Las flores de la guerra

by Geling Yan

Una sobrecogedora historia de miedo y violencia, pero también de amor, pasiones ingobernables, amistad y compasión, que Zhang Yimou llevó al cine en la mayor producción cinematográfica de la historia de China.

1937, Nanjing: el ejército japonés ha entrado en la capital china a sangre y fuego. La guerra ha atrapado a Shujuan junto con otras doce estudiantes en el desván de la parroquia Santa María Magdalena, al cuidado del padre Engelmann. Aunque hay algo que sacude su mundo con más fuerza que el sonido de los disparos.

Cuando la misteriosa y seductora Zhao Yumo llega al frente de un grupo de prostitutas en busca de refugio, las niñas y los clérigos tienen que enfrentarse a sus propias encrucijadas: ¿dónde está la justicia?, ¿qué los distingue de esas mujeres?, ¿cómo defenderse de la crueldad?

Reseñas:
«Una vez más Yan da la talla y nos regala una espléndida narración con un puñado de personajesinolvidables que siguen acompañando al lector cuando ya ha cerrado el libro.»
Jesús Ferrero, Babelia

«Yan conmueve al lector en lo más profundo de su ser. Mucho después de haber concluido la lectura, las imágenes perduran y regresan las preguntas, preguntas necesarias en tiempos extremos.»
Amy Tan

Genres: Historical Fiction, China, Fiction, War, Historical, Chinese Literature, Asia

256 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Geling Yan (嚴歌苓) is one of the most acclaimed novelists and screenwriters writing in the Chinese language today and a well-established writer in English. Born in Shanghai, she served with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) during the Cultural Revolution, starting at age twelve as a dancer in an entertainment troupe.

After serving for over a decade with the PLA (including tours in Tibet and as a war correspondent during the Sino-Vietnam border conflict), Ms. Yan was discharged with a rank equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel. She published her first novel in 1986 and ever since has produced a steady stream of novels, short stories, novellas, essays and scripts. Her best-known novels in English are The Secret Talker, published by HarperCollins; Little Aunt Crane published in the UK by Random House affiliate Harvill Secker; The Flowers of War, published in the U.S. by The Other Press and elsewhere by Random House's Harvill Secker; The Banquet Bug (The Uninvited in its UK edition - written directly in English); and The Lost Daughter of Happiness, (translated by Cathy Silber) both published by Hyperion in the US and Faber & Faber in the UK. She has also published a novella and short story collection called White Snake and Other Stories, translated by Lawrence A. Walker and published by Aunt Lute Books.

Many of Geling Yan's works have been adapted for film and television, including internationally distributed films Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (directed by Joan Chen) and Siao Yu (directed by Sylvia Chang; produced by Ang Lee). Chinese director Zhang Yimou made The Flowers of War, a big-budget film based on her work set during the 1937 Rape of Nanking, starring Academy Award winning actor Christian Bale; Coming Home 归来, based on her novel The Criminal Lu Yanshi 陆犯焉识, and One Second 一秒钟, also based on that novel.

Ms. Yan has also written numerous scripts based on her own and other authors' work, both in English and Chinese, including a script for a biopic on the iconic Peking opera star Mei Lanfang for director Chen Kaige (released as Forever Enthralled 梅兰芳) starring Leon Lai and Zhang Ziyi. She wrote the script for Dangerous Liaisons 危險關係, a Chinese-language film directed by South Korean director Hur Jin-ho and starring Zhang Ziyi, Jang Dong Gun and Cecilia Cheung. Her novel Fang Hua 芳华 is the basis a film of the same name (English title Youth) directed by Chinese director Feng Xiaogang 冯小刚. Her novel A City Called Macau 妈阁是座城 was made into a film directed by Li Shaohong 李少红, released in 2018.

Geling Yan a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and of France's Société des Gens de Lettres. She is affiliated with the Hollywood screenwriters' union, Writers' Guild of America, west, and is a former member of the Chinese Writers' Association (中国作家协会).

Geling Yan went to the United States at the end of 1989 for graduate study. She holds a Master's in Fine Arts in Fiction Writing from Columbia College, Chicago. To date she has published over 40 books in various editions in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the US, the UK and elsewhere; has won over 30 literary and film awards; and has had her work adapted or written scripts for numerous film, TV and radio works. Her works have been translated into twenty-one languages: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, English, Farsi, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Uyghur, and Vietnamese, and her English-language novel The Banquet Bug/The Uninvited was translated into Chinese. She currently lives in Berlin, Germany.

She has been subject to an unofficial but effective ban in China since March 2020, when she wrote and promulgated an essay on the Chinese government's initial handling of COVID-19. Her future Chinese-language work will be published by her own publishing company, New Song Media GmbH.

For non-Chinese language publishing she is represented by Agence Astier-Pécher.

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A more personal yet no less powerful take on the Nanking invasion by the Chinese. School girls, prostitutes, injured Chinese soldiers all come under the protection of an American priest in a church that is supposed to be off limits because of it's American status. The book takes place almost solely within this church and visits by the priest to what is supposed to be the safety zone. The way people change when confronted with adversity, among untold violence, are avidly portrayed in this novel. Sacrifices are made, others learn gratitude and by the end of this book I literally had goosebumps. The epilogue ties it all together and we learn where these people are 9 years later and how some of them had changed. The translation made the book seem distant in the first half or so, but by the end it was a book that delivered a big impact. Historical fiction readers find this book informative. ARC provided by Net Galley.

