Red Mandarin Dress by Qiu Xiaolong

This is the first book I've read by Qiu Xiaolong, though he's written a number of other books. I chose to read this book because the cover jumped out at me from the library -- a beautiful Chinese woman, drawn from just above the mouth, rising over a city (Shanghai) -- and because of the Chinese subject matter.

This is the fifth book in the Chief Inspector Chen series, according to Qui Xiaolong's website, though he has written other books, including translations of poetry. I found I could easily pick up the stories with this book, then read the others.

He dedicates this book to his elder brother, Xiaowei --

but for luck, what happened to him during the Cultural Revolution could have happened to me.

I am privileged to know someone who was caught up in the Cultural Revolution, so this book had a secondary appeal to me.

In a way, this sets the stage for the book which moves from just before the Cultural Revolution up to the present. The book is interspersed with much Chinese poetry, heady insights into the Cultural Revolution and its costs to Chinese society, Shanghai history and Chinese culture (including the concept of 'face' as it plays out in the story.) It also has a couple of scenes of cruelty to animals in cooking (also befitting the story.)

Chief Inspector Chen has decided to take a vacation that coincides, fortuitously, with his being asked to investigate a corruption case that is going to court. He can't directly say no, but he can use this time to take a literature course wherein he has to write a paper.

He doesn't appear a lot in the first half of the book. Instead we meet the other characters, including the lawyer in the corruption case, officials, his counterpart in the force who is taking over for him while he is gone and this man's wife who is interested in helping her husband solve the case. (Women play pivotal roles in this story.) But like a fox, he solves the case in a slow and steady way, using love poems along the way.

If you are interested in learning more about Chinese culture, this series would be for you.

Qiu Xiaolong was born in Shanghai, but now lives in St. Louis, MO. A poet and translator, he has an MA and PhD from Washington University.

The book has a feel of being translated from Chinese. By this, I mean that it is easy to slip into the world of China, because the choice of words or phrases is a bit different than a native American English speaker would choose. I'm not sure this is a deliberate literary ploy or if we are just blessed because of who is writing it.

I felt the book was as valuable for what it says about China both literally and through the story and the interactions of the characters as it was for the actual story.

If you have a Chinese child or a heart for China, you should not miss this book. It is not always easy to read (such as the scenes of cruelty in cooking and the fact that it has a feel of being translated and because you'd like to remember the cultural references) but it is very worthwhile.

I look forward to reading his other books. Have you read it?

I give it a 4.

If you would like to see the story behind the book, go here.

Karin

Originally posted 2008-07-07 12:37:58.

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