I am guilty of reading too little. It‘s not that I don‘t like to read, but somehow excuses always find their way into my schedule. But a few days ago, I came across a project called Around the World in 80 Countries. The author of the website dared herself and others to read 80 books written by authors from 80 different countries. And while that is all a little too ambitious for me, it did inspire me to start my own reading project. 

The goal is to read a book set in every country I have been to.  And while I feel the strongest desire to start reading a Tanzanian novel, I have decided to begin at my life’s beginning…

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Shanghai Girls

My first book is Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. It is a story about Pearl and May,  two sisters living the life of “beautiful girls” in 1930s Shanghai.  Their world of extravagance and elegance initially hid the signs of impending war and death looming over the city, but  eventually life as they knew it collapsed around them.  The story follows the sisters through their escape from the Japanese, detainment at Angel’s Island to their attempts at reconciling the tragedies and secrets of their lives. 

I hesitate to read Chinese books penned by American Chinese authors.  They taste like General Tsao’s chicken… edible but unauthentic.  They are heavy with stereotypical Chinese myths, too much for my palate but perhaps stimulating to a foreigner‘s tongue.  I vowed myself never to read such a book again after suffering through Joy Luck Club and its endless tales of bounded feet, losing face and zodiac signs. 

Another qualm I have is that in these books the author always moves their protagonist to the US and write about the struggles of assimilating into a foreign culture.  My grandparents never escaped and thus my parents were  raised in China, and it would haven been refreshing to have read a novel that told the stories behind China’s Iron Curtain.

Yet, no matter how cliched some elements of the book may be, there is no denying the existence of tremendous tragedies in 20th Century China.  This book serves as a stark reminder of how fortunate my generation is and in that sense, Shanghai Girls was a worthwhile read.