Read this book several months ago, but cannot get it out of my head. I read so many books but few actually haunt me, this one does so I have added a star and made it a five star read.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve seen the other reviews which state that this isn’t a well written book. It may not have the same flow, pacing, or plot structure of what we’re used to in contemporary western stories. If it were, we’d likely have only one POV, through which there would be a character arc, which concludes with that character being transformed (most often for the better). What we have here is more in keeping with its subject matter. This is the siege and rape of a city. It’s scattered fires and ruin, chaos and shell shock, the scattered pages of the lives of people torn out abruptly. There is no happy ending. There isn’t a transcendent arc to grow through. It happens and it’s horrible and in the aftermath you have no answers. There are a lot of characters in this short book, we get snippets of each of them, a flash of who they are. That’s the way of catastrophe. In a brief glances you see all that’s in humanity. The savagery, naivety, and cowardice, but also the ingenuity, bravery, and nobility in us sparks to life. What shows in who at any given moment you witness has no meaning within the context of some grand character arc, it has meaning in the moment, and that is powerful.

[Rêbwar Kurd · Rating 3 out of 5]

گاهی تاریخ شبیه به زخمی است که هرچه زمان بر آن بگذرد، چرکش بیشتر سر باز می‌کند. فجایعی مثل نانکینگ ۱۹۳۷ نه فقط یادآور خشونت‌اند، بلکه نشان می‌دهند انسان تا کجا می‌تواند درنده شود. در میان دود، خون و جیغ، جایی که مرز بین قربانی و نجات‌دهنده محو می‌شود، روایت گل‌های جنگ شکل می‌گیرد؛ روایتی که هم رمان و هم فیلم ساخته‌شده از آن، تلاشی برای بازآفرینی کابوس نانکینگ‌اند.

در دل داستان، یک کلیسا به ظاهر امن، بدل به صحنه‌ای از رویارویی طبقات انسانی می‌شود: دختران مدرسه‌ای معصوم که نماینده‌ی آینده‌اند، و زنان فاحشه‌ای که جامعه همیشه آن‌ها را مطرود شمرده است. اما جنگ هر نقابی را می‌درد؛ وقتی بیرون از دیوارها مرگ و تجاوز به عادی‌ترین کنش‌های روزانه بدل می‌شود، کلیسا دیگر تنها پناهگاه جسمی نیست، بلکه آزمایشگاهی است برای فرو ریختن پیش‌داوری‌ها. فاحشه‌ها و دختران، دو سر طیف پاکی و ناپاکی، ناچار می‌شوند در یک سرنوشت شریک شوند. همینجاست که یکی از مهم‌ترین تم‌های رمان و فیلم رخ می‌نماید: اخلاق، شرافت و ایثار در میدان جنگ نه از دل قانون یا دین، بلکه از دل تجربه مشترک رنج و بقا سر برمی‌آورند.

فیلم گل‌های جنگ ساخته ژانگ ییمو با بازی کریستین بیل، گرچه در سطحی سینمایی روایت را پررنگ‌تر و دراماتیک‌تر کرده، اما همچنان در جوهره‌اش به رمان وفادار می‌ماند. بیل نقش یک مرد آمریکایی باده‌نوش و بی‌قید را بازی می‌کند که ناخواسته به قهرمان بدل می‌شود؛ درست مثل کلیسا که از مکانی خنثی و بی‌طرف، به آخرین دژ مقاومت اخلاقی تبدیل می‌گردد. فیلم با تصاویر پرشکوه و طراحی صحنه‌ی چشمگیر، تراژدی نانکینگ را به تماشاگر جهانی معرفی کرد، اما بیش از آن‌که تاریخ را بازگو کند، بیشتر روی داستانی انسانی از فداکاری تمرکز دارد.

نکته‌ی تلخ اینجاست که چه در متن رمان و چه در فیلم، وحشیگری ژاپنی‌ها هرگز به شکلی کامل نمایش داده نمی‌شود؛ نه از سر سانسور صرف، بلکه از آن رو که عمق فاجعه از ظرفیت روایت هنری فراتر می‌رود. این تصمیم شاید باعث شده اثر برای برخی منتقدان کمی ملایم به نظر برسد، اما در عوض، تمرکز آن بر روابط انسانی، از دختر مدرسه‌ای سیزده ساله گرفته تا زنان روسپی و کشیش آمریکایی، قدرتی احساسی به روایت بخشیده که از دل وحشت، شکوفه‌ای از عشق و ایثار می‌رویاند.

گل‌های جنگ نه تنها یک داستان تاریخی از جنایات جنگ است، بلکه آیینه‌ای‌ست در برابر انسان؛ آیینه‌ای که نشان می‌دهد پاکی و ناپاکی، قهرمان و گناهکار، می‌توانند در لحظه‌ای جا عوض کنند. و شاید همین است که کتاب و فیلم را ماندگار کرده: اینکه در دل تاریک‌ترین لحظات، هنوز چیزی انسانی باقی می‌ماند که جنگ نمی‌تواند آن را نابود کند.

