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Pursuing Shadows
244 pages, Paperback
Published January 16, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 2, 2024
Final thoughts of Philip Supine on the generational trilogy
The third volume, "Pursuing Shadows," presents a view of contemporary China. Mao Zedong died in l976; the Cultural Revolution is now a bitter (but not forgotten) memory and the Chinese people and intellectuals are trying to rebuild shattered lives. Deng Xiaoping has opened the door to Westerners and especially “foreign experts” who can contribute to the rebuilding and modernization of China’s science, industry and education. Naturally, the grandson of one of the early missionary families feels the strong emotional pull of the country and leaves the United States to join the influx. Like most “foreign experts” in China, he learns more than he teaches. He is warmly received and now carries on the third generation of the Trans-Pacific education and cultural exchange.
In the course of things, he falls in love with the Chinese nation, its culture - and one of its beautiful women. He finds maddening obstacles to his romance both by the government bureaucracy and in family traditions and prejudices. But in the old tradition, love ultimately conquers all. He makes his contribution to the modernization of China – and at the same time. overcomes all obstacles to marry the girl of his dreams.
Prof. Corbett writes well and with a very lucid style. As shown in his earlier
books, he has a “natural gift” for story-telling. Readers will find the books easy to read and an essential source for beginning to understand modern China.
If one were to criticize, I would only say that he falls into the trap of so many Western “experts” who clearly have a masterful knowledge of his subject – and assume that the reader knows as much about China as they do! Especially in the first volume, he is constantly taking the reader from Jilin down to Guanxi and from Xinjiang to Guangdong. Perhaps a basic map of China would have helped one follow events and geography.
Likewise, I think at times he assumes that the reader knows more Chinese history – especially the Cultural Revolution than is often the case. These flaws are relatively minor however – and do not detract from three volumes that contribute to a major understanding of some of the greatest events of one of the most important countries in the world.
The third volume, "Pursuing Shadows," presents a view of contemporary China. Mao Zedong died in l976; the Cultural Revolution is now a bitter (but not forgotten) memory and the Chinese people and intellectuals are trying to rebuild shattered lives. Deng Xiaoping has opened the door to Westerners and especially “foreign experts” who can contribute to the rebuilding and modernization of China’s science, industry and education. Naturally, the grandson of one of the early missionary families feels the strong emotional pull of the country and leaves the United States to join the influx. Like most “foreign experts” in China, he learns more than he teaches. He is warmly received and now carries on the third generation of the Trans-Pacific education and cultural exchange.
In the course of things, he falls in love with the Chinese nation, its culture - and one of its beautiful women. He finds maddening obstacles to his romance both by the government bureaucracy and in family traditions and prejudices. But in the old tradition, love ultimately conquers all. He makes his contribution to the modernization of China – and at the same time. overcomes all obstacles to marry the girl of his dreams.
Prof. Corbett writes well and with a very lucid style. As shown in his earlier
books, he has a “natural gift” for story-telling. Readers will find the books easy to read and an essential source for beginning to understand modern China.
If one were to criticize, I would only say that he falls into the trap of so many Western “experts” who clearly have a masterful knowledge of his subject – and assume that the reader knows as much about China as they do! Especially in the first volume, he is constantly taking the reader from Jilin down to Guanxi and from Xinjiang to Guangdong. Perhaps a basic map of China would have helped one follow events and geography.
Likewise, I think at times he assumes that the reader knows more Chinese history – especially the Cultural Revolution than is often the case. These flaws are relatively minor however – and do not detract from three volumes that contribute to a major understanding of some of the greatest events of one of the most important countries in the world.
January 29, 2024
In Chasing Shadows, I was hooked the second I started. I found countless stories that gave me a wonderfully intimate and honest portrayal of the main character's life in China and how he came to find love there. The story was able to encapsulate the excitement of the new, the frustrations of being a foreigner in another country, and the epiphanies had while experiencing a culture that both the main character and his family had been separated from for some time. I really enjoyed following the journey of this character and his attempt to understand his roots and where those might lay, geographically or culturally.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews