The Fall of the Pagoda

by Eileen Chang

The Fall of the Pagoda, the first of two semi-autobiographical novels written originally by Eileen Chang in English, depicts in gripping detail her childhood years in Tianjin and Shanghai, while The Book of Change revolves around her wartime student days in Hong Kong. The Fall of the Pagoda introduces a young girl (called Lute) growing up amid many family entanglements with her divorced mother and spinster aunt during the 1930s in Shanghai’s International Settlement. Both novels shed light on the construction of selfhood in Chang’s other novels, through lengthy discussions of Chang’s difficult relationship with her selfishly demanding mother as well as of intricate dynamics in the extended families who emerged from aristocratic households of the late Qing Dynasty. While the main characters belong to the new Republican period, their worldviews and everyday life are still haunted by the shadows of the past.

Genres: Fiction, China, Novels, Chinese Literature, Asia

288 pages, Paperback

Published May 11, 2010

About the author

Eileen Chang is the English name for Chinese author 張愛玲, who was born to a prominent family in Shanghai (one of her great-grandfathers was Li Hongzhang) in 1920.

She went to a prestigious girls' school in Shanghai, where she changed her name from Chang Ying to Chang Ai-ling to match her English name, Eileen. Afterwards, she attended the University of Hong Kong, but had to go back to Shanghai when Hong Kong fell to Japan during WWII. While in Shanghai, she was briefly married to Hu Lancheng, the notorious Japanese collaborator, but later got a divorce.

After WWII ended, she returned to Hong Kong and later immigrated to the United States in 1955. She married a scriptwriter in 1956 and worked as a screenwriter herself for a Hong Kong film studio for a number of years, before her husband's death in 1967. She moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1972 and became a hermit of sorts during her last years. She passed away alone in her apartment in 1995.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Eileen Chang and was so excited to read the first installment of her two-part autobiographical novel written in English. The first 100 pages dragged for me. It seemed like she spent too much time describing the personal lives of the servants in her household. It's interesting stuff, but I think she wanted to replicate The Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai, which she spent years translating. Once the story got going, however, it was a fascinating look into her troubled childhood. I enjoyed reading about her mother and paternal aunt, who sailed off to Europe for several years. Her father and step-mother were other colorful characters. I'm always game for anything set in pre-WWII Shanghai and in that respect, this book doesn't disappoint.

[Scott Whittaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe Eileen Chang isn't a smash hit in the West yet. This novel, written in English during her exile, isn't quite as good as her Chinese-language material. But the emotional brutality is even more unbearable than "Half a Lifelong Romance" because of the characters' isolation — and because it's based on Chang's real life. Another excellent novel from one of our most underrated, essential authors.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

the story is adapted from Chang's own story: how she grew up and the difficulties she faced. Great read if you love her books!

[吕不理 · Rating 5 out of 5]

雷峰塔一定是我今年最喜欢的小说之一了。小团圆的迷雾被张自己拨开了。英文版灵气不如翻译，张果然还是擅长中文写作，如果她能自己翻译多好。
故事情节不想评价，我爱极了她得写作手法，每一个比喻都砸进心底里。
就觉得 太敏锐的天赋 是诅咒。读得人心碎。

[Wing · Rating 3 out of 5]

未知是翻譯我看不慣還是前方講述童年事跡太長的緣故⋯⋯一度看得一頭霧水
但亦有可能是她兒時太過複雜的成長環境，和中西衝擊之下為她帶來一段理還亂的童年回憶？

成長後的講述漸入佳境，也為她紛擾的少女時期感到傷感。

[Zen Cho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eileen Chang is cool! This isn't technically about real people as it's a semi-autobiographical novel, but it's close enough that the tag can stand. I found it interesting that the summary on the back refers to Chang's "selfishly demanding mother" when the monster of the book seems to be her dad.

It was really well written -- intelligent and unsentimental -- and especially interesting for the way Chang reconstructs her own history. I think it's quite transparent where, e.g., she explains the motives of the adults that Lute herself doesn't understand, and talks about what she should have done instead (like with her nurse -- saying she should have given her money when she left, instead of sweets as she did).

I got so furious when her father locked her up! I totally did not expect it, and knowing it was true made it even worse. Wah, how my heart beat when she was escaping; I was terrified that she'd be brought back. I respond very strongly to parental unreliability as a trope in fiction (cf. Diana Wynne Jones's books).