[mona aghazade · Rating 4 out of 5]

خیلی در موردش شنیده بودم
خوب بود اما کامل نبود 3.5 امتیاز مناسبه
داستان توی جنگ بود
جنگ تو یه شهر تو آسیا شرقی ، جنگی بین چین و ژاپن
وقتی شهر اشغال شده بود و نا امن بود روسپی ها تلاش کردن بیان تو کلیسا و جون ودشونو نجات بدن - جان یه امریکایی که اول داستان خیلی منفور بود و اخرای داستان با روسپی ها تبدل به قهرمانان داستان شد
منصفانه بگم اولش اصلا باحال نبود بلکه خیلی خسته کننده بود اما از وسطاش به اخر خیلی غم انگیز شد
اونجایی که سربازای ژاپنی تصمیمی گرفته بودن دخترای صومعه رو ببرن و روسپی ها جون خودشون و به خطر انداختن و جای اونا رفتن !
98/02/03

[Lucia Nieto Navarro · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5
Novela ambientada en Nanjin, que se traduce c omo "capital del sur", (igual que Pekin se traduce como "capital del norte". Fue la capital durante mucho tiempo, en el momento en el que el ejercito imperial japones entra en Nanjing y arrasa con todo, con abusloutamente todo, asesinó a sangre fria, violó, incendio y asesino a miles y miles de civiles ( pero para esto teneis otra reseña mia hablando de esta barbarie).
Como digo, esta novela transcurre en una parroquia en Nanjing, donde el padre Engelmann refugia, cuida y educa a un grupo de estudiantes chinas. Los japoneses invaden la ciudad, y esta parroquia al final acaba llenandose de otras personas como seran un grupo de prostitutas.
Realmente me ha parecido una novela que se queda muy corta, se cuenta desde varios puntos de vista y así vemos como cada uno de los personajes vive las situaciones de diferentes maneras.
Todo pasa en la parroquia pero aun asi vamos a ser testigos por medio de algun personaje la barbaridad que se vivió en es época, pero para mi gusto es un libro que se queda muy cortito, pero que destaco sin duda un final sorprendente y no apto para todos y un epilogo magnifico.

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

On completion: No, this was not a total waste of time. This novel is based on real events. It is about what actually happened in December 1937 in an American church which housed Chinese soldiers, prostitutes and 16 naive schoolgirls while the Japanese invaded and massacred all and everyone in Nanjing. The events are gripping. I wanted to know what would happen in the end. Read this book for the plot, NOT for the writing style. Terrible writing. The author or perhaps translator picks all the wrong words.

The audiobook narration by Samanth Quan, is neither exceptionally bad nor good, but when you listen to every word you certainly notice how the words chosen by the author or perhaps translator are completely off. Only read this book to find out about the Nanjing Massacre through a short book of historical fiction. This is not a book to choose if you are looking for good writing. Character development is superficial. Choose it if you want a quick, exciting book tied to real events that took place during the massacre.

Quite possibly the book is better in the original Chinese version.

**************************

I have listened to about half the book. I feel every line irritates me. It is the words chosen by the author that irritate me. The words seem inappropriate, wrong and unsuitable. I'm much picker about the words an author uses than the plot line. If strange things happen I reason that life is strange, weird things do happen, but if the author throws inappropriate words in my face I get terribly irritated.

So far this book feels like a total waste of time. A huge disappointment.

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judging from some of reviews I have read, the English translation must not be great.
I read this in original Chinese and found the writing skillful and nuanced.
This is not a melodramatic bellow of injustice, it’s written with great restraint and in my opinion that is what makes it effective and powerful as a work of historical fiction.

I do have issues with the ending. Not that the courtesans’ ultimate sacrifices are not convincing…
However, whose life is more valuable? The ones of the “ dirty whores” or those of the educated and chaste girls from well-off families?
I can’t stop asking myself that after finishing this novella.

Some aspects of this book reminded me of Boule de Suif.
I should re-read that.

"To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time."
-Elie Wiesel

“她向我多次讲述过这五个中国战士的死亡，讲述这次葬礼，总是讲：“我不知到底哭什么，哭那么痛。”老了后，书娟成了文豪，可以把一点感觉分析来分析去，分析出一大堆文字，她分析她当时流泪是因为她对人这东西彻底放弃了希望：人怎么没事就要弄出一场战事来打打呢？打不了几天人就不是人了，就退化成动物了。而动物也不吃自己的同类呀。”

[Odai Al-Saeed · Rating 5 out of 5]

صورة قاتمة تجسد آلة الحرب وما يتخللها من إخلال بمبادئ الشرف والعرف والشيمة تقابلها حالة من التضحية ممن لا نتوقع ولا نحتسب ...في أحد الكاتدائرايات حيث تلجأ مجموعة من الفتيات ومجموعة من العاهرات ومتهد دفن موتى (حانوتي) في صورة قسيس يتلون من خلالها سرد ملغوم بآلة الحرب إبان إحتلال الجيش الياباني في ثلاثينيات العقد الفائت لمدينة صيني وترويع قاطنيها بالإغتصاب والإبادة ... تجسيد في هيئة صورة متقنة وابداع قلما تجد له مثيل ...للأسف لم تترجم إلى العربية بيد أن اللغة التي كتبت بها سلسة وتستحق القراءة مرات عدة

[Erin (Historical Fiction Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Find the enhanced version of this and other reviews at: http://flashlightcommentary.blogspot....

I wish I could say I came across this title of my own accord, but I must confess, it was Ni Ni's performance in the film adaptation that prompted me to track down a copy Geling Yan's The Flowers of War.

