What do you think?
Rate this book
Inspector Chen Cao #5
Red Mandarin Dress
Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department is often put in charge of politically sensitive cases. Having recently ruffled more than a few official feathers, when he is asked to look into a sensitive corruption case he takes immediate action—he goes on leave from work. But while on vacation, the body of a murdered young woman is found in a highly trafficked area and the only notable aspect is that she was redressed in a red mandarin dress. When a second body appears, this time in the People's Park, also in precisely the same kind of red mandarin dress, the newspapers start screaming that Shanghai is being stalked by its first sexual serial killer. With the Party anxious to resolve the murders quickly, Chen finds himself in the midst of his most potentially dangerous and sensitive case to date.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
61 people are currently reading
998 people want to read
About the author
Qiu Xiaolong
75 books478 followersQiu Xiaolong (裘小龙) was born in Shanghai, China. He is the author of the award-winning Inspector Chen series of mystery novels, Death of a Red Heroine (2000), A Loyal Character Dancer (2002), When Red Is Black (2004), A Case of Two Cities (2006), Red Mandarin Dress (2007), and The Mao Case (2009). He is also the author of two books of poetry translations, Treasury of Chinese Love Poems (2003) and Evoking T'ang (2007), and his own poetry collection, Lines Around China (2003). Qiu's books have sold over a million copies and have been published in twenty languages. He currently lives in St. Louis with his wife and daughter.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 211 reviews
June 18, 2017
4.5★
Beautiful writing, especially at the start. I haven't read the previous books in the series (hoping to remedy that soon!) but the reader is aware because of problems in a previous case, Chief Inspector Chen is both trying to keep a low profile & improve his qualifications by taking a literature paper. But a young girl of blameless character is found dead attired only in an old fashioned scarlet mandarin dress. More deaths follow & the Chief Inspector is pulled into the case.
The reader learns a lot about the new China (where corruption is rampant) Chinese poetry, attire & above all, food is most elegantly described. The food becomes crueller (live monkey brains anyone???) as we move into the killer's world & some of the descriptions were too much for me.
I also felt the denouement went on a bit long, but Qiu Xialong is a detective writer of extraordinary talent & I yearn to read more of his books.
Beautiful writing, especially at the start. I haven't read the previous books in the series (hoping to remedy that soon!) but the reader is aware because of problems in a previous case, Chief Inspector Chen is both trying to keep a low profile & improve his qualifications by taking a literature paper. But a young girl of blameless character is found dead attired only in an old fashioned scarlet mandarin dress. More deaths follow & the Chief Inspector is pulled into the case.
The reader learns a lot about the new China (where corruption is rampant) Chinese poetry, attire & above all, food is most elegantly described. The food becomes crueller (live monkey brains anyone???) as we move into the killer's world & some of the descriptions were too much for me.
I also felt the denouement went on a bit long, but Qiu Xialong is a detective writer of extraordinary talent & I yearn to read more of his books.
December 1, 2025
I remember sitting in my grandmother's living room when I was about nine years old after ice-skating practice, waiting for my dad to come pick me up. (My grandma lived just a couple of blocks from the skating rink). She was a subscriber to Reader's Digest, and sometimes to pass the time -- I was a bookworm even back then -- I would hoist one off her shelf and begin reading.
Those of you familiar with the magazine may remember small inter-article sections with names like 'Life in These United States,' where short articles of a couple of paragraphs, deemed interesting or amusing, would fill the space between the main articles.
One of these little anecdotes is clearly burned in my memory, and went approximately as follows: "The Ladies Gardening Club of Pine Knoll, New Jersey recently rated several sports, including football, basketball and running, according to their level of difficulty. They considered strength, flexibility, endurance, decision making, balance and explosiveness. The most difficult sport? Ballet."
Even at age nine, my bullshit detector was screamin'. This was a clear case of data being constructed backwards in order to justify a conclusion made in advance, and as a crusader against bad data and bad interpretation of same, I just wasn't buying it. This experience came back to me as I read my first Inspector Chen mystery, "Red Mandarin Dress." I hoped it would be, if nothing else, an interesting cross-cultural study with a nice plot to move things along. In both respects, I was disappointed.
I'm hoping that this was not representative of the rest of the series, and am going to go back and find the first book to see if it's better.
The premise here seems to be that crime busters are best able to do their jobs by spending their free time studying literature theory. I'll admit that literature theory isn't something I have much experience with, or interest in, but when someone like David Foster Wallace writes about it, I want to learn more. This book made it seem like a waste of time. As evidence, I cite one example from the book: Chen "discovers" that a common theme in literature is that sexually attractive women are often demonized.
Stop the presses!
But it gets worse. He receives praise from a professor for this "original idea" and is encouraged to write papers and a Master's Thesis based on this breakthrough. And you know what else? It helps him solve the mystery!
To quote Wallace, a better writer, "this is so stupid it practically drools."
Aside from that major complaint -- a failed attempt at genre bending -- there's also nothing really compelling in either the story or the presentation. Yeah, like many Chinese works, we read a lot about food, but this is one of the few that didn't make me hungry -- quite the opposite. And after reading the phrase "red mandarin dress" for the thousandth time, I wish he'd switched to the shorter, less intrusive word "qipao," which he did in fact define early in the text. As for the four murdered women, Qui barely felt they merited any description at all.
I'm hoping Qiu was tired and banged this out in a hurry against deadline, and his other books are better. This one's a mess.
And by the way, I have great respect for ballet dancers -- they are incredibly athletic, and can do things with their bodies that I could only dream of -- but anybody that thinks the cardiovascular demands of ballet can be meaningfully compared to boxing, for instance, needs to go spend three minutes hitting a heavy bag and get back to me.
Those of you familiar with the magazine may remember small inter-article sections with names like 'Life in These United States,' where short articles of a couple of paragraphs, deemed interesting or amusing, would fill the space between the main articles.
One of these little anecdotes is clearly burned in my memory, and went approximately as follows: "The Ladies Gardening Club of Pine Knoll, New Jersey recently rated several sports, including football, basketball and running, according to their level of difficulty. They considered strength, flexibility, endurance, decision making, balance and explosiveness. The most difficult sport? Ballet."
Even at age nine, my bullshit detector was screamin'. This was a clear case of data being constructed backwards in order to justify a conclusion made in advance, and as a crusader against bad data and bad interpretation of same, I just wasn't buying it. This experience came back to me as I read my first Inspector Chen mystery, "Red Mandarin Dress." I hoped it would be, if nothing else, an interesting cross-cultural study with a nice plot to move things along. In both respects, I was disappointed.
I'm hoping that this was not representative of the rest of the series, and am going to go back and find the first book to see if it's better.
