Miss Chopsticks
5 journalers for this copy...
Synopsis from Amazon:
"From the author of the bestselling "The Good Women of China" comes the uplifting story of three sisters who, like so many migrant workers in today's China, leave their peasant community to seek their fortune in the big city. The Li sisters don't have much education, but one thing has been drummed into them: their mother is a failure because she hasn't managed to produce a son, and they themselves only merit a number as a name. Women, their father tells them, are like chopsticks: utilitarian and easily broken. Men, on the other hand, are the strong rafters that hold up the roof of a house. Yet when circumstances lead the sisters to seek work in distant Nanjing, the shocking new urban environment opens their eyes. While Three contributes to the success of a small fast-food restaurant, Five and Six learn new talents at a health spa and a bookshop/tearoom. And when the money they earn starts arriving back at the village, their father is forced to recognise that daughters are not so dispensable after all. Xinran has become known for her wonderful ability to take readers to the heart of Chinese society. In this new book, she tells not only a human story, but the story of a city. As the Li sisters discover Nanjing, so do we: its past, its customs and culture, and its future as a place where people can change their lives."
"From the author of the bestselling "The Good Women of China" comes the uplifting story of three sisters who, like so many migrant workers in today's China, leave their peasant community to seek their fortune in the big city. The Li sisters don't have much education, but one thing has been drummed into them: their mother is a failure because she hasn't managed to produce a son, and they themselves only merit a number as a name. Women, their father tells them, are like chopsticks: utilitarian and easily broken. Men, on the other hand, are the strong rafters that hold up the roof of a house. Yet when circumstances lead the sisters to seek work in distant Nanjing, the shocking new urban environment opens their eyes. While Three contributes to the success of a small fast-food restaurant, Five and Six learn new talents at a health spa and a bookshop/tearoom. And when the money they earn starts arriving back at the village, their father is forced to recognise that daughters are not so dispensable after all. Xinran has become known for her wonderful ability to take readers to the heart of Chinese society. In this new book, she tells not only a human story, but the story of a city. As the Li sisters discover Nanjing, so do we: its past, its customs and culture, and its future as a place where people can change their lives."
This book paints a lovely, vivid picture of the life and the mindset of rural - and city - people in China. I kept forgetting the events were set in modern times because the thought patterns are so removed from what I'm familiar with. I highly recommend this book and plan to read everything else the author has written as well!
*****
China for the Geographical challenge.
*****
China for the Geographical challenge.
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
I was going to keep this book in my PC but my shelves are full to bursting and I just have to make more room to all my tbrs... I'm very happy that this book found a new reader in the European version of the Pay It Forward Book Relay. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did, ApoloniaX!
I was going to keep this book in my PC but my shelves are full to bursting and I just have to make more room to all my tbrs... I'm very happy that this book found a new reader in the European version of the Pay It Forward Book Relay. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did, ApoloniaX!
This is the beautiful story of three sisters in China, who go to the city of Nanjing as migrant workers to seek their fortunes - away from the poverty of their village. Xinran based the novel on her interviews with three young women, which makes it all the more interesting - it isn’t completely fictional. There is a lot of background information about Chinese politics, history and society interwoven with the plot. Of course the focus is on migration, and the huge differences within Chinese culture und society are described, the differences between big cities and rural villages, places that are worlds apart.
Reserved for a VBB.
Nanjing cityscape, Wikipedia
Reserved for a VBB.
Nanjing cityscape, Wikipedia
Journal Entry 6 by ApoloniaX at Global Village, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Released 13 yrs ago (5/19/2010 UTC) at Global Village, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
KiwiinEngland picked this book from the Global Village VBB
Travelling to Dublin now.
KiwiinEngland picked this book from the Global Village VBB
Travelling to Dublin now.
Journal Entry 7 by kiwiinengland from Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Monday, May 24, 2010
Thanks for posting this to me ApoloniaX, along with a sheet of bookcrossing stickers! This looks a very interesting book.
I found this book fascinating, mainly due to the different expectations the three main characters had compared to someone brought up in the west would.
Reading the introduction and how the book was translated helped me understand more about some aspects of the story (ie people's names and their various possibly meanings).
I highly recommend this book.
Reserved for round two of the Global Village VBB - chosen by fruwby
Reading the introduction and how the book was translated helped me understand more about some aspects of the story (ie people's names and their various possibly meanings).
I highly recommend this book.
Reserved for round two of the Global Village VBB - chosen by fruwby
Journal Entry 9 by kiwiinengland at Manchester, Greater Manchester United Kingdom on Thursday, June 16, 2011
Released 12 yrs ago (6/18/2011 UTC) at Manchester, Greater Manchester United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Picked for the Intercultural VBB run in May/June 2011. Taking the slow boat.
If you aren't familiar with Bookcrossing, take a few minutes to check out this very cool site. Bookcrossers LOVE books, and more than anything, they love to read books and then set them free for other people to find and enjoy. I would love it if you would leave a journal entry -- you can say where you found the book or how you liked it when you read it.
Arrived safe and sound. Thanks so much, KiwiinEngland!
I thought this book was delightful! It was just a fascinating glimpse into a culture with which I am appallingly unfamiliar. (The part where Six was wondering how her foreign friends could be so ignorant of Chinese culture describes me unfortunately well.) Uplifting and gentle, but never boring. I am so happy to have met it.
Now traveling in my Fiction and Literature bookbox.
They tell you to
count your lucky stars,
but sometimes you birth them.
count your lucky stars,
but sometimes you birth them.