For those whose history is a little rusty, the Nanking (Nanjing) Massacre took place in December 1937. Estimates vary depending on the source, but the International Military Tribunal of the Far East claim more than 200,000 civilians and military personnel lost their lives to the soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army. It is in my opinion, one of the darkest and oft overlooked chapters of WWII.

I would have been attracted to this piece even if I'd never seen the film. I'd never come across a fictional version of the event and couldn't help being intrigued by the idea once I had. I wanted to see how a writer would treat the event, how they would go about constructing a story from the ashes and sorrow it left in its wake.

In this regard, Yan has real a gift. Her work gives faces to the victims of Nanking and voice to their silent tongues. Through the fiction experiences of Shujuan, Yumo, Hongling, Cardamom, Wang Pusheng, Major Dai, Father Englemann and Fabio, Yan tells the human side of war, weighing emotion and sentiment against the stark reality of history.

The Flowers of War is a plainly written piece, but no less moving for its simplicity. In point of fact I found the modest language and style of the piece one of its more attractive qualities not to mention highly appropriate to the rather bleak subject matter.

Finally, I would note that for all the similarity this is not the same story director Yimou Zang tells on film. Be prepared for that and try to judge each format in its own right.

[Maryam Behzadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

داستان فوق العاده تاثیر گذاری بود. تا حدی که پنجاه صفحه‌ی آخر کتاب رو با اشک و آه می‌خوندم. لازم نیست بگم چقدر غم‌انگیز بود چون وقایع به زشتی وجهه‌ی جنگ بودن. داستان کوتاهی بود تقریبا توی یک نشست تمومش کردم. فکر می‌کنم اگه یه سری چیزا توی سیر روایی داستان عوض می‌شد خیلی بهتر بود. اگه این کتاب به جای یه داستان کوتاه ۲۰۰ صفحه‌ای یه کتاب بلند ۵۰۰ صفحه‌ای بود قطعا خیلی بیشتر لذت می‌بردم.

می‌تونست خیلی به شخصیت‌ها پرداخته بشه ولی نشد. می‌شه شخصیت اول کتاب که داستان از دید اون روایت می‌شد رو مثال زد. هیچ‌شخصیت پردازی‌ای شکل نگرفته یود و صرفا به جز چند تا فکت راجع به زندگیش و خودش چیز دیگه‌ای نمی‌دونستیم. این شرایط برای تمام شخصیت‌های کتاب صادق بود. این که داستانی به این قدرت بنویسی ولی کتاب نه چندان خوبی از کار دربیاد خیلی ناراحت‌کنندست. دوست داشتم بیشتر بخونم و بیشتر تاثیر بگیرم ولی حیف که کوتاه بود

کتاب گل‌های جنگ داستان بدبختی و درموندگیه. صحنه‌های کتاب می‌تونه دل‌ آزردتون کنه. اگه در شریط روحی مناسبی نیستید این کتاب رو توصیه نمی‌کنم چون داستان تاریک و سیاهی داره که خواننده‌ رو توی دریای غم فرو می‌بره.

[Yen-chun Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was originally written in Chinese, and then translated to English. The following notes are the differences and missing parts I found in the English version. I still don’t understand why the publisher or the writer or the translator want to change the following things. If someone can explain it, I will be very appreciative.

Difference
The Chinese version: the book was written by Shujuan’s niece, about what she learned from Shujuan. And it started when Shujuan met Yumo after WWII outside the courthouse about Japanese war crimes.

Page 6 - Difference : “start being a proper Monkey King ..." in Chinese version, it was “stop being a Monkey King on stage who fake the hitting”

Page 13 - Fabio didn’t just say "we've got every single whore from the Qin Huai brothels" in the Chinese version, he also said "all you these kinds of women should go on street to welcome jap soldiers", and those women argued back too."

Page 17 - Difference : “There's nothing wrong with my arse, Jade... I bet he'd like a bit of it too!" In Chinese version, Cardamon said " the black pig's arse is better, and it is better if you take it with other black part" (because Jade has darker skin)

Page 19 - Difference : in the Chinese version, Fabio was not looking for a ferry, he was looking for food.
In the English version, it has a less cruel description about corpses. In Chinese version, it stats 3/4 year old, 70/80 year old, and some women is bottom half naked, the pits and hole made by bombs was filled with corpses.

Page 58 - missing : in Chinese version, General Dai stayed at church's graveyard for two days, and observed the school girls and prostitutes while recovering

Page 64 - Missing : in Chinese version, Fabio wants sending those prostitutes to safety zone, so the Japs can have them.

Page 92 - Missing : in Chinese version, Chiang Kai-Shek (former president of the Republic of China) used the air force for carrying his own government properties to ChongQing, so military in Nanking has no way to know where the enemy were, and no communication between the troops because no radio

Page 96 - Missing : In the Chinese version, Shujuan talked to an 80 years old veteran who was still alive during 19 century. He found out in the war files that in 1937, Japan never want to follow "Geneva Conventions" since beginning of the war, they decide to alienate chinese tropes"

Page 120 - missing : in Chinese version, according the last two American journalist escaped from Nanking, the Jap cut down Chinese head and pile them together as trothy and take picture so they can show ppl in Japan

Page 121 - Difference : In the Chinese version, Fabio used the water he got from the first two trips to cook food and let the girls clean up, then he went back to the pond a third time for more water, and found A-Gu's body because the water level in the pond is low. When school girls found out, they threw up to the fact that the drinking/eating water is the same water A-Gu’s body was in

Page 122 - In the Chinese version, the narrator, Shujuan’s niece, states that the conversation between Yumo and Major Dai was actually imagined by herself.

