Logo image
  • BookDragon
  • About
  • The Blogger
  • Review Policy
  • Smithsonian APAC
 
9035
post-template-default,single,single-post,postid-9035,single-format-standard,stardust-core-1.1,stardust-child-theme-ver-1.0.0,stardust-theme-ver-3.1,ajax_updown_fade,page_not_loaded,smooth_scroll

BookDragon Blog

15 Mar / Three Sisters by Bi Feiyu [in Library Journal]

Three SistersAlthough the cover of Bi’s novel displays a character for “triple happiness” – ostensibly representing the eponymous three sisters – readers shouldn’t expect a happily-ever-after tale. After seven daughters, Party Secretary Wang sees his self-esteem redeemed with the birth of a son. Firstborn Yumi, the de facto matriarch, reclaims the family’s dignity by parading the prized baby before her father’s mistresses. But Wang’s philandering shatters Yumi’s own marriage prospects, and Yumi leaves the constrictive Wang Family Village as the lesser second wife of an older city official. Third sister Yuxiu eventually joins Yumi’s household, having nowhere else to go as she is “ruined” after being brutally gang-raped. The promise of an education helps seventh sister Yuyang escape, but her academic career is hardly stellar.

Verdict: Bi (The Moon Opera) is an award-winning Chinese novelist and screenwriter, but his presumptive efforts to capture the three sisters’ deepest thoughts and feelings prove superficial and unconvincing. Readers interested in the challenging lives of China’s ordinary citizens during the Cultural Revolution will better appreciate such resonating titles as Yiyun Li’s The Vagrants, Yu Hua’s Chronicle of a Blood Merchant, or Xinran’s nonfiction The Good Women of China.

Review: “Fiction,” Library Journal, March 15, 2010

Readers: Adult

Published: 2010 (United States)

By Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese, Fiction, Repost, Translation Tags > Betrayal, Bi Feiyu, BookDragon, Coming-of-age, Cultural Revolution in China, Family, Gender inequity, Haves vs. have-nots, Howard Goldblatt, Library Journal, Parent/child relationship, Siblings, Sylvia Li-chun Lin, Three Sisters
No Comment

Post a Comment
Cancel Reply

Smithsonian Institution
Asian Pacific American Center

Capital Gallery, Suite 7065
600 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20024

202.633.2691 | APAC@si.edu

Additional contact info

Mailing Address
Capital Gallery
Suite 7065, MRC: 516
P.O. Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012

Fax: 202.633.2699

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

SmithsonianAPA brings Asian Pacific American history, art, and culture to you through innovative museum experiences and digital initiatives.

About BookDragon

Welcome to BookDragon, filled with titles for the diverse reader. BookDragon is a new media initiative of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC), and serves as a forum for those interested in learning more about the Asian Pacific American experience through literature. BookDragon is inhabited by Terry Hong.

Learn More

Contact BookDragon

Please email us at SIBookDragon@gmail.com

Follow BookDragon!
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Looking for Something Else …?

or