The premise here seems to be that crime busters are best able to do their jobs by spending their free time studying literature theory. I'll admit that literature theory isn't something I have much experience with, or interest in, but when someone like David Foster Wallace writes about it, I want to learn more. This book made it seem like a waste of time. As evidence, I cite one example from the book: Chen "discovers" that a common theme in literature is that sexually attractive women are often demonized.
Stop the presses!
But it gets worse. He receives praise from a professor for this "original idea" and is encouraged to write papers and a Master's Thesis based on this breakthrough. And you know what else? It helps him solve the mystery!
To quote Wallace, a better writer, "this is so stupid it practically drools."
Aside from that major complaint -- a failed attempt at genre bending -- there's also nothing really compelling in either the story or the presentation. Yeah, like many Chinese works, we read a lot about food, but this is one of the few that didn't make me hungry -- quite the opposite. And after reading the phrase "red mandarin dress" for the thousandth time, I wish he'd switched to the shorter, less intrusive word "qipao," which he did in fact define early in the text. As for the four murdered women, Qui barely felt they merited any description at all.
I'm hoping Qiu was tired and banged this out in a hurry against deadline, and his other books are better. This one's a mess.
And by the way, I have great respect for ballet dancers -- they are incredibly athletic, and can do things with their bodies that I could only dream of -- but anybody that thinks the cardiovascular demands of ballet can be meaningfully compared to boxing, for instance, needs to go spend three minutes hitting a heavy bag and get back to me.
June 29, 2011
I'm becoming softer with age. My initial reaction when I started reading this book was: What is this shit??
First of all it was a thriller and NOTHING happened. Xiaolong went on instead about the main character's Literature Paper. IN DETAIL. Eventually Chinese literature archetypes were linked to the murder case, and geez, wasn't that far-fetched. Trying to find the murderer by studying literature...you're not Umberto Eco, you know.
Now, you think if the author is so literature literate, the book will be beautifully written. Not your usual cheapness of thrillers. Ha, no, you're wrong, my friend. Qiu Xiaolong decided to introduce us to all things Chinese through the mouths of his characters. So all these poor guys and girls have to endlessly elaborate on China and Chinese culture confirming with each other random general truths. Ridiculous.
Another thing I learnt from this book is that all Chinese people constantly quote Confucius and traditional Chinese poems. And I mean - CONSTANTLY. On every page. Everybody, especially prostitutes and doormen. I have one Chinese friend, and she never quotes anything so I feel cheated. She is probably not even really Chinese. Probably from Birmingham.
Another thing was that the book so painfully predictable, I was at least 70 pages ahead of Chief Inspector Chen and wanted to slap him on many occasions.
So why three starts, you ask? Ah, like I said. I am becoming soft.
First of all it was a thriller and NOTHING happened. Xiaolong went on instead about the main character's Literature Paper. IN DETAIL. Eventually Chinese literature archetypes were linked to the murder case, and geez, wasn't that far-fetched. Trying to find the murderer by studying literature...you're not Umberto Eco, you know.
Now, you think if the author is so literature literate, the book will be beautifully written. Not your usual cheapness of thrillers. Ha, no, you're wrong, my friend. Qiu Xiaolong decided to introduce us to all things Chinese through the mouths of his characters. So all these poor guys and girls have to endlessly elaborate on China and Chinese culture confirming with each other random general truths. Ridiculous.
Another thing I learnt from this book is that all Chinese people constantly quote Confucius and traditional Chinese poems. And I mean - CONSTANTLY. On every page. Everybody, especially prostitutes and doormen. I have one Chinese friend, and she never quotes anything so I feel cheated. She is probably not even really Chinese. Probably from Birmingham.
Another thing was that the book so painfully predictable, I was at least 70 pages ahead of Chief Inspector Chen and wanted to slap him on many occasions.
So why three starts, you ask? Ah, like I said. I am becoming soft.
June 4, 2015
Ahhhhhh...that's better.
After my disappointment in A Case of Two Cities, it was with some trepidation that I picked up another Chen Cao story. However I'm pleased to say that the Inspector is back on form--or is he? He's taken another vacation, this time to write a literature paper with a vague idea of taking an MA in literature and furthering his interrupted scholarly career. Again, he seems to be having second thoughts about his work--but second thoughts often lead to second thoughts of their own. It doesn't help that Beijing is trying to hand him another political hot potato to juggle, that his colleagues are accusing him of getting too big for his badge, and that poor longsuffering Yu is losing patience with his "partner" who might just be skyving off work he doesn't want to do. Even for a Party member, how many vacations can an Inspector take with no repercussions?
This time the main case concerns a ritualistic serial killer...well, I guess it was just a matter of time until we had one of those. It leads to some interesting reflexions on the old regime's attitude toward mental illness, which simply wasn't supposed to exist under the leadership of Chairman Mao. After all, in an egalitarian paradise, how could you have any problems at all? Like Maigret, Chen tries to put himself in the killer's skin, with startling effect. The mirror becomes the image it reflects--or does it?
There are a few odd things; I've noticed that in common with other series, Chen Cao suffers from some chronological problems. Detective Yu's son was in elementary school in Death of a Red Heroine; in When Red Is Black he was in middle school. Now, he's studying for the college entrance exam--and yet for Chen Cao, only four years or so have passed since the first book. Also, at the end of chapter 25, the author repeats almost word-for-word a scene from book 1, about people leaving baskets to save their places in line overnight at the market. And the recap at the end of the book was a bit too long; the reader already knows most of it, as does the bad guy. No wonder he asks Chen if he's giving a lecture! One can clearly see that the author has seen his share of American and British-made crime TV. And btw: if I read the words "red mandarin dress" together once more, I'm seriously going to scream! There have got to be some synonyms out there, use one. Or two. Several. However, the book held my attention and I devoured it in about 3 sessions; a marked improvement on Vol 4.
What will I do when I've eaten them all, I wonder?
December 24, 2012
Written in the 1990s, this Chinese murder mystery is a fascinating read. Besides the plot (which is pretty good), it is a wealth (a WEALTH, I say) of enthralling tidbits about Chinese culture, dress, poetry, food, literature, psychology, and politics/economics. [It was a great counterpart to Wild Swans actually, because it chronologically picks up right where that book lets off.] The main character is both a brilliant detective and a soon-to-be student of Chinese literature, so he simultaneously is hunting down a serial killer and writing a paper on literary deconstruction in ancient romantic Chinese stories. Love it! The side characters are great, especially Chen's partner, Yu and his wife Peiqin. Despite the slightly stilted and overly straightforward English (which happens when translating from Chinese), this book is a winner. I've never learned so much from a murder mystery before.
This is a middle book from a series, but it was easy to jump in. Heading for the rest of the books now!
This is a middle book from a series, but it was easy to jump in. Heading for the rest of the books now!