Page 130 - “Listen to those two lovebirds!” In Chinese it is “We have a Zhu Yingtai from butterfly lovers here.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterf...

Page 149 - Difference : In the Chinese version, Father Engelmann never asked Dai where he was trained, instead he asked Dai about his advisor, Alexander von Falkenhausen, and pointed out the nationality is German, which is good at music, philosophy & science. Two rational, one emotional. Also this whole conversation between father Engelman & Dai is after the japanese took away the car.

Page 153 - Difference : In the Chinese version, at the end of conversation, Father Engelmann asked Dai if he was still going to look for the weapon, Dai shook his head, but he told himself that he would.

Page 166 - Difference : In the Chinese version, Major Dai was not there to tell Sergeant Major Li to show him the dressing. In the English version, Sergeant Major Li says “It stinks. The dressing needs to be changed, it’ll be painful but he’ll just have to put up with it.” But in the Chinese version, he said "it stinks, what is the point of changing dressing, it just makes him feel pain."

Page 170 - Missing - In the Chinese version, Fabio got the news from Dr. Roberson that he tried to save a 15-year-old girl, who was rape and stab several time with three pipa strings on her hands. Yumo put on those three strings and played "River on Spring Night '' to Huang PuShung while he asked Cardomon's whereabouts. Father Engelman told the school girl about what happened to Cardamom, and wants them to be witnesses in the future. And all school girls feel super sad

Page 205 - Missing - In the Chinese version, Shujuan felt that humans are not human anymore after a couple days of war, humans become animals, but even animals don't eat their peers. There is no justice in the world, otherwise how come a group of people can do such a violent thing toward another group of people in that country. How come our own country is this weak.

Page 238 - Difference : In the English version, the part Yumo refuses the hands from Jap soldiers to get into the truck and the part Father Engelmann insists on getting on the truck with girls and was refused by the Japanese soldier. In the Chinese version, Father Engelmann regrets that he never knew those girls’ real names, not their stage names.

Page 244 - Missing - In Chinese version, Shujuan and her classmate change the way they talk sometimes after this terrible event, because the influence from Yumo's sisters, even Fabio tried a couple times to correct them to become proper women was not successful. Shujuan said “Fabio didn’t understand that we learned how to free ourselves from those brothel women.”





Notes
Names -
Jade - in Chinese is actually “YuSheng”. Sheng is a instrument, Yu is jade
HongLing - is a food, water caltrop
NaNi - is mean swallow’s cry or talk lightly usually mean the sound girls make when they tried to please someone
YuMo - Yu is Jade, Mo is inkstick
XiaoYu - Xiao is small, little; Yu is foolish
ShuJuan - Shu mean book, knowledge; Juan means girl’s beauty

The author, Geling Yan, states that “The Flowers of War” was inspired by “Terror in Minnie Vautrin's Nanjing”

"Terror in Minnie Vautrin's Nanjing" by Minni Vautrin records: "At 10:00 on December 24, a senior military adviser of a Japanese division came with troops and asked to select 100 refugees from the 10,000 refugees. Prostitutes (as comfort women). They think that if a legal place is arranged for the Japanese soldiers, these soldiers will no longer harass innocent women of good families. When they promise not to take good women, we allow them to choose. During this period, the consultant sat in my office. After a long time, they finally found 21 people.” At the time, Vautrin was the acting principal of Nanjing Jinling Women’s College of Arts and Sciences. The school houses more than 10,000 women and children. "Terror in Minnie Vautrin's Nanjing" does not explain in detail how the 21 prostitutes were selected, and no one knows what kind of mood they came out with.

Since China overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1912, China went into Warlord Era which ended in 1928, but Kuomintang still didn't have all military under control, so when Japan invade China, the problem showed in the relationship between government and militaries/warlord, cause the fights became so difficult.


Page 31 - Because these people have allowed us to stay in this rathole... because we ca be beaten and humiliated by anyone at will" Yumo described the cruel reality that the society wants to make sure those girl students can keep their innocent and pure, so the society need to make sure ppl ike Yumo stay at the bottom of pit

Page 61 - winter melon" in Chinese is a discrimnation word for short person

Page 75 - 262 BC, Qin dynasty, General Qi Bai won the war against Zhao Kingdom at Chang-Ping, and he decided to bury all four hundred thousand POW alive, because General Qi Bai thought it is easier just to kill POW than control them.

Page 142 - “Singing girls heedless that national calamity looms” this is part of poem from “Bo Qinhuai”

Mist veils the cold water and the sand is shrouded in the dim moonlight.
I’ve come to moor on the Qinhuai River after dark where there are cabarets nearby.
Singsong girl (courtesans) not knowing the bitterness of a conquered kingdom,
Across the river singing “Flowers of the Backyard” continues into the night.

“Flowers of the Backyard” is a musical piece composed by the last emperor of the Chen Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties in Chinese history. It was later regarded as a tune presaging the fallen state.

Singsong girl didn’t have a high education, so didn’t know the background information about “Flowers of the Backyard”.

Apparently this poem criticizes the girl’s ignorance of being a conquered people, but actually it insinuates the bureaucracy and aristocrats in the late Tang Dynasty the poet was living in, who indulge themselves in the life of luxury and dissipation. The poem shows the author’s disappointment at the rulers and his deep worries about the impending danger to the state.

