Recent holiday readings

Long-delayed but here goes

For some reason my wife mentioned the Dowager Empress and Pu-yi scene from The Last Emperor and I showed the kids the clip from the film —and it sent me down a rabbit-hole for my holiday readings last Christmas.

I started with Anchee Ming’s two-novel series: a brisk read, entertaining, but leaves you wondering if it’s convincing.

And so I went on to a non-fiction look at the same person: a revisionist look and also, ultimately, leaves you far from convinced that the Dowager Empress was a conservative reformer overtaken by events.

Which led me back to wanting to immerse myself more in the era and so led to a triple-barreled indulgence in Janie Chang’s novels:

A very atmospheric, moving in parts, and introduced me to fox spirits in Chinese mythology. This got me to read Yangsze Choo (see below).

I found this the most imaginative because as the title suggests, it explores the idea that people have more than one soul. The device of someone watching their own funeral and then having to figure out why they haven’t move on, is effective here.

I’d dearly love to see this turned into a movie. The plot is epic —a library with a remarkable story muist be transported to safety in the midst of the Japanese invasion of China— but really entrancing are the scenes of ancient Gods and spirits being summoned to leave China forever, as the war unfolds: really arresting images!

Which somehow provoked nostalgia for an old favorite and so I explored one of her novels which I hadn’t read yet:

A half-Caucasian courtesan’s story, also set in the 1920s and 1930s, with vivid characters and emotiuonally-gripping scenes which leave you aching for the characters.

Which somehow led to this very enjoyable read:

A continuation of the fox God/spirit mythology; sympathetic characters and moving in its own way.

Currently, I’ve branched out to science fiction and while I haven’t finished it, this is a very interesting read so far.

I hope to catch up with my writings here starting with the next newsletter.