April 21, 2022
The part of this book that has stuck with me after reading it is not the mystery, or the atmosphere, or the characters. It is the descriptions of the food, which I've come to expect and enjoy about the Chen Cao series. In this installment, a meal is used as a confession tool for the suspect and it had me squirming. Granted, this interrogation technique was hinted at, but I really had no idea the torture the animals would be put through, and described for the reader. I like this series in that I feel like I learn about Chinese culture and climate, but this might be a little fringe.
Anyways....women are being killed and left dead wearing red mandarin dresses around Shanghai. The timing couldn't be worse, as Inspector Cao is taking some time off to pursue a degree in writing and literature at the local college. The stress of it even sends him off the grid for a little while, leaving his partner Yu (though capable, he lacks confidence), to take the lead on the case. This book lacks the chemistry of Cao & Yu's interactions to solve the case. It feels like a slow read for a mystery, with detailed descriptions and plenty of atmosphere.
Anyways....women are being killed and left dead wearing red mandarin dresses around Shanghai. The timing couldn't be worse, as Inspector Cao is taking some time off to pursue a degree in writing and literature at the local college. The stress of it even sends him off the grid for a little while, leaving his partner Yu (though capable, he lacks confidence), to take the lead on the case. This book lacks the chemistry of Cao & Yu's interactions to solve the case. It feels like a slow read for a mystery, with detailed descriptions and plenty of atmosphere.
October 4, 2025
Another intriguing Inspector Chen investigation. This series is fascinating - the plots are great but it’s learning about the cultural changes during 90s China and the changes in Shanghai that are just as gripping.
This story features Chen and Yu trying to track down a serial killer dressing the victims in a Mandarin dress.Chen’s approach always explores the period of Mao and the consequences.
Read the books in order for maximum enjoyment 😊
This story features Chen and Yu trying to track down a serial killer dressing the victims in a Mandarin dress.Chen’s approach always explores the period of Mao and the consequences.
Read the books in order for maximum enjoyment 😊
September 13, 2011
On a cold morning late in the year the body of a young woman has been found on the safety island in the middle of a busy Shanghai road. Worker Master Huang sees her first as he jogs in the early morning. His mind had been occupied by the changes around him, particularly the substitution of a Starbucks for a former Worker and Farmer eatery where the food was cheap and tasty intended for the working class. Now the vistas are filled with mansions owned by what are known as the Big Bucks, the new wealthy class. Huang mutters the slogan “Socialist China gone to the capitalist dogs “ as he reflects on the changes he has seen in his seventy years.
The young woman is found wearing no more than a red mandarin dress, with the bosom unbuttoned and the side slits ripped and torn. She is posed in a way to suggest that the killer had molested her and that the motive was sexual. Inspector Cao Chen is engaged on a case of real estate corruption and at the same time he is trying to pursue his literature studies. The case is turned over to Detective Yu Guangming who is Chen’s partner.
t takes some time to identify the victim and everybody is startled when a second young woman is found dumped and displayed in a similar fashion. A serial killer is the first one of his kind in Shanghai and the public is stirred by the loss of two women in their flowering age.
Chen and Yu work frantically trying to understand the significance of the dress, the victims and the sites where the bodies were dumped. In this story the historical background add tremendously to the depth of the story and all the threads come together beautifully.
The young woman is found wearing no more than a red mandarin dress, with the bosom unbuttoned and the side slits ripped and torn. She is posed in a way to suggest that the killer had molested her and that the motive was sexual. Inspector Cao Chen is engaged on a case of real estate corruption and at the same time he is trying to pursue his literature studies. The case is turned over to Detective Yu Guangming who is Chen’s partner.
t takes some time to identify the victim and everybody is startled when a second young woman is found dumped and displayed in a similar fashion. A serial killer is the first one of his kind in Shanghai and the public is stirred by the loss of two women in their flowering age.
Chen and Yu work frantically trying to understand the significance of the dress, the victims and the sites where the bodies were dumped. In this story the historical background add tremendously to the depth of the story and all the threads come together beautifully.
April 27, 2012
I fell in love with Shanghai in 2005, where western pyjamas are cool street fashion. I am not a detective story aficionado but familiarity with the environment makes the story more interesting. Also Inspector Chen is not only a maverick but a maverick versed in Chinese literature, allowing Qiu Xiaolong to refer to ancient texts and poems in a way that illuminates the case. Qiu highlights the conflicts between the old China of the emperors, the newer China of the Maoism and the newest China of state approved wealth accumulation.
The storyline of a triple murder of young girls, all dressed in an identical torn red mandarin dress, is taut and compelling with an inspection of the Cultural Revolution that displays all its nastiness at a personal level. Chen's unravelling of the case and his management of the denouement are understated and unpredictable, which make for a unusual style of justice. For that alone the book is worth reading, as are his others.
The storyline of a triple murder of young girls, all dressed in an identical torn red mandarin dress, is taut and compelling with an inspection of the Cultural Revolution that displays all its nastiness at a personal level. Chen's unravelling of the case and his management of the denouement are understated and unpredictable, which make for a unusual style of justice. For that alone the book is worth reading, as are his others.
October 28, 2008
This is an interesting story of more than just a serial killer. It gives a feeling of how China was back in the 1960s and how it has emerged as a more westernized society while still keeping to the socialist system of government. It shows that the human psychology is not very different regardless of region. It is a good read and there are few "Confucious says" remarks that really make you think.
January 3, 2013
An old man, soon to be pushed out of his old familiar Shanghai dwelling by high rising, expensive apartments finds a young woman's body, her legs askew, barefoot, without underwear, clad only in a torn red Mandarin dress, (qipao). This opening scene of the Inspector Chen crime novel 'Red Mandarin Dress', illustrates the theme of the old and new China colliding with painful consequences. The Mandarin dress is a perfect vehicle of this clash, as it was once a symbol of elegance in the China before Mao, then a symbol of decadence, only to re-emerge in the post Deng Xiaoping era as a chic symbol of wealth and status. Qui makes the dress his serial killer's calling card and the search for the killer is a trek through 20th Century China itself.
Inspector Chen, a famous Shanghai detective, is getting pressure from his Communist party bosses to take on a political case to protect the Party from embarrassment in a real estate corruption scandal. Chen, who has translated several famous Western Detective novels into Chinese, is a lifelong amateur scholar and is finally getting serious about his hobby. He wants to avoid the dirty real estate case by trying to plead off by saying he is too busy with a literature class. A noted human rights lawyer has the party in his sights again, this time by suing a crooked real estate mogul who is pushing people out of their homes. The Party wants to bring him down. Chen's maneuvering to avoid the real estate case is a classic illustration of the social mores that dictate relationships in official China. Chen is not brought in to investigate the murder until a second one occurs with the same MO - the disheveled body, suffocated, in an identical, old style, hand-made Mandarin dress. Neither one of the bodies had evidence of sexual activity.
