I think anyone should be forgiven if he or she glanced at the cover and thought, "huh, probably some deep, stodgy, cultural commentary on confucianism in the chinese family." The funny thing is...he or she wouldn't be wrong! EXCEPT, insert 'HILARITY' in place of 'stodgy.' And take those stereotypes about boring non-fiction cultural autobiographies that just popped into your head and throw them right out as well! It's actually a story! (Okay, it does read a bit like an autobiography, but it's actually fiction, aka a novel you actually want to read.)

Reading this book, it was remarkable to me how well Veronica Li tapped into the Chinese-American psyche. I'm not talking about your parent's Amy Tan 'Joy Luck Club' kind of Chinese-American book that you had to read in grade school (sorry, not to offend any Amy Tan fans out there). I always felt a sort of disconnect with the Chinese-American immigrant identity in Amy's books that I was supposed to identify with in high school. (Uhm no teach, I don't want to express to the class how deeply the only assigned Asian authored book makes me feel connected to my cultural roots). Part of this, I think, reflects how much things have changed over time, and the "American-born Chinese" of my generation holds a different mix and balance of asian and western values and opinions, than they did perhaps in Amy Tan's time. (Actually, how old is she? I feel like I should know these things by virtue of being a fellow asian.) Veronica Li's writing beautifully illustrates the strange dichotomy, messy jumble, and at times contradictory impulses of our thoughts and actions that often come about as a result of being a hybrid of two different cultures. One moment you find yourself righteously making a stand as the modern, independent individualist. And the next, you're scratching your head in doubt, because wait, my asian parents have made so many sacrifices that (dare I say?) most caucasian parents generally don't, and shouldn't I take them into my home? Of course, I've completely read this book through the lovely, still cataract-free, lens of being a young asian twentysomething, so take my comments as you will.

Oops. Perhaps I should have talked less about my perceptions and more about the actual book. Well, dear reader, let me leave you with this pithy yet hopefully illuminating description. Veronica Li's Confucius Says is, indeed, about the interesting, and emotionally-wrenching, tensions that arise with end-of-life care issues and our elderly parents when one is a product of two cultures. BUT. What makes her book 5 stars to me (and not just another bland cultural identity in America book I feel obligated to read due to said asian-ness), is the incredibly RICH, deeply self-aware, subtle and witty vein of humor running beneath the dialogue throughout the entire book. Stand up and applaud people. Because that is hard to do. Veronica also does something I haven't quite yet pinned down with her alternating viewpoints, which adds an unexpectedly fascinating dimension to the book's storytelling as well.

All in all, this book is a hidden gem for any Asian-American -- I'm looking at you, fellow asian twentysomethings. Go forth and read young'uns!
378479
For a westerner understanding the Chinese culture is quite a harsh. The book takes you into a journey which is pictured and illustrated through life in the village and through Confucianism
784495
In a world where books, stories and novels are available in bewildering numbers, one wouldn't expect many of life's experiences to remain undocumented, however,  Mark Wansa has found subject matter that is both exotic and commonplace.  A virtually unexplored ethnic immigrant experience told in a way that both grips and informs the reader, bringing to life the social upheaval and emotional drive that brought so many East Slavic Carpatho-Rusyns to America. Many with no experience or concept of the wider world around them until they naively leave their ancestral villages on an epic journey for the mythical promise of America.  An engaging, we'll written novel of interest to anyone who enjoys a good story, as well as those of Rusyn descent who crave insight into the lives of their immigrant forebears.
4123420
In telling the story of his life with understated modesty, the author, with the help of his niece, successfully subsumed his ego into a broad epic, a narrative of the transformation of Hong Kong. From the time Stanley Kwan was born to when he emigrated to Toronto, the population in Hong Kong grew roughly ten fold. The transformation from being a British colony to a modern megapolis was fascinating as seen from his eyes. Its safe to say that most of the people in todays Hong Kong do not know much of the story of the city, much less the rest of us that are mere third party witnesses.