[Librukie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A veces pienso que ya estamos incluso algo insensibilizados frente a determinados sucesos históricos de tanto consumirlos en ficción y en otras historias que nos trasladan a la época en la que acontecieron.
Historias como esta me dicen lo contrario, que al menos para mi es imposible llegar a asimilar el horror que se puede llegar a sufrir en tiempos de conflicto.

En "Las flores de la guerra" seguiremos a un grupo de personajes que se refugiaron en una parroquia en Nanjing durante la ocupación en territorios de China por parte del ejército japonés, en 1937. Los clérigos de dicha parroquia acogen bajo su protección no solo a las niñas del coro, sino a un grupo de prostitutas y a distintas personas que van llegando a su puerta, a pesar de las dificultades que eso les ocasionará.
A pesar de su longitud, siendo una novela bastante corta, consigue transmitir los horrores que tuvo que vivir la población china, tanto los miembros del ejército como los civiles, al no respetarse en ningún momento el Convenio de Ginebra.

Es una novela dura y descarnada, que nos acerca un poco al dolor y sufrimiento de los inocentes durante un conflicto que siempre hemos asimilado más bien desde nuestro punto de vista occidental. Nunca está de más recordar los horrores que el ser humano es capaz de provocar a sus semejantes, ya que el olvido nos aproxima más al peligro de que algo así pueda llegar a repetirse.

[Cudeyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reconozco que los libros escritos/ambientados en la cultura china no son plato de mi devoción, y no suelo leerlos. Y no porque no me interese ese país, su historia, sino porque me cuesta mucho identificarme con los personajes, al ser la suya una cultura y unas costumbres muy distintas a las nuestras, y que chocan con mi forma de ser.

Con este libro hice una excepción, ya que cuenta un hecho real como fue la matanza de Nanjing durante la ocupación japonesa del país. Un hecho no muy conocido en el mundo occidental, pero de gran importancia en la historia. Aún hoy perduran las heridas sin cicatrizar.

El libro, escrito en un estilo sencillo pero a la vez profundo, no se centra en el horror de los crímenes cometidos por los japoneses, sino en un grupo de refugiados encerrados en una iglesia católica, y enfrentados no ya al hecho de la ocupación nipona sino a sus propios prejuicios y diferencias de clases.

La autora muestra de forma clara, las diferencias de clases no sólo entre las prostitutas, los clérigos y las niñas, sino también entre las propias niñas y entre los clérigos, dando al final las menospreciadas prostitutas una gran lección de dignidad.

[Hoora · Rating 3 out of 5]

داستان این کتاب که در دوران جنگ بین چین و ژاپن (1937) رخ می دهد، درباره گروهی از دختران نوجوان چینی است که به صومعه ای آمریکایی پناه می برند.

گل های جنگ یک داستان تلخ و شیرین و غم انگیز درباره جنبه های متضاد جنگ، از نبود امنیت و خیانت های زمان جنگ تا فداکاری های غیرمنتظره و... است.

کتاب از نظر ترجمه خوب بود، ولی به ویرایش مجدد نیاز دارد.
گل های جنگ، ترجمه مریم آقایی، چاپ اول پاییز 1394، نشر کتابسرای تندیس

[Sotiris Karaiskos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small book that, however, says a lot about one of the greatest atrocities of war that ever took place, in a restrained way, without much emotional exaggeration. In fact, the author of the book shows little of these activities of the Japanese army, preferring to focus on her subject, which is the attempt of two Catholic priests to protect in their church some of the flowers found in the middle of the war. Of course, even in this protected environment, the news of the atrocities is enough to cause terror, and those who have taken refuge there understand that the danger is too great. In this heavy atmosphere, different behaviors emerge, with the intensity causing friction and conflict, but from the middle of the book to the very moving finale, the great danger they face unites them and leads them to deeds of altruism and sacrifice. So it turns out that good exists in human nature, at a time when bestiality seems to prevail and this is what ultimately gives value to this book that may at first but also in general not show that it is something great but I think that eventually with a humble way offers something to the reader.

Ένα μικρό βιβλίο που, όμως, λέει πολλά πράγματα για μία από τις μεγαλύτερες βαρβαρότητες σε καιρό πολέμου που έγιναν ποτέ, με έναν συγκρατημένο τρόπο, χωρίς υπερβολικούς συναισθηματισμούς. Στην πραγματικότητα η συγγραφέας του βιβλίου δείχνει ελάχιστα πράγματα από αυτές τις δραστηριότητες του Ιαπωνικού στρατού, προτιμώντας να επικεντρωθεί στο θέμα της, που είναι η προσπάθεια δύο καθολικών ιερέων να προστατεύσουν μέσα στην εκκλησία τους μερικά από τα λουλούδια που βρέθηκαν στη μέση του πολέμου. Βέβαια ακόμα και σε αυτό το προστατευμένο περιβάλλον οι ειδήσεις για αυτές τις βαρβαρότητες αρκούν για να προκαλέσουν τον τρόμο και όσοι έχουν καταφύγει εκεί καταλαβαίνει ότι ο κίνδυνος είναι πολύ μεγάλος. Μέσα σε αυτή την βαριά ατμόσφαιρα αναδεικνύονται διαφορετικές συμπεριφορές, με την ένταση να προκαλεί προστριβές και συγκρούσεις, από τη μέση του βιβλίου, όμως, μέχρι το πολύ συγκινητικό φινάλε ο μεγάλος κίνδυνος που αντιμετωπίζουν τους ενώνει και τους οδηγεί στην υπέρβαση του εγωισμού και στη θυσία. Έτσι αναδεικνύεται ότι καλό υπάρχει στην ανθρώπινη φύση, τη στιγμή που η κτηνωδία φαίνεται να επικρατεί και αυτό είναι που στο τέλος δίνει αξία σε αυτό το βιβλίο που μπορεί στην αρχή αλλά και γενικότερα να μη δείχνει ότι είναι κάτι σπουδαίο αλλά νομίζω ότι τελικά με έναν ταπεινό τρόπο προσφέρει κάτι στον αναγνώστη.