The politics of the Chinese police play a central role in the novel. Li, the party leader, sees everything through the lends of the pre-boom China. "Check with the neighborhood committee' he says, clearly oblivious to the fact that Shanghai life had changed - at least for the wealthy. People had their own apartments now, and were not under the thumb of the old Party ladies who controlled everyone's life with gossip and 'motherly' intrusion. The real cops barely give Li lip service while moving ahead with the case based on the reality of the evidence and their available resources. Li is of course concerned because of the public nature of the crimes. Because the bodies are being left in the most populated areas of the city - right on Nanjing Rd, in the center of town - the information starved daily news papers are speculating worse that anything readers of Fleet Street or the NY Daily News could even conceive. Sex and Murder in a town where politics can't be seriously discussed are big stories.
There are a host of secondary characters in the novel - Chen's colleagues Liao and Yu,Yu's wife, Little Zhou, the department driver and Hong a pretty young police woman ho is assigned to the case. All are devoted to Chen and help him by doing whatever research etc that he needs. Inspector Chen also has a host of other allies, business men and restaurant owners who vie for his favor. He even has a young woman, White Cloud, whose salary is paid by Gu, who wants Chen to quit and work with him in his business. White Cloud would be anything Chen wants, but her main tasks is checking up on Chen's mother, who of course wants him to marry.
There are others too - the literature professor he studies with and his daughter, and all of the people Chen meets as he investigates the crime. Beijing (the Central Government, hated by Shanghai) continues to pressure him on the first case too, so he investigates the human rights lawyer who is suing the real estate crook.
Chen only begins to devote himself to the case when one of his colleagues is killed by the serial killer and we start diving into the real story of the Red Mandarin Dress. Chen is a weak man in the Western sense of the word. He is constitutionally the opposite of American hard-boiled detectives. He can't handle coffee much less booze. He has a serious nervous condition and he has to steel himself constantly to push on to solve the case. Chen is constantly moving from the past to the present and seemingly gets side-track on the most obscure points of literature. Because Chinese people have a deep respect for teachers and scholars his foibles are tolerated. Even Li the Party leader leaves him alone. As much as money drives this new China, a man like Chen retains real power because deep down, the Chinese really don't respect 'Big Buck' even though the fear them. Confucius remains the model man.
The case has roots in the Cultural Revolution, which deeply scarred China and in large part, this novel is about that scarring. Chinese policy after Cultural Revolution finally ended in 1979 was about forgetting. Too many were guilty for a full accounting. If you think of how the Vietnam War still affects the US, with division, mistrust and anger, and multiply it by ten thousand - even that, I think, would not come close to affect that period of discord had on China. The novel intersects the Cultural Revolution with the modern changing Chinese society in a way that is startling and yet is restrained and understated in the 'Chinese manner'.
Westerners who come to this book thinking of the other detectives whose adventures have been like Chandler's Phillp Marlowe or Hammett's Sam Spade or any of the detectives of Elmore Leonard might be frustrated by this novel. While all of these authors have their digressions - think of the long section about the history of the Maltese Falcon that Dashiell Hammett invented - still their digressions are 'hard links' to the main story. Sometimes Qui's digressions are 'soft links' - they kind of fit into the big puzzle, but not directly. The novel is a bit of a scholarly romp though the history of Chinese poetry, a deconstruction of ancient stories that are told again and again, each time changing, the history of Chinese clothing - and the details of the organizational structure of the Cultural Revolution and its affect on real people. Another words, its not a detective potboiler. If you want to know who done it, you have to wait, and if the scholarly romp doesn't interest you, then it might not be your book.
The murderer, when he is finally found, will not be an unsympathetic character. You could say that Hannibal Lector had some good qualities, but this goes way beyond that. So, once again, it is not a book that fits between the lines normally found in the genre.
Novel's like this - hybrids - are difficult to judge and grade. In math -*+=-. So if it is a good scholarly romp but a bad pot boiler - well that is a minus. I liked it - But it has to find the right audience. I think anyone who knows China will appreciate it. If you are new to the Middle Kingdom - then be ready to adjust your expectations about what a detective novel is about.
Also see [...]
Inspector Chen, a famous Shanghai detective, is getting pressure from his Communist party bosses to take on a political case to protect the Party from embarrassment in a real estate corruption scandal. Chen, who has translated several famous Western Detective novels into Chinese, is a lifelong amateur scholar and is finally getting serious about his hobby. He wants to avoid the dirty real estate case by trying to plead off by saying he is too busy with a literature class. A noted human rights lawyer has the party in his sights again, this time by suing a crooked real estate mogul who is pushing people out of their homes. The Party wants to bring him down. Chen's maneuvering to avoid the real estate case is a classic illustration of the social mores that dictate relationships in official China. Chen is not brought in to investigate the murder until a second one occurs with the same MO - the disheveled body, suffocated, in an identical, old style, hand-made Mandarin dress. Neither one of the bodies had evidence of sexual activity.
The politics of the Chinese police play a central role in the novel. Li, the party leader, sees everything through the lends of the pre-boom China. "Check with the neighborhood committee' he says, clearly oblivious to the fact that Shanghai life had changed - at least for the wealthy. People had their own apartments now, and were not under the thumb of the old Party ladies who controlled everyone's life with gossip and 'motherly' intrusion. The real cops barely give Li lip service while moving ahead with the case based on the reality of the evidence and their available resources. Li is of course concerned because of the public nature of the crimes. Because the bodies are being left in the most populated areas of the city - right on Nanjing Rd, in the center of town - the information starved daily news papers are speculating worse that anything readers of Fleet Street or the NY Daily News could even conceive. Sex and Murder in a town where politics can't be seriously discussed are big stories.
There are a host of secondary characters in the novel - Chen's colleagues Liao and Yu,Yu's wife, Little Zhou, the department driver and Hong a pretty young police woman ho is assigned to the case. All are devoted to Chen and help him by doing whatever research etc that he needs. Inspector Chen also has a host of other allies, business men and restaurant owners who vie for his favor. He even has a young woman, White Cloud, whose salary is paid by Gu, who wants Chen to quit and work with him in his business. White Cloud would be anything Chen wants, but her main tasks is checking up on Chen's mother, who of course wants him to marry.
There are others too - the literature professor he studies with and his daughter, and all of the people Chen meets as he investigates the crime. Beijing (the Central Government, hated by Shanghai) continues to pressure him on the first case too, so he investigates the human rights lawyer who is suing the real estate crook.