I am now in my 70s and the friends and classmates from Hong Kong that I knew from my college days remind me of Kwan. Their father or grandfather had multiple wives and thus were members of huge families. Dominated by Confucian values, only the first born of the first wife enjoyed privileged lives. The rest had to fight for their share of patriarchal attention and an opportunity to a better education and career. Those that succeed, like Kwans daughters, found their way to schools in the West and established their careers outside of Hong Kong.

Even though the invasion by Japan interrupted his higher education, the schooling under the loose controls of the British administration had already taught the author Chinese and English in addition to his native speaking Cantonese. His language proficiency gave him opportunities to work with the Nationalist Chinese government during the war years and the American Consulate in Hong Kong in post war years. Step by step as he moved from one post to another, we saw how Hong Kong was also evolving and changing.

By telling the stories of his brothers, two of whom left Hong Kong to live and work in the mainland shortly after the Communist takeover, we also learn how the tumult inside China affected his family and made his feelings of patriotism and identification with China more ambivalent. His book helped me understand the origin of the Hong Kong mindset: Make as much money as you can, while you can. After WWII, the feeling of uncertainty on the fate of Hong Kong hung heavily on the people of Hong Kong.

This book is a wonderful read on the history of Hong Kong. Too bad the author left for Canada in 1984. While negotiations had already begun between London and Beijing, it was quite some time before the handover on July 1, 1997. The book does not explain why or how the city has been transformed to the state it is in today.

Perhaps the story he told on the near fatal run on the Hang Seng Bank is symptomatic of the Hong Kong Chinese inherent lack of self-confidence and a western worship mindset. In April 1965 a run was made on the bank, heretofore the strongest among the Chinese owned banks in Hong Kong. Facing insolvency, the owners had to sell a controlling interest to the British owned Hong Kong Shanghai Bank. As soon as the deal was announced, the panic went away.
3110799
Very interesting autobiographical account of Anchee Min's early years in America.  The book also has enough of her childhood in Mao's China to make it a fascinating historical novel as well.
3969277
Through this intriguing story of the author, Scott Tongs family, you get first-hand information and the emotions on how average Chinese families lived, suffered, and triumphed though the turmoil of 20th century China. By telling his extended familys story, readers can experience the effects of Deng Xiaopins gai ge kai fang (Reform and Opening) policy after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, when western capitalism was embraced. Tong places the astonishing growth resulting in skyscrapers, superhighways, high speed train, and telecommunications facilities, etc., in historical and personal context. Today China has become the worlds second largest economy.

Equally astonishing is that this glorious period of today is preceded by two disastrous periods in Chinese history: the invasion of the Japanese from 1931 to 1945, and the communist rise and rule from 1945-1976. Tong shows readers both these periods: how his ancestors, and the vast majority of Chinese citizens were directly affected by the cruelties suffered at the hand of the Japanese, as well as the devastating and tragic Great Leap and Cultural Revolution periods under Maos dictatorship.  Tongs stories in Maos period are still taboo subjects for the Chinese government.  You are not supposed to talk about that in China.  Few westerners know about this and even the young generation of Chinese knows very little. Tong has unearthed fascinating truths during that period of Chinas metamorphosis.  You will enjoy reading this book.
1116941
I will make this review short. The book "Old Town" is a long book, yet the stories are quite fascinating. This is a story lover's book excellently translated.

Do look at the map and notice that Old Town is located in Fukien province. You also must be aware that China is a land of many dialects which are, in fact different languages in some cases, more different than Italian and Spanish.

This is a book about family and characters. Also it sheds light on the endurance of Chinese culture even though it would seem that Chairman Mao tried to have it destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.

I am specifically interested in China and its history. But this book is larger than that of specific area. For example, it makes me wish I had spent more time talking to my grandparents, now dead, of the people in their families and written them down. I wouldn't even have to be literary about it. There are stories I was lucky enough to have heard, but have forgotten many of the details and I feel sadness at that in addition to the stories I know, there are those I never even heard. Besides containing stories of human events, Chinese culture, individual characters and humanity in general, the book made me nostalgic about my family's history and geneology.