[Jean Cai · Rating 4 out of 5]

很难想象是翻译的，因为不同的人物用了不同的方言词汇。好奇英语原文是什么样的。

自传三部曲，我第一部看的是小团圆，第二部是这本雷峰塔。雷峰塔比小团圆的底色更温暖，言语也不那么晦涩。大概因为小团圆是从在香港作大学生的时候开头，而雷峰塔是小孩子的眼睛，从不会说话的婴儿时期写起，还不用那么多心思遮掩。

前半本书简直温情脉脉，长袍翩翩的爸爸吟着旧诗书逗弄她，美丽的妈妈和姑姑出洋给孩子带回来个色礼物，跟了几辈人的老妈子贴身照顾，家人仆从、亲朋故友讲究着着”孔教“的礼数和秩序。哪怕父亲讨姨太太，父母离婚，父亲戒吗啡、再婚，也可以假装不在乎，假装生活可以继续下去。
这个温情的旧世界从一只狗那里崩塌。厨子咒骂、扔掉了她母亲给她留下的狗，那一章节之后，桩桩都是惨事。离婚的母亲又出洋了。继母挑唆着父亲打孩子。家人仆从被赶走了，不走的也降薪、干粗活。买鸦片有钱，给孩子上学、看病倒抱怨缺钱。就连照顾着长大的老妈子，也一边爱着她，一边拿她看作”终生的事业“，等着她出嫁，好跟着她搬去一个新家。
她父亲的家是一艘阴惨惨的沉没的船。有钱的时候还能维持着温情的外壳；没钱的时候到处是倾轧、算计，一层孔教的薄皮下面是空荡荡的骷髅。
而时髦、西化的母亲和姑姑，大部分时候都不在。后来回到了中国，收留了从父亲家出走的主角，又怎样呢？女人找不到好工作，大部分时候靠的还是自己的嫁妆。美丽的童话世界，但也不真实。

张爱玲说小时候续写过红楼梦，写大观园里的人儿们住进了公寓，宝玉黛玉还要一起出洋。真可惜这红楼续书没有流传下来。红楼梦停留在大厦将倾。如果是张爱玲续书，大概能写出”树倒猢狲散“的过程，因为她也经历过。

[LifeSparring · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fall of the Pagoda is Eileen Chang's semi-autobiographic novel, recounting the heroine's childhood in the China of the 1920s and 1930s, picking up motives Chang used in several of her previous short stories and novellas.

Some novels help you to understand the fabric of world history more than any history book could. Eileen Chang masterfully captures the Zeitgeist in her writings, using the family story to make you understand the different forces pulling the Chinese society between feudal state and modern republic apart.

[Gloriaerl · Rating 4 out of 5]

喜欢她的这本自传性质很强的小说，娓娓道来的家庭琐事，以及在新旧社会交替下人们的心态和观念的改变都给我留下了深刻印象。

[Spectrahedron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is set in Shanghai in the 1930s and it immerses the reader in the life of the society via the eyes of a girl growing up in these troubled times.

[Hiu Ying]

#ZLIBRARY
#電子書
#2023/02/09

[Maya Liang · Rating 3 out of 5]

細節很生動，但也瑣碎。

[Kite]

读了这本书，才知道为什么张爱玲去香港时会带上她五六岁的时候戴的一副包金小藤镯。

[渺渺青云外，滚滚红尘中 · Rating 5 out of 5]

黄碧云说张爱玲没有心，我第一个跳出来不同意。狗狗被赶出家门，八百块奖学金，火车站送保姆的剧情特别触动我。张爱玲的三本自传被批评情节太散，但我总觉得就是因为散，没有太多布局，反而流露出真情实感。再精雕细琢的小说也比不上真情实感，张爱玲也不例外。

[Mengmeng Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

小说其实比自传更是作家内心的剖白，在自传里伪饰太平的人海了去了，但小说却残忍而直接地倾注了作家本人的灵魂。

是妖是精怪是何等万劫不复的罪恶要被压在通天铁塔之下五百余年；是不忿不明白不愿屈服的灵魂火焰熊熊点燃苏州河两岸。

小火苗也会窜天；雷峰塔也终将倒下。