描述
开 本: 大32开纸 张: 胶版纸包 装: 平装是否套装: 否国际标准书号ISBN: 9780758220141
In this disappointing courtesan novel, a 98-year-old Chinese
émigré woman in present-day San Francisco reviews her youth in
early 20th-century China, where she was a ming ji, or “prestigious
prostitute.” Falsely accused of rape and murder, Xiang Xiang’s
father is executed, and her mother retreats into a Buddhist
nunnery. Xiang Xiang, alone and friendless at 13, is tricked into
entering the Peach Blossom Pavilion, where she is given the “art
name” of Bao Lan, or “Precious Orchid.” Her extraordinary beauty
and gifts in painting, writing poems and performing music, and in
the bedchamber, make her a prize. After some improbable adventures
(including a liaison with a female transvestite and a love affair
with a Taoist monk), Xiang Xiang eventually makes her peace with
what fate has made of her-just as the Japanese invade China. While
Xiang Xiang’s forthright perceptiveness, grace and smarts are
intriguing, Yip’s English language debut vacillates between
melodrama and fictionalized sociological study. That split
personality is reflected in the clunky prose, which never does its
lead justice.
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“I thought Peach Blossom Pavilion was beautifully written,
wonderfully imagined–erotic, funny, bursting with life–a terrific
novel!” Max Byrd, Professor of English, University of California,
Davis.”I thought Peach Blossom Pavilion was beautifully written,
wonderfully imagined–erotic, funny, bursting with life–a terrific
novel!” Max Byrd, Professor of English, University of California,
Davis.
“In the sure voice of Precious Orchid, Mingmei recounts thirteen
tumultuous years of Chinese history: vicious politics, pristine
piety and heartrending scandal, framed in the classical arts. She
writes with a painter’s fastidious eye and the irresistible energy
of grand storytelling. The pages just turn themselves.” Neal
Chandler, director, Creative Writing Program of Cleveland State
University.
“Peach Blossom Pavilion, the story of the last geisha in China,
is told with amazing insight as if the author had lived in the
tumultuous China of a century ago. Through her beautiful, lucid
prose, Mingmei brings modern Western readers into the mysterious
world of the cultivated courtesan.” Hannelore Hahn, Founder and
Executive Director, International Women’s Writing Guild.
Peach Blossom Pavilion is the story about the last Chinese
poet-musician courtesan, or Geisha. Chinese geisha culture existed
2500 years ago and reached its fullest development about four
hundred years ago. (While the geisha tradition continues in Japan,
the remarkable Chinese courtesan culture has passed into history.)
Peach Blossom Pavilion is about these elegant, artistic courtesans
and the fascinating culture that they represented. The protagonist,
Precious Orchid, had many adventures both inside and outside the
prostitution house, Peach Blossom pavilion. After her father was
executed for a crime he did not commit, Precious Orchid’s mother is
tricked into leaving her in a high-class house of prostitution
where she has a traumatic initiation in the ways of her male
customers. Yet Precious Orchid is able to find ways to mitigate her
misery through art and music, taught by her “sister” Pearl.
Through all this she plots her escape, only to find herself in
the “bitter sea.” Her adventures include practing sex magic with a
Daoist monk on a remote mountain, and a perilous journey to find
her long lost mother, a prominent Buddhist nun. Just when she has
an offer of marriage from an American merchant, the Japanese
invade…
Mingmei Yip has written an enchanting debut novel “Peach Blossom
Pavilion” which tells the story of the last surviving Chinese
courtesan (prostitute), Precious Orchid, the most sought-after
woman in all of China. Just as Arthur Golden’s novel “Memoirs of a
Geisha” introduced readers to the Japanese geisha tradition nearly
a decade ago, Peach Blossom Pavilion provides a vivid account of a
forgotten history, immersed in Chinese culture of the early 1990’s,
by transporting us to another place and time where prostitutes were
glamorous, elegant and cultured women that were well-versed in the
arts. –Asiance Magazine, June 1, 2008
Novelist MINGMEI YIP tells a familiar story with some surprising
twists throughout.
MINGMEI YIP, who has published five previous books in Chinese,
shows an impressive depth of knowledge in a range of subjects from
the inner workings of a brothel to Buddhist practice to music. She
infuses her characters, especially Precious Orchid with a realness
that readers would certainly recognize as signs of an assured
author capable of fleshing out what may be stereotypes…
Ratings: 5 stars Fans of Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden and
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See are sure to be drawn to
and find great enjoyment in Peach Blossom Pavilion …Scattered
throughout the book are numerous passages of poems, song lyrics and
Chinese sayings that are just as enjoyable to read as the story
itself. Not only do they add a sense of authenticity to the story,
making the characters and time period feel more true, but also
touch it with an artistic flair… The poignant Peach Blossom
Pavilion continues to linger in the reader’s mind, with many scenes
and Precious Orchid’s words resounding. It’s a novel of heartache,
but also one of hope as the strong heroine never gives in. With its
lovely prose and memorable characters, Peach Blossom Pavilion is
sure to touch all who read it.
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