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This post is in line with my earlier request for reading lists, each offering good reads that give the reader a sense of place.  I’ve already made a list of books that give a feel for life in Singapore.  The following recommended reads are books that I have found offer, in some way or another, an authentic feeling of Shanghai.

Classic Chinese Short Stories narrated by Charlton Griffin

This audiobook collection includes tales by two of my favorite Chinese authors, Lu Xun (considered the founder of contemporary Chinese literature) and Lin Yu Tang (who is actually retelling an old classic in this volume).   I would highly recommend either of those authors to anyone looking for a good read, or to anyone hoping to get some insight into contemporary Chinese thought. 

The final two stories in the collection, "Mr. Pan in Distress," by Yeh Shao-Chun, and "Intoxicating Spring Nights," by Yu Ta-fu, are both set in Shanghai.  Neither is the most memorable story in the collection (Lu Xun’s tale of “Kong Yi Ji” was, for me), but the whole collection is an enjoyable read.

Empire of the Sun by J. G. Ballard

This story is more famous in its cinematic form, but I find it to be one of those cases where the old saying “the book is always better than the movie” certainly rings true (though I do like the movie).  Ballard actually lived in Shanghai in the years just before the Japanese occupation, and was in fact interred in a POW camp.  I don’t know to what degree the tale is autobiographical (the main character is a boy named Jim), but there is no question that it offers a sense of authenticity about the place and time. 

I mentioned this book in a comment when we discussed the notion of authenticity versus accuracy in historical fiction, and I do think that this is one example of a novel where the accuracy of details of history might be slightly off in places, but the authenticity is certainly not.  If anything, the missed details seem to make it more authentic -- as if it grows out of memory, which is always somehow flawed, instead of research.  It certainly adds to the feel that this is a boy’s perception of an adult world that is nearly impossible to understand (and not just for the kids, if we are to be honest).

Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng

Cheng’s book was very popular about the same time that Wild Swans was the book to read. I had to take a rather lengthy break between reading Wild Swans and Life and Death in Shanghai.  Both are heavy books.  I’ve since realized that it is the weight of history that bears down on the reader in each story.

While Wild Swans gives a broader view of China in the 20th century (spanning three generations of women in one family), Cheng’s book is her own tale of surviving the Cultural Revolution.  It is a hard book, because those were hard times.  Cheng’s strength shows through, even though sometimes I think it is hard to exactly get into her head.  I suppose that, in some way, the events narrated are so incomprehensible to me that it can be difficult to imagine quite how I would react to such a situation.  This book, and others that similarly tell of that period of China’s history, is an excellent look at a survivor’s mental toughness, and the resources of the human spirit that keep us going through the hardest times in life.

The House of Memory by Nicholas Clifford

I recently finished this novel, and found it a very compelling read.  Now that I think of it, The House of Memory is the recent read that really got me to thinking about the whole question of the representation of place and time in fiction.    I think this is largely because time and place are both handled very nicely in the book.  It is the story of a historian doing research in Shanghai in 1989.  He watches the unfolding of events in Beijing over the week that he is in China, all the while continuing his research into Shanghai of the 1920s.  The way the two periods are paralleled, or perhaps collapsed, is nicely done.

The city of Shanghai is deftly brought to life in the book, both the romantic images of a Shanghai now long gone by, and a mixture of grimness and hope for a Shanghai of the more recent past.  It is also very interesting to think of where the city, and indeed the whole country, has gone since the 1989 setting.  I do not think it would be wrong to say that the more hopeful aspect in the novel is the one that has been realized, for the most part.

Several times in the novel, Clifford makes reference to Andre Malraux’s book The Conquerors, referencing it as a good read about Shanghai.  I have ordered the book, but not yet received it.  Having read The House of Memory, I do trust Clifford’s recommendation.

©2007 Shelly Bryant