Chen only begins to devote himself to the case when one of his colleagues is killed by the serial killer and we start diving into the real story of the Red Mandarin Dress. Chen is a weak man in the Western sense of the word. He is constitutionally the opposite of American hard-boiled detectives. He can't handle coffee much less booze. He has a serious nervous condition and he has to steel himself constantly to push on to solve the case. Chen is constantly moving from the past to the present and seemingly gets side-track on the most obscure points of literature. Because Chinese people have a deep respect for teachers and scholars his foibles are tolerated. Even Li the Party leader leaves him alone. As much as money drives this new China, a man like Chen retains real power because deep down, the Chinese really don't respect 'Big Buck' even though the fear them. Confucius remains the model man.
The case has roots in the Cultural Revolution, which deeply scarred China and in large part, this novel is about that scarring. Chinese policy after Cultural Revolution finally ended in 1979 was about forgetting. Too many were guilty for a full accounting. If you think of how the Vietnam War still affects the US, with division, mistrust and anger, and multiply it by ten thousand - even that, I think, would not come close to affect that period of discord had on China. The novel intersects the Cultural Revolution with the modern changing Chinese society in a way that is startling and yet is restrained and understated in the 'Chinese manner'.
Westerners who come to this book thinking of the other detectives whose adventures have been like Chandler's Phillp Marlowe or Hammett's Sam Spade or any of the detectives of Elmore Leonard might be frustrated by this novel. While all of these authors have their digressions - think of the long section about the history of the Maltese Falcon that Dashiell Hammett invented - still their digressions are 'hard links' to the main story. Sometimes Qui's digressions are 'soft links' - they kind of fit into the big puzzle, but not directly. The novel is a bit of a scholarly romp though the history of Chinese poetry, a deconstruction of ancient stories that are told again and again, each time changing, the history of Chinese clothing - and the details of the organizational structure of the Cultural Revolution and its affect on real people. Another words, its not a detective potboiler. If you want to know who done it, you have to wait, and if the scholarly romp doesn't interest you, then it might not be your book.
The murderer, when he is finally found, will not be an unsympathetic character. You could say that Hannibal Lector had some good qualities, but this goes way beyond that. So, once again, it is not a book that fits between the lines normally found in the genre.
Novel's like this - hybrids - are difficult to judge and grade. In math -*+=-. So if it is a good scholarly romp but a bad pot boiler - well that is a minus. I liked it - But it has to find the right audience. I think anyone who knows China will appreciate it. If you are new to the Middle Kingdom - then be ready to adjust your expectations about what a detective novel is about.
Also see [...]
November 25, 2020
Tempi bui per la polizia di Shanghai: uno dopo l'altro vengono ritrovati i cadaveri di giovani donne, tutte vestite con lo stesso qipao (tradizionale abito mandarino, bandito durante la Rivoluzione Culturale e poi ritornato di moda) rosso. Un caso molto spinoso perchè il fenomeno dei "serial killer" è troppo legato all'ideale di America capitalista per essere accettato come possibile nella Cina postmaoista... il tempo passa e le piste valide scarseggiano, mentre il serial killer continua a mietere vittime.
Quinto romanzo della serie dell'ispettore Chen, Di Seta e Di Sangue è forse quello che mi ha appassionato di più: oltre ad avere tutti gli elementi tipici delle storie di Qiu Xiaolong (crimini a sfondo politico, letteratura classica cinese e tanti riferimenti alla cucina cinese), ho trovato il caso molto interessante , forse perchè credo che l'autore si sia ispirato agli omicidi di Jack lo Squartatore.
Quinto romanzo della serie dell'ispettore Chen, Di Seta e Di Sangue è forse quello che mi ha appassionato di più: oltre ad avere tutti gli elementi tipici delle storie di Qiu Xiaolong (crimini a sfondo politico, letteratura classica cinese e tanti riferimenti alla cucina cinese), ho trovato il caso molto interessante , forse perchè credo che l'autore si sia ispirato agli omicidi di Jack lo Squartatore.
April 22, 2024
Un serial killer si aggira per le strade di Shangai, veste le sue vittime - delle ragazze dedite a fare favori sessuali a vari livelli - con un antico abito tradizionale, un qipao e le lascia nude per la strada, sebbene non le violenti. L'ispettore Chen indaga, ma allo stesso tempo studia per scrivere una tesina a un corso di letteratura a cui si è iscritto. Saranno anche i suoi studi a fornirgli un'illuminazione. E quindi ci tuffiamo sia nella letteratura tradizionale cinese che nella vita in Cina prima e durante la Rivoluzione culturale, che poi è sempre protagonista di questi romanzi, perché quasi tutti i casi affondano le loro radici in quel periodo storico.
January 11, 2024
This series is just as much about Chinese culture as it is about the mysteries. I’m enjoying both aspects. The pacing in this book was a little slow for me, but everything was tied up well at the end.
May 15, 2020
Me encantan esos libros que te abren un mundo nuevo y Qiu Xiaolong nos revela de manera espectacular la China que transiciona del Comunismo irracional al Capitalismo cínico, sin soltar el hilo de una civilización milenaria, su forma de pensar, sus tradiciones y hasta su cocina. En el marco de descubrir un asesino serial, un detective extraño, el inspector Chen, se remonta a los orígenes sicológicos de los asesinatos y se adentra en la sórdida historia de la revolución Cultural, para encontrar que las trágicas muertes de cuatro jovencitas vinculadas al comercio sexual son continuación de una tragedia familiar y empieza a dibujar, al estilo de de Robert Harris, un asesino que lamentablemente se perfila demasiado humano para ver la historia en blanco y negro.
April 11, 2018
Como se puede lastimar tan impunemente escondiéndose atrás de una idea política. Es verdad quien escribe realmente sobre las guerras
April 7, 2025
Como típica novela policiaca, tiene todos los elementos comunes. El asesino en serie, las víctimas femeninas, el investigador excéntrico, intelectual con muchos contactos, juegos políticos y un compañero perdido en la nebulosa. Como novela policiaca ambientada en la China contemporánea, post Revolución Cultural, con la cantidad inmensa de referencias a sus modos de ser, me pareció fantástica. Para cualquier persona que se sienta intrigada por la sociedad china, creo que esta novela va más allá de lo policial y explica mucho de lo que son y sus más visibles contradicciones.
El cambio tan violento de enemigos y de poderes que ha sufrido está gente en al menos 100 años, es de locura. Despues de una dinastía de emperadores de 2000 años de historia, terminada apenas en 1912, llena de cortesanas, eruditos y poetas, pasando por un periodo de riqueza desmedida y burguesía creciente; con la llegada de Mao y sus ideas sobre la Revolución del proletariado, se vuelcan a una era de persecuciones, discurso psicológico, mucha precariedad, asesinatos y la paranoia más putrida a la que puede llegar la humanidad; y a su caída, una especie de retorno, de cambio de mundo, a la manera de un pachakuti andino, una apertura de China al mundo que al mismo tiempo se abre como una modernidad aún más dantesca y exacerbada en dónde conviven los dos sistemas más chocantes y obscenos, el socialista y el capitalismo, que como dicen en una parte del libro, conceptualmente son lo mismo. Depende de quién tenga el poder, si el Estado o los empresarios.
