Years of Red Dust: Stories of Shanghai

Cité de la Poussière rouge #1

by Qiu Xiaolong

Published originally in the pages of Le Monde, this collection of linked short stories by Qiu Xiaolong has already been a major bestseller in France (Cite de la Poussiere Rouge) and Germany (Das Tor zur Roten Gasse), where it and the author was the subject of a major television documentary. The stories in Years of Red Dusttrace the changes in modern China over fifty years from the early days of the Communist revolution in 1949 to the modernization movement of the late nineties all from the perspective of one small street in Shanghai, Red Dust Lane. From the early optimism at the end of the Chinese Civil War, through the brutality and upheaval of the Cultural Revolution, to the death of Mao, the pro-democracy movement and the riots in Tiananmen Square history, on both an epic and personal scale, unfolds through the bulletins posted and the lives lived in this one lane, this one corner of Shanghai.

Genres: Fiction, China, Short Stories, Asia, Historical Fiction, Asian Literature, Contemporary

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Qiu 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.

Reviews

[LaCitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fermo restando che non so pressoché nulla della storia politica della Cima dagli anni '50 ad oggi, questo romanzo racconta le vite degli abitanti del Vicolo della Polvere Rossa del titolo. Si tratta di episodi di vita quotidiana in cui la situazione politica e i suoi cambiamenti (dal maoismo alla rivoluzione culturale all'apertura al capitalismo) hanno un ruolo fondamentale nell'influenzare destini e fortune.
Scrittura scorrevole, si legge velocemente.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

So disappointing. Can't remember the last time I was this happy for a book to be completed. There's a line in the second to last story that sums up this book perfectly: "What he talked about, however, was hardly exciting enough to make a story." The book is a series of stories based on the lives of people who live in Red Dust Lane in Shanghai from 1949 thorugh 2005. I like stories about China, and Shanghai in particular. But there seems to be almost no point to these stories at all. The most interesting thing about them is the little newsletter article that begins each one. It gives a synopsis of what was really happening in China that year, so you see the changes from the takeover of the Communists through the Cultural Revolution to the switchover to a "socialist market economy" and the capitalism that has caught hold in China despite it's continuing to call it's a people's republic. But the stories of the individual residents of Red Dust Lane go nowhere. One of the most interesting stories is about a young man who dearly wishes for a place of his own to live. A girl talks him into marriage in order to have a better chance at being assigned one of the scarce living quarters. Then what? Nothing. There are maybe two stories in which the ending provides any kind of closure on the story. It's like getting a greeting card that starts off "Roses are red/ Violets are blue" and when you open it up, inside it says, "The next bus to Schenectady leaves at 10:40."

[Katt Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure what to say that hasn't already been said. The stories here all have the connection of Red Dust Lane, a house on a street in Shanghai. Every story begins with a little of Chinese history and then proceeds from there.

After awhile, I was glad to see the book end. I'm not usually like that, but there is a sadness to so many of these stories. I know that sadness comes as a reflection of the truth portrayed of this place, of this era, of this changing political climate from 1949 until 2005. China feels like a place that is hurting, though there are still moments of beauty and even laughter. Perhaps that is how the author sees her.

I'm glad I read this collection, but I would not be very quick to pick up another such collection by this author. I've heard such great things about the mystery novels he writes...just not sure what to say. Maybe I'll try them eventually but it won't be high on my list.

I really wish I had liked this whole collection a lot more than I did.

[Lucette 梅 · Rating 2 out of 5]

C'était pas super. Les petites nouvelles ne s'enchaînent pas très bien. Je trouve que c'est dommage car le côté "historique" me donne une sensation de cliché, donc à l'opposé de ce que je recherchais. L'auteur a voulu accentuer des événements. L'équilibre histoire / fiction n'est pas bon.

[Carl R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Xiaolong Qiu's Red Dust is a small lane in Shanghai, and his conceit for this collection of linked short tales is a storyteller with a blackboard who sits near the end of the lane and tells of the days and years of the residents over the years from the Communist Revolution of 1949 through to modern times. Qiu's structure is simple. He prefaces each story with a piece of governmental propaganda summarizing the glories of the socialist society for the year in question. Each story brings us in touch with the experiences of an individual or family trying to live their lives in the midst of it all.

220px-Qiu-xiaolong-silf2007
Qiu Xialong
The stories are packed with historical information, but they never degenerate into polemic. The focus is always on the hearts and minds of the characters.

There's the tale of the factory worker, a resident of Red Dust Lane, of course, in the early days of the revolution when the moneyed folks were fleeing Shanghai before the communists turned it into the "Oriental Stalingrad" they had promised. He "borrows" an abandoned tricycle (for the uninitiated, these tricycles are still evident all over China. Their wheels are bicycle-sized, and they often have platforms or seats behind the driver's seat to carry freight for folks. I've seen unbelievable loads being transported on wide and fast boulevards.) and starts offering transportation. The vehicle had been used for transporting fish, so it had a distinct aroma. He sees a well-dressed woman, frantically signaling for a ride as packed taxi's speed by. One of her luggage items is a blackboard on which are written what our guy recognizes as the names of several popular operas. He recognizes the woman as a prestigious singer trying to get to the airport to fly to her sick lover in Hong Kong. The story of their affair is well-known as one wherein he pursued her for years without success. But in his hour of need she is sacrificing everything to get to his bedside.

