Beautiful Days

by Xiaolan Teng, Qiu Maoru (Translation), Wang Jiren (Foreword)

A Riot of Brilliant Purple and Tender Crimson
This novel is about the love lives of a father and daughter pair. The heroine is Xiang Yijun, a government officer who is greatly influenced by her Peking Opera performer father. She is fond of singing this type of opera, but the old fashion hobby sets her apart from others who see it as peculiar. It doesn’t help with her search for Mr. Right either. But one day, she meets Mao An, who not only is interested in Peking Opera, but he also wants her to be his teacher. Yijun believes it’s destiny and quietly accepts the developing relationship with Mao An, even when she finds out that he had asked another girl to be his teacher before her. Meanwhile, Yijun’s usually self-contained father is inspired by a love expert on the Internet and falls secretly in love with a female neighbor. The novel plot echoes the lyrics in the Kun Opera The Peony though the flowers are in great bloom, they are only appreciated by broken walls.
Beautiful Days
The novel is a very simple story of a 70-year-old Shanghai woman who wants to pick a satisfactory daughter-in-law for her bald-headed son. This son was once infected by polio and the only thing he can be proud of is the fact that he was born in Shanghai and lives there. Yao Hong, a widow from Jiangxi Province, is hired as the housekeeper for this family, but later becomes the wife of the son. Fighting and arguing ensues between Yao Hong and her mother-in-law, but after some time the two women learn to accept each other, acknowledging that life is full of surprises and that the unexpected can perhaps be a good thing after all. The novel, focusing on daily subjects, is detailed in description. Extraordinary lives are reflected by ordinary people. The beauty of everyday is found in the motions of life.

Genres: Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 10, 2013

Reviews

[madziar · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Piękne dni" to nowela o niemłodej już dziewczynie z Shangrao, Hong, która przeprowadza się na próbę do staruszki z Szanghaju, pani Wei, która chce znaleźć żonę dla swego dotkniętego kalectwem i niezbyt zamożnego syna. To opowieść o dwóch silnych kobietach, zanurzona głęboko w trudnych chińskich realiach, gdzie walka o utrzymanie wymaga od każdej z nich wykazania się żelaznym charakterem. Hong umiejętnie ukrywa pod płaszczem dziewczyny z prowincji niebywały talent psychologiczny do zauroczenia sobą nieporadnego mężczyzny i przekonania do siebie trudnej teściowej. Pani Wei odnajduje w niej swoje własne oblicze z młodości, gdy musiała walczyć o byt dla siebie i swojego syna.

"Feeria purpury i karmazynu" to nowela o ojcu i córce, marzycielach i romantykach, zakochanych w operze pekińskiej, którzy nieudolnie próbują być w życiu pragmatyczni - co w efekcie przynosi im tylko cierpienie, bo otoczenie szybko wyczuwa, że może ich wykorzystać.

[Radit Panjapiyakul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this little hidden gem for free from a bookshop. These contemporary realism works reflected on the Modern China I've come to known from my experience, a place where everyone has their own motif behind their back and survivalism has its root deep into the society. The clash between old and new values are expressed in the form of a mother and a step-daughter or the struggle of Beijing opera artist. But whether the truth is not beautiful as one expects, life always has its way to carry on. The writings are told with crisp and clear style, going back and forth in the lines of narrative, though it relies a bit too much on cheapish plot twists.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite liked these novellas, especially the title story about the relationship between a proud Shanghainese woman and her son’s potential bride from small-town Jiangxi. But... I don’t recommend it unless you are already familiar with China.

Beautiful Days is awkwardly translated and poorly edited. Sentences repeat, and the tenses are inconsistent. Sometimes I think the translator inserts his own explanations for things which might confuse foreigners; other times he just lets things be. All of this doesn’t really bother me. I have enough cultural fluency and understanding of Chinese sentence structure to enjoy these stories, and am glad Teng’s work has been made available at all. The fact that it’s obviously translated actually contributes to my enjoyment of it; I’m reminded of how some of my China friends speak English. Characters and scenarios are believable, and reflective of the city I called home for five years.