Como resultado de esta rapidez, una sociedad china hiper compleja, llena de historias y subhistorias y de cosas que no tienen explicación para nosotros. Si algo se siguió manteniendo en todo este tiempo, fue la tremenda desigualdad y la crueldad animal extrema (y no por nada existe la práctica del fansheng budista). A mí parecer, hay un interes importante por mostrarnos ambos lados. Un poco de yin y de yang.
Cuando Chen entra al portal de la alegría -un conocido prostíbulo para todo el mundo, una 'sala de baile' según la propaganda china- y va al baño, por debajo de la puerta una mujer arrodillada le acerca unos toallones calientes junto a un bowl para monedas. Cómo si fuese lismona. Al pedir la cuenta, un vaso de zumo, té y unos platito, más todo un 'servicio' de karaoke asciende a más de 1300 yuanes, sin contar la propina que te pide cada persona que te acerca algo. Incluso las chicas de triple alterne tienen que pagar por trabajar en un lugar así, así que viven solo de la propina. No por nada Hong, una agente joven de la policía, al momento de criticar al gobierno diciendo que el asesino quizá quiera también acusarlos de permitir que lugares así existan a plena luz, fue callada en 1 segundo por algún miembro del Partido. China es eso, y al mismo tiempo, la poesía les brota por todos lados, la sutileza en la manera de ver la vida, el confucianismo que los guía, el budismo en el que muchos creen fuertemente. Para un cerebro occidental, es un desafío, y en parte me enorgullece y se entiende como China nunca pudo ser colonizada.
Volviendo al libro, muchas partes estuvieron excelentes pero al final le sobró condescendencia. No sé si fue por el hecho de que Qiu Xiaolong es un hombre y pervivió la eterna complicidad masculina, o porque soy muy occidental aún y ante todo, mujer, decido no perdonar el abuso. Según la crítica posmoderna que cita Chen, un criminal en su individualidad también sigue un discurso y es la suma de todos ellos, y para poder entenderlo hay que saber bajo qué discursos opera. Junto a eso, saber si uno no es también parte de esa sociedad y de ese discurso. Que un asesino de mujeres haya sido 'redimido' por ser un alma rota producto de la Revolución Cultural y por entregarse a si mismo, en un guiño a Mao y su 'error bienintencionado', no quita el hecho de que al final, todo se resolvió políticamente, encubriendose unos a otros, cumpliendo la palabra como un acto de honor. Que no es más que mantener la eterna tapadera y complicidad que como humanos, orientales u occidentales, parece que es indivisible de nuestra genética. Todos víctimas de nuestros discursos.
El cambio tan violento de enemigos y de poderes que ha sufrido está gente en al menos 100 años, es de locura. Despues de una dinastía de emperadores de 2000 años de historia, terminada apenas en 1912, llena de cortesanas, eruditos y poetas, pasando por un periodo de riqueza desmedida y burguesía creciente; con la llegada de Mao y sus ideas sobre la Revolución del proletariado, se vuelcan a una era de persecuciones, discurso psicológico, mucha precariedad, asesinatos y la paranoia más putrida a la que puede llegar la humanidad; y a su caída, una especie de retorno, de cambio de mundo, a la manera de un pachakuti andino, una apertura de China al mundo que al mismo tiempo se abre como una modernidad aún más dantesca y exacerbada en dónde conviven los dos sistemas más chocantes y obscenos, el socialista y el capitalismo, que como dicen en una parte del libro, conceptualmente son lo mismo. Depende de quién tenga el poder, si el Estado o los empresarios.
Como resultado de esta rapidez, una sociedad china hiper compleja, llena de historias y subhistorias y de cosas que no tienen explicación para nosotros. Si algo se siguió manteniendo en todo este tiempo, fue la tremenda desigualdad y la crueldad animal extrema (y no por nada existe la práctica del fansheng budista). A mí parecer, hay un interes importante por mostrarnos ambos lados. Un poco de yin y de yang.
Cuando Chen entra al portal de la alegría -un conocido prostíbulo para todo el mundo, una 'sala de baile' según la propaganda china- y va al baño, por debajo de la puerta una mujer arrodillada le acerca unos toallones calientes junto a un bowl para monedas. Cómo si fuese lismona. Al pedir la cuenta, un vaso de zumo, té y unos platito, más todo un 'servicio' de karaoke asciende a más de 1300 yuanes, sin contar la propina que te pide cada persona que te acerca algo. Incluso las chicas de triple alterne tienen que pagar por trabajar en un lugar así, así que viven solo de la propina. No por nada Hong, una agente joven de la policía, al momento de criticar al gobierno diciendo que el asesino quizá quiera también acusarlos de permitir que lugares así existan a plena luz, fue callada en 1 segundo por algún miembro del Partido. China es eso, y al mismo tiempo, la poesía les brota por todos lados, la sutileza en la manera de ver la vida, el confucianismo que los guía, el budismo en el que muchos creen fuertemente. Para un cerebro occidental, es un desafío, y en parte me enorgullece y se entiende como China nunca pudo ser colonizada.
Volviendo al libro, muchas partes estuvieron excelentes pero al final le sobró condescendencia. No sé si fue por el hecho de que Qiu Xiaolong es un hombre y pervivió la eterna complicidad masculina, o porque soy muy occidental aún y ante todo, mujer, decido no perdonar el abuso. Según la crítica posmoderna que cita Chen, un criminal en su individualidad también sigue un discurso y es la suma de todos ellos, y para poder entenderlo hay que saber bajo qué discursos opera. Junto a eso, saber si uno no es también parte de esa sociedad y de ese discurso. Que un asesino de mujeres haya sido 'redimido' por ser un alma rota producto de la Revolución Cultural y por entregarse a si mismo, en un guiño a Mao y su 'error bienintencionado', no quita el hecho de que al final, todo se resolvió políticamente, encubriendose unos a otros, cumpliendo la palabra como un acto de honor. Que no es más que mantener la eterna tapadera y complicidad que como humanos, orientales u occidentales, parece que es indivisible de nuestra genética. Todos víctimas de nuestros discursos.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 22, 2017
3 1/2
Quinto libro en la serie del Inspector Chen Cao, primero que yo me leo de la misma. Y, curiosamente, en esta entrega el inspector probablemente no tiene un papel tan protagonista como en otras... al menos, al principio de la historia, en la que prefiere tomarse un respiro y dedicarse a estudiar literatura, lo que da lugar a algunas digresiones intelectuales que, aún aportando a la trama en cierta medida, a veces desvían un poco la atención (y el interés).