[Tara Chevrestt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine a church, the attic full of Catholic schoolgirls, the cellar full of whores, and toss a few men in between them to feed them and maintain order...and you get chaos!

What I liked: Tell of the rape of Nanking in a better fashion than Nanjin Requiem did, IMO. Nanjin was far too brutal, like a listing of brutality after brutality... This story, though it rarely left the church walls, told what was going on inside and out. Inside, you got a bunch of ungrateful whores that have bullied their way into the church and expect it to be a 5 star resort and though it wasn't conveyed very well, there are romances flourishing.

And the girls upstairs are dealing with conflicting emotions, growing pains, and petty bickering.

The soldier and his scene at the mass execution... WOW.

What I didn't like: Something was muddled in the translation. Badly. Lots of telling, little showing, and a ton of head hopping. Also came off a bit cold. And I sure did hate those whores.

In the end, it felt like a bunch of selfish people who didn't care that they were endangering other people. And sadly, that seems to be humanity.

Three stars. I got this from netgalley.

[the Kent cryptid · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Flowers of War is set during the horrific events of the Nanjing Massacre: the 1937 capture of Nanjing - then China's capital - by Japanese forces, who then murdered and raped thousands upon thousands of civilians.

The book tells the story of the efforts of two priests in charge of a Catholic girls' school to protect their young pupils from the invaders by concealing them in the school's attic. Matters are further complicated when first a group of sex workers from a local brothel, then three wounded Chinese soldiers, also seek refuge in the compound.

It's a simply-told and compelling story which carries a lot of emotional weight in its short length. I wished it could have been a little longer; there isn't much time to get to know the characters, although the connections that they do make between them are still intensely moving. The epilogue also feels a little rushed and disparate. Nevertheless, this is a great story about a period of history which must be remembered.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reason I read this novel was for the historical information about the horrific actions of the Japanese army when they overtook the Chinese city of Nanking in 1937. For the background history, I am able to give the book a three-star rating. However, the writing was uninspiring, to say the most. The author was unable to create the relationship to the characters for the reader that grips the heart and mind. The plot was rather clumsily laid out, and the enormity of this historical event was not achieved. As a springboard to other writings about the Japanese occupation of Nanking, this book serves a purpose. As a defining read about the tragic events, it falls way short. I plan on pursuing my reading on the subject with the non-fiction work, The Rape of Nanking.

[Jessy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encontré este libro por pura casualidad y me llamó la atención, la verdad es que me imaginaba una historia completamente diferente, pero me gustó mucho más de lo que había imaginado. La situación es bastante fuerte, ya había leído antes sobre el comportamiento de los japoneses en la guerra con China y me había sorprendido al igual que el padre Engelman, ese comportamiento no parece afín a su cultura. En este libro los personajes son de lo más variado y los retazos de sus historias me gustaron mucho, todos tan diferentes y al final todos ahí, escondidos, pasando por lo mismo. Los últimos capítulos me sorprendieron bastante y me la pasé bastante mal con el epílogo pero en general, me gustó mucho el libro.

[Christina Dudley · Rating 4 out of 5]

For starters, the plot summary on Goodreads actually describes the movie adaptation, for which some key changes were made. Meaning, there is no Christian Bale character. There are, however, Chinese courtesans taking shelter at an American Catholic church/school compound, where the resident priest and his deacon undertake to hide them.

The book is very short and moves quickly. I found the writing style strangely detached, but had no idea if this was because it was in translation. Great plot and setting. My paternal grandmother could never, to her dying day, speak of the Japanese in Nanjing without whispering and shaking her head bitterly--this story helped me understand why.

[Kim Thoa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ngày giáp Tết mà lại đọc xong 1 cuốn sách về chiến tranh. Không phải là kiểu bom đạn đánh nhau ầm ĩ mà theo một cách khác. Kể chuyện về chiến tranh, vụ thảm sát kinh hoàng Nam Kinh dưới góc nhìn phụ nữ. Chiến tranh thì ở đâu cũng tàn khốc dù là nữ sinh trẻ tuổi hay phụ nữ làm nghề gái điếm đang sống nhờ dưới sự chở che của nhà thờ Thiên Chúa. Cuối cùng là sống sót một cách tàn nhẫn hay tàn nhẫn để sống sót, bi đát rồi có lối thoát hay tìm lối thoát qua sự bi đát. Truyện hay.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Father Engelmann came to the sad conclusion that most people in the world literature were like himself and Fabio - unable to leave each other alone but equally unable to be together. When A wanted B, B would be entirely happy with his own company and would not want to be disturbed. When B needed companionship or looked for solace in A’s company, his needs would just be a burden on A…Human beings came together not because they got on well but because they could not do without each other’

A story of lives been thrown together and intermingling through the hardships of war. How being threatened with death can change one’s character. What are you willing to sacrifice to stay true to your own beliefs? I am still unsure on the translation, some elements I felt were a little stilted, but overall an engaging and enjoyable read. I think the characterisation was conveyed very well through translation, and this character development and interaction was my favourite part of the book. Also a very interesting read if you want to learn more about the tragedies of the Nanjing Massacre, especially from a more personal perspective.

