Love in a Fallen City (New York Review Books Classics)

Great

Love in a Fallen City by Eileen Chang is a collection of short novellas set in Shanghai narrating the stories of the privileged elite. The six novellas are titled, "Aloeswood Incense", "Jasmine Tea", "Love in a Fallen City", "The Golden Cangue", "Sealed Off", and "Red Rose White Rose". Eileen Chang is known as The Lady of Shanghai and she used her literary works to redefine the concept of "Chinese womanhood". She uses refined and detailed prose and symbolism to capture her reader's attention and convey her characters stories. There are many central themes throughout Love in a Fallen City marriage being one of the subtle yet more prevalent ones. Chinese society and Asian culture view the institution of marriage as just that, an institution, something like a business contract made between a man and a women with complete disregard to emotions and feelings. In "Love in a Fallen City" the dialogue between the Bai family shows how a marriage is to be well constructed; the reader can see the thought and decision-making processes behind the marriage of the family's sons and daughters. Financial security and status were two main factors that drove the execution of a marriage. One could not simply marry anyone; you were expected to marry either within or above your social class. Since women became a part of their husband's families they were expected to marry someone with money who would able to care or them financially. The reader can see how essential marriage was to a female's security for life when Fourth Mistress says (2741) "...in times like these I have to think of their needs too. I've got a conscience, and I have to think of them- can't weigh them down and drive them into poverty." Here she is implying that marrying a daughter off to the right companion is the difference between a life of comfort and security, and a life of poverty and misery. Fourth Mistress hints at the shame Lisu brought onto her family when she decided to divorce her first husband when she says "Is divorce such an easy thing, that you can get divorced anytime you want?" Liuyuan's view on marriage is not one that is portrayed as full of love, admiration and emotion either. Liuyuan's upbringing leads him to view woman as "just the mud under his feet." Which touches on one of the other central themes of this novel, the representation of women. In the novella "Red Rose, White Rose" women are represented in two ways. There is the pure white rose who seems like the perfect wife but then there is also the red rose, the tempting seductress. One single woman could not represent both these entities and making a choice between the two was very difficult. For a while these two women were interchangeable, a man was able to see his red rose when he wanted to all the while knowing that his white rose was dutifully waiting for him. In the end however a choice had to be made and it was the white rose the pure rose that was chosen. The white rose symbolizes the empowerment of Chinese women and begins to douse the notion and stereotype that all Chinese women are red roses the symbolism for prostitutes. For me marriage should be a representation of how two people who love each other can join in matrimony, a successful marriage shouldn't be based on status or financial security. Some may call me a hypocrite because my opinion on this subject shifts sometimes. Culturally I'm expected to marry someone who is either equivalent to me or higher in financial standards, but I believe you should be able to marry whom ever you want no matter how financially stable they are. I can personally relate to the novellas in Love in a Fallen City" because of how similar the Asian and Muslim cultures are. I personally disagree with the philosophy of marrying solely for money and status though I understand the reasons behind it. Sometimes there is no option but to get married no matter whom they are.

good insight on life (at that period) in Hong Kong China. Detailed observation very well written

Very good book , strongly recommend.

Love in a Fallen City is a collection of Chang's novellas and short stories set in the 1940's Shanghai and Hong Kong against a backdrop of war and modernization. But although these are wartime stories, they're not concerned with the ideology of war or the high drama of heroism and survival. Instead, they deal with the poignant conflicts of everyday life for ordinary people. Chang's characters experience romantic disillusionment, face obstacles raised by social expectations for women in a patriarchal society, and reflect somberly on unrealized potential. These stories are all tinged with a wistfulness and written with sharp and insightful observations of human nature that made me wonder about the all the various people living inside the buildings I pass everyday and what their lives are like — what regrets they have, what memories they continually look back on, what they wish was different. I've read that Chang has been called the Chinese Virginia Woolf, but she reminds me more of F. Scott Fitzgerald or Sylvia Plath. My favorite story, and probably the most optimistic of the bunch, is the title story, "Love in a Fallen City". It's about a young divorced woman named Bai Liusu, chafing against the constant criticism of her aristocratic family, who becomes involved with a wealthy, British-educated bachelor named Fan Liuyan and follows him to Hong Kong. But although they're both undeniably drawn to each other, it's far from smooth sailing for them where an actual relationship is concerned. Although these stories were all pretty depressing, I absolutely fell in love with Chang's writing and will definitely be reading more of her work.