Luego, por supuesto, la cosa empieza a coger ritmo y Chen vuelve a recuperar protagonismo, en una trama que, aunque bastante previsible a partir de cierto punto y con un final un tanto anticlimático tal vez, entretiene y atrapa.
En conjunto, nada fuera de lo común, pero aún así buen ejemplo de novela negra que cumple su función.
Quinto libro en la serie del Inspector Chen Cao, primero que yo me leo de la misma. Y, curiosamente, en esta entrega el inspector probablemente no tiene un papel tan protagonista como en otras... al menos, al principio de la historia, en la que prefiere tomarse un respiro y dedicarse a estudiar literatura, lo que da lugar a algunas digresiones intelectuales que, aún aportando a la trama en cierta medida, a veces desvían un poco la atención (y el interés).
Luego, por supuesto, la cosa empieza a coger ritmo y Chen vuelve a recuperar protagonismo, en una trama que, aunque bastante previsible a partir de cierto punto y con un final un tanto anticlimático tal vez, entretiene y atrapa.
En conjunto, nada fuera de lo común, pero aún así buen ejemplo de novela negra que cumple su función.
November 29, 2025
J’ai beaucoup aimé la façon dont les chapitres sont écrits, du début à la fin ! Dès les premières pages, on a envie d’en savoir plus sur les personnages, et les notes en bas de page aident vraiment à se sentir à l’aise. Ne connaissant rien à la Chine contemporaine, j’ai trouvé les termes très bien expliqués et les précisions toujours utiles.
Il y a en revanche énormément de poèmes et de citations chinoises. Par moments, cela rend la lecture un peu plus lourde, mais ce n’est jamais inutile : ces références s’intègrent bien au vécu des personnages et au contexte général de l’histoire.
Dans l’ensemble, la lecture est fluide et les chapitres se lisent avec plaisir. On se laisse facilement entraîner par l’enquête et par l’envie de découvrir l’identité du meurtrier, dont le portrait se construit au fil du livre.
Il y a en revanche énormément de poèmes et de citations chinoises. Par moments, cela rend la lecture un peu plus lourde, mais ce n’est jamais inutile : ces références s’intègrent bien au vécu des personnages et au contexte général de l’histoire.
Dans l’ensemble, la lecture est fluide et les chapitres se lisent avec plaisir. On se laisse facilement entraîner par l’enquête et par l’envie de découvrir l’identité du meurtrier, dont le portrait se construit au fil du livre.
July 30, 2022
A ritualistic serial killer? Yes, we finally got to that :P
Chen is getting more unsure about his job, and he's considering retaking his academic career when he's handed this case. His partner is getting a bit fed up with all his vacations, tbh, and there is some tension going between them.
As it's usual in these books, there are lots of tidbits about Chinese culture: food, dresses, literature and politics. But this case brings also some reflections on the attitude about mental illness in Mao's China.
Another very good book in this series.
Chen is getting more unsure about his job, and he's considering retaking his academic career when he's handed this case. His partner is getting a bit fed up with all his vacations, tbh, and there is some tension going between them.
As it's usual in these books, there are lots of tidbits about Chinese culture: food, dresses, literature and politics. But this case brings also some reflections on the attitude about mental illness in Mao's China.
Another very good book in this series.
April 2, 2021
Una buena novela policiaca, aunque no tanto la trama como lo accesorio a ella, es lo que más atrae. Eso la hace entretenida.
December 30, 2021
Bueno, pero no tan bueno.
March 10, 2022
5th in this series in which Inspector Chen is focussing on his studies while Yu has to manage a potential serial killer targeting young women and leaving them in the famous Chinese fashion item of the title.
When Chen eventually gets pulled in the investigation rapidly moves into gear.
While the plots of these books never bear close scrutiny it is the fascinating look at the culture that always draws me back to this series although I have to say that some of the foods referenced as delicacies in this episode were extremely disturbing and do not need thinking about too closely,
When Chen eventually gets pulled in the investigation rapidly moves into gear.
While the plots of these books never bear close scrutiny it is the fascinating look at the culture that always draws me back to this series although I have to say that some of the foods referenced as delicacies in this episode were extremely disturbing and do not need thinking about too closely,
August 13, 2023
La mezcla de literatura tradicional china y asesinatos perfecta, como en todos los libros de Chen Cao.
El camino puede nombrarse, pero no de una forma corriente.
El camino puede nombrarse, pero no de una forma corriente.
January 13, 2024
Riveting even though I did manage to figure out the culprit (something I am not usually able to do).
May 30, 2017
I'm a fan of Xiaolong's Shanghai mysteries, so I'm only ten years behind in my reading of them. Sigh.
The stories revolve around poet-cop Chief Inspector Cao Chen, who is trying to be an honest cop in a hopelessly corrupt world. That's a theme that drives many successful police procedurals, and it works well here.
In this case we have a serial murderer, and we have another case involving corruption in the housing market. The corruption case involves the rich, and the politically powerful; and the murder case also seems to involve a so-called Big Buck. Just investigating the people involved is likely to backfire on the police involved, so Chen decides to begin an MA degree in literature. AS IF THE STUDY OF LITERATURE HAS EVER LED TO ANYTHING BUT MORE MURDER!?!?!?
Ahem.
Not wanting to generate spoilers, I'll only say that the threads of this tale are woven together in an interesting fashion; that there are no grimaces in the text; and that one gets a flavor for a different culture (both China in the 1990s, and in the Cultural Revolution). This volume is a solid entry in an excellent series.
The stories revolve around poet-cop Chief Inspector Cao Chen, who is trying to be an honest cop in a hopelessly corrupt world. That's a theme that drives many successful police procedurals, and it works well here.
In this case we have a serial murderer, and we have another case involving corruption in the housing market. The corruption case involves the rich, and the politically powerful; and the murder case also seems to involve a so-called Big Buck. Just investigating the people involved is likely to backfire on the police involved, so Chen decides to begin an MA degree in literature. AS IF THE STUDY OF LITERATURE HAS EVER LED TO ANYTHING BUT MORE MURDER!?!?!?
Ahem.
Not wanting to generate spoilers, I'll only say that the threads of this tale are woven together in an interesting fashion; that there are no grimaces in the text; and that one gets a flavor for a different culture (both China in the 1990s, and in the Cultural Revolution). This volume is a solid entry in an excellent series.
January 18, 2011
Hmm. Forgot to write a review. Overall liked it, was much more philosophical and literary (references) than his other ones, and greatly enjoyed it for that reason. But I suspect for people looking for something just like Death of a Red Heroine, they might be a little frustrated.
