I picked up this book because I thought it was about the movie. Apparently it wasn't. I kept reading because modern day China is a fascinating backdrop for a fiction book.
The book is about a 36 year old female interpreter that gets her rocks off with Chinese men. The time frame in question encapsulates her work with an archaeologist on his search for the lost Peking Man, an early hominid that provided one of the many evolutionary links between man and ape.
As a romance, the book fell short. The long tense relationship between her and Lin ended with a bang and then came back with a whisper. It just wasn't a satisfying ending. As a thriller, the book also disappointed. I don't want to spoil the ending, but I wish they could have foreshadowed the resolution and took more than a paragraph to hand us the big reveal. The book excels almost exclusively as a portrait of China. I was exposed to new customs, people, and scenery more so than if I had actually visited china.
I was especially compelled by the plight of Alice. She seemed so real but at the end she seemed like a total fake. She had questionable motives, but they didn't seem disingenuous until the end, when she realized it herself (although I don't buy the whole scared for life by a political speech thing). Finally, a book where character growth isn't just a plot device.
The writing style threw me off. The book seemed as though it were translated directly from Chinese. Sentences were often just clauses, and most actions were described in a flowery metaphorical way. I got used to it though; I ate bitterness for only the first quarter of the book or so.
One thing that I noticed that other book reviewers didn't seem to mention: this book really sexualized the Asian male. I am glad for it. American media tends to feminize the Asian male, and I didn't realize to what extent until I read this book. That is a damn shame too. As an Asian female, I'd like to say I don't have any of those preconceived opinions about male sexuality.
Overall a great read. It wasn't necessarily a light read, but I can't say it rocked my worldview either.
Street Cred: National Best Seller, Kafka Prize, Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association’s annual five-state book award, NYT notable Book
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