[Annie Machuca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro es desgarrador, al inicio es todo muy irónico y algo gracioso al ver la convivencia de tantos en un solo lugar, pero en los últimos capítulos cuando se enfoca a la guerra y lo que le pasa a las mujeres es brutal. Es lo que nadie nos cuenta de la guerra y que solo lo sabemos por que alguna familiar lo llegó a contar, pero no hay nada documentado de que las mujeres eres brutalmente violadas por los ejércitos y si ya no eras útil (según el criterio de los hombres del ejercito) simplemente te mataban. Esto es tan horrible como creíble.

[Patrawan Dear]

# 13 บุปผาแห่งนานกิง

เรื่องนี้เล่าถึงเหตุการณ์เล็ก ๆ ที่เกิดขึ้นในช่วงการสังหารหมู่นานกิง แต่ impact สะท้านสะเทือนใจมาก อ่านจบมีคำถามมากมาย เจ็บจุกไปทั้งใจ ทั้ง ๆ ที่ผู้เขียนและผู้แปลเพียงเล่าเรื่องไปเรื่อย ๆ ไม่ได้จงใจบีบเค้นอารมณ์อะไรเลย

อ่านไม่สนุก แต่คิดต่อยอดได้หลายประเด็นค่ะ :)

[Awesome Lawz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very sad :'(

[Cindy Law · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having watched the television series adaptation of the novel which I thoroughly enjoyed due to the depth of the characters, I must say I wasn't disappointed reading the novel. Although it is a translation and some details are undoubtedly lost in translation, I was surprised to see more details surface which were I did not think were particularly articulated in the TV series such as Fabio's identity crisis being a Caucasian raised in China and his tepid relationship with Father Engelmann, his feelings for Yumo, details of Shujuan and Xiaoyu's frenemy relationship (which I have to say is still kind of petty). Though, I did think the adaptation in the TV series regarding Yumo's alleged relationship with Shujuan's father made it more interesting as the audience could see that conflicting hatred and admiration Shujuan had for Yumo. Overall, I would say the novel is definitely worth reading despite the brutality and jarring nature of the Nanking Massacre because of the rich depth of the characters. If you enjoyed the novel, in addition to the movie I would recommend the TV series (Forty-Nine Days·Memorial) as for the large part it stays true to the novel and the actors and actresses perform really well!

[Skarleth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

La novela en sí no exhibe gran complejidad literaria pero el pedacito de tiempo que esta historia retrata es lo que la hace muy buena.

Pone en escena una cantidad de variados personajes inspirado en una horrible historia de la vida real, hace de una manera sencilla y no tan gráfica un retrato minúsculo de los horrores de la guerra y nos recuerda que no importa a que te dedicas sino quien en realidad eres y las acciones que lo demuestre.

[Mircalla · Rating 3 out of 5]

i tredici fiori della sfiga cinese materlineare

tratto da una storia realmente accaduta: tredici prostitute rifugiatesi in una missione religiosa a Nanchino durante l'invasione giapponese si sacrificano al posto delle ragazze del coro e vengono sequestrate dai giapponesi

Se non avessi letto milioni di libri di storia cinese e alcuni di questi sul sacco di Nanchino da parte dei giapponesi nel 1937, questo mi sembrerebbe esagerato, ma il fatto è che i giapponesi si sono macchiati di tali nefandezze contro i cinesi all'epoca, che questo libro sembra una favola al confronto dei fatti storici,
la narrazione è di quelle stile Harmony cinese, ma il fatto raccontato è agghiacciante: le donne che si offrono in sacrificio si considerano meno di niente, è pur vero che in genere le donne in Cina valgono poco, ma le prostitute non sono considerate neanche umane, e le poverette non hanno un attimo di esitazione e si offrono per salvare la vita alle ragazzine del coro, alcune figlie di facoltosi stranieri e qualche vera orfana...

da vedere anche il film di Zhang Yimou tratto da questa storia "The Flowers of war" (Jin líng shí san chai 2011)

[Mirella · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Flowers of War is a novel set in 1937 which depicts the Nanking Massacre. In fear for their lives, a group of prostitutes flee the Japanese atrocities by climbing over the walls of convent and church where young school girls, some from elite families, are being educated. At the forefront is the priest, Father Engelmann who is entrusted with the school girls lives. What ensues is a desperate story of survival from hunger, murder, and oppression.

The Flowers of War is novel that exposes the full atrocities of that period. It is very much a story of innocence vs. sin, of good vs. bad as the contrast between the personalities of the prostitutes and the school girls clash. Although the writing is simple and easy, the story itself is incredibly poignant with an expolosive ending that will not soon be forgotten. This is a story that will definitely touch readers.

[Huy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vẫn luôn thích những cuốn sách viết về chiến tranh, và đây cũng không phải là ngoại lệ.