But here are two things that struck me, before I send this book:
This was an excellent example of nudge architecture; Xi Yun, when I cited it, was astounded—he hadn't been aware of the reason for this practice, and thought it was a ploy to get people to spend more at restaurants (maybe the percentage goes up with the greater amount of money spent?):
"Capitalism in China is like nowhere else in the world. Nothing but money matters here. In restaurants, people didn't ask for the receipt except for 'socialist expense,' so most restaurants reported losses. With the lottery practice, everybody is asking for receipts. It's said that one family won twenty thousand." [102]
and [long quotation, dialogue]:
"The Confucian classics talk about nothing but arranged marriages. So I wonder how the Chinese people lived for two thousand years without talking about romantic love."
"Well, the world is in your interpretation. If you believe it—I mean the interpretation that parents understand and always work in the best interest of the young people —you then live accordingly. Just like today: if you believe a materialistic basis is essential to any superstructure—with romantic love as a decorative vase on the mantelpiece—then you won't be surprised by all the personal ads seeking millionaires in our newspapers."
"This is indeed a Chinese brand of socialism."
"You can say that again. Do you believe that love is something that has always been there , from time immemorial?" she asked cynically. "According to Denis de Rougemenot's Love in the Western World, romantic love didn't exist until it was invented by the French troubadours."
But here are two things that struck me, before I send this book:
This was an excellent example of nudge architecture; Xi Yun, when I cited it, was astounded—he hadn't been aware of the reason for this practice, and thought it was a ploy to get people to spend more at restaurants (maybe the percentage goes up with the greater amount of money spent?):
"Capitalism in China is like nowhere else in the world. Nothing but money matters here. In restaurants, people didn't ask for the receipt except for 'socialist expense,' so most restaurants reported losses. With the lottery practice, everybody is asking for receipts. It's said that one family won twenty thousand." [102]
and [long quotation, dialogue]:
"The Confucian classics talk about nothing but arranged marriages. So I wonder how the Chinese people lived for two thousand years without talking about romantic love."
"Well, the world is in your interpretation. If you believe it—I mean the interpretation that parents understand and always work in the best interest of the young people —you then live accordingly. Just like today: if you believe a materialistic basis is essential to any superstructure—with romantic love as a decorative vase on the mantelpiece—then you won't be surprised by all the personal ads seeking millionaires in our newspapers."
"This is indeed a Chinese brand of socialism."
"You can say that again. Do you believe that love is something that has always been there , from time immemorial?" she asked cynically. "According to Denis de Rougemenot's Love in the Western World, romantic love didn't exist until it was invented by the French troubadours."
March 15, 2010
3.5 stars.
This is the most fascinating of the Inspector Chen novels yet - a serial killer's actions in Shanghai providing the backdrop for larger cultural conversations about misogyny, story telling, poetry, and Freud. I'm still thinking over the ramifications of everything in this story - my discomfort at the number of victimized women in the novel, for example, exists in tension with the novel's own interrogation of how Chinese cultural tropes hold women responsible for the problems and downfall of men, a trope that slips into outright hatred of women's choices and agency on several occasions. Women who get ahead in this Shanghai primarily do so because they're willing - at some price - to sell their bodies, and only Chen's mother and Yu's wife maintain faithfulness and bodily integrity throughout the book. Yet the book does not condemn the prostitutes, K-girls, and eatdrinkdance women for the situations they find themselves in, even if there are characters who do. Complicated.
There are some inconsistencies between this book and the last. Peiquin talks eagerly about White Cloud in this novel, whereas in the last she mused at length on how unsuitable she was as a girlfriend for Chen. I suspect even the author isn't sure if he's ever going to figure out Chen's filial wish to get married and provide his mother with an extended family, so perhaps he's merely keeping his options open?
This is the most fascinating of the Inspector Chen novels yet - a serial killer's actions in Shanghai providing the backdrop for larger cultural conversations about misogyny, story telling, poetry, and Freud. I'm still thinking over the ramifications of everything in this story - my discomfort at the number of victimized women in the novel, for example, exists in tension with the novel's own interrogation of how Chinese cultural tropes hold women responsible for the problems and downfall of men, a trope that slips into outright hatred of women's choices and agency on several occasions. Women who get ahead in this Shanghai primarily do so because they're willing - at some price - to sell their bodies, and only Chen's mother and Yu's wife maintain faithfulness and bodily integrity throughout the book. Yet the book does not condemn the prostitutes, K-girls, and eatdrinkdance women for the situations they find themselves in, even if there are characters who do. Complicated.
There are some inconsistencies between this book and the last. Peiquin talks eagerly about White Cloud in this novel, whereas in the last she mused at length on how unsuitable she was as a girlfriend for Chen. I suspect even the author isn't sure if he's ever going to figure out Chen's filial wish to get married and provide his mother with an extended family, so perhaps he's merely keeping his options open?
Read
July 5, 2013The Inspector Chen series falls prey to formula. As much as I loved the novelty of Loyal Character Dance, Qiu has fallen victim to cliche in this series, and the often-confusing political structure and terminology of Chinese Communism plays a large role. One of the primary characters in the story was a Mao Zedong Revolutionary Thought Propaganda Worker Team Member. This utterly confusing mouthful is brought up repeatedly throughout the text, alongside similarly narrative-breaking terms. Similarly, Qiu studied English literature and poetry in university, and does his level best to introduce the reader to various poetry as well, but with the unintended effect of breaking what is otherwise a very tight narrative with the equivalent of several pages of irrelevant poetry. More an exercise in futility than anything else, Red Mandarin Dress is best left alone in favour of Qiu's earlier works
December 8, 2014
Empecé a leerlo sin mucha expectativa, y resultó ser mucho mejor de lo que esperaba!
La historia transcurre en Shanghai en los años 90, en plena reforma económica y apertura a empresas occidentales. En este marco, una serie de crímenes ocurre y pronto queda claro que la policía se enfrenta a un asesino serial.
El inspector Chen debe entonces balancear la investigación del caso con el curso de literatura china al que asiste paralelamente a su trabajo policial.
No sólo la investigación y resolución del misterio está impecablemente llevada por parte del autor, sino que también encontré sumamente interesante conocer la historia de Shanghai, e incluso los comentarios sobre literatura china antigua que el inspector analiza para sus estudios.
Ahora tengo ganas de leer más libros de esta serie, definitivamente recomendable!
La historia transcurre en Shanghai en los años 90, en plena reforma económica y apertura a empresas occidentales. En este marco, una serie de crímenes ocurre y pronto queda claro que la policía se enfrenta a un asesino serial.
El inspector Chen debe entonces balancear la investigación del caso con el curso de literatura china al que asiste paralelamente a su trabajo policial.
No sólo la investigación y resolución del misterio está impecablemente llevada por parte del autor, sino que también encontré sumamente interesante conocer la historia de Shanghai, e incluso los comentarios sobre literatura china antigua que el inspector analiza para sus estudios.
Ahora tengo ganas de leer más libros de esta serie, definitivamente recomendable!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 211 reviews