This is the second volume of a 3-part memoir (the first was "Colors of the Mountain"), the story of a young Chinese sent from his South China village to study English at the university of Beijing. A personal story with unexpected turns, a village boy striving to excel in an unfamiliar setting and an unfamiliar field. To the American reader China seems distant and exotic, even "inscrutable." Even if this was ever true, it is rapidly changing, and Da Chen's tale illustrates the transition. His life is changing, from classical Buddhism, herbal remedies (one of which might have saved his life), night pots and classical Chinese flute music, to the world of university life, dress fashions, cigarettes, rock music and above all, dreams of that far-away land called "America." The story takes place in the early 1980s, with memories of the disastrous "cultural revolution" still fresh, and while communist party members of "cadres" are still powerful, they can also be bribed. It is also a time of social ferment, in a society where enterprising individuals have always stood out. Friendships and networking matter enormously, as does one's extended family, even that one uncle in Taiwan. Men under 28 may not legally marry, but mothers prowl to locate the best mates for their sons, and at least in villages, marriage brokers are also in business.
If there is one (slightly) jarring aspect here, it is the way Da Chen tends to dramatize his writing, also to embellish it with emotional and flowery phrases. The story by itself is good enough! But the book reads well, though it may not feel as spontaneous as other prevalent American prose: that may be the style of Chinese writing. The author should be commended for building a bridge linking his culture and ours, impressing his reader that even as China is rapidly absorbing Western culture and technology, it still remains Chinese to the core, and is likely to remain so.
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Author and Curator: Dr. David P. Stern
Mail to Dr.Stern: david("at" symbol)phy6.org .
Last updated 20 April 2004