In thanks for the ride, the singer gives our driver the blackboard, a record of her recent performances. As far as we know, he never sees her again nor knows what became of her once he dropped her off. But amidst the chaos, this touching and human incident, which would never make the news or become useful government propaganda, takes us beyond ideology into the heart of the life of Red Dust Lane.

On the other end of the pain spectrum is the story of the young lady who goes off to the the Korean war as a nurse. The news of her death becomes a cause for both mourning and celebration as she becomes a celebrated martyr to the socialist cause. Then, a year later, she returns. Turns out she had been a prisoner of war. Is she greeted joyfully? Not at all. She's been in the hands of the Americans and South Koreans. What might they have done to her mind? How might they have poisoned her thoughts against the glorious government? She's shunned and shamed and withdraws into her small room to live out a horrible life.

Similarly, during the cultural revolution, when young people were shipped off to the countryside to live with and be "educated" by the peasantry, when the slightest taint of capitalism or anti-socialist thought or tendency was cause for calling out and even prison, we see Red Dust neighbors armed with red arm bands and authorized to bang drums and write slogans on peoples' doors and hang blackboards (Blackboards are a recurrent device in these stories.) around necks labeling enumerating their crimes. Insignificant people suddenly have power over their more prestigious neighbors, and the results are not pretty.

The years roll on, and suddenly a certain amount of capitalism is okay again. Some Red Dust people become "big bucks," establishing businesses that bring them wealth. Some move out, some stay, but the interaction of money with new and old ideas makes for dramatic stories.

If you've read any of Qiu's novels (see my commentaries on A Loyal Character Dancer, and Death of a Red Heroine) you know he returns often to this theme--how ordinary people pay the price of the mercurial temperaments of their dictators--wars, housing shortages, truncated careers and more. Although the results are often, indeed, tragic and painful, we see how many find ways to not only endure but rejoice in their lives and relationships. I had intended to give The Years of Red Dust only four stars, but the more I wrote, the more I thought of it as a literary accomplishment of some magnitude. An era of Chinese history with all the scope of War and Peace encapsulated in a few short tales. Kudos.

[Alta]

This very charming collection of short stories written by a Chinese writer was published without any reference--anywhere on/inside the book--to the translator. There is an indication--barely visible in small print--about the fact that the original first appeared in "Le Monde." Maybe the writer lives in France and writes in French, but even so, there should be a mention about the translation. The book didn't write itself out of thin air.

[malin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really comforting and heart-warming read. Even though the protagonists kept changing during most of the stories, you could still develop a certain connection to this specific alley in Shanghai. The descriptions were really vivid, therefore Chinese life and culture were much more accessible for the reader. I really enjoyed the mixture of social political background information and the stories which described Chinese identity so compellingly.

[Moushine Zahr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book I've read from Chinese author Qiu Xiaolong and by far the best I've read. This title is a book of short stories all set in the neighborhood named "Red Dust" located in the middle of Shanghai and are set from 1949 to 2005. Through each story, the author and narrator indicates the political changes occuring in China during that year of the story and tells its impact on the neighborhood in general and on one specific resident of the neighborhood. The writing style and structure of the book makes it easy for readers to read and understand. Each story is different from the other. This book presents the history of China during 56 years and its impacts on Chinese.

This book is about the human and personal experiences lived by ordinary Chinese behind the political news and historical facts known to most.

[Shan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le storie iniziano nel 1949_anno che segna la fine della Repubblica di Cina e l’inizio della Repubblica Popolare Cinese con la sconfitta del la sconfitta del Kuomintang ¬_ e sono ambientate a Shanghai. Racconta della gente che abita nel vicolo Rosso, sovraffollato, multietnico, già un prodomo della Shanghai di oggi che è la seconda città più popolosa al mondo dopo Chongqing. Nel quartiere ognuno racconta una storia sulla lavagna, ogni storia inizia con lo stesso incipit:” Questo è l’ultimo numero del Notiziario su Lavagna di Vicolo della Polvere Rossa per il…” e dove sono i puntini compare l’anno del racconto. Le storie sono strettamente legate all’anno in cui sono ambientate, quindi gli stravolgimenti politici e culturali- Anche il cibo è importante, perché il cibo è il metro di misura della classe sociale: granchi, anguille potevano rappresentare una classe più alta, a meno che la vulgata non le consideri poi intoccabili. Le anguille erano molto amate per esempio, fino a che non si scoprì che erano molto tossiche perché le acque dove venivano pescate erano inquinate, così sparirono dai menù. Il libro attraversa quindi il periodo della Cina Maoista con la politica fallimentare del Grande Balzo in avanti, la Rivoluzione Culturale in cui molti intellettuali destrorsi o che semplicemente criticavano il comunismo cinese ed i metodi di Mao furono arrestati anche grazie all’espediente della “"campagna dei cento fiori" ( che invitava i detrattori a farsi avanti). La raccolta di storie continua con l’apertura all’occidente di Deng Xiaoping che traghetterà la Cina fino agli novanta. Da allora in poi la Cina aprirà timidamente all’impresa privata per poi diventare la Repubblica , sempre di carattere socialista, che è oggi ed una delle più grandi potenze economiche mondiali. Non scrivo queste cose per un semplice ripasso di economia geopolitica, ma perché davvero ogni storia è legata a questi cambiamenti. E’ stata un’occasione per me per ristudiare la storia della Cina e per appassionarmi sempre di più al mondo asiatico, passione nata quando avevo circa 7 anni.

La prima storia è raccontata da un guidatore di risciò, che durante la fine della guerra sino-giapponese accompagna un’attrice all’aeroporto . L’attrice è la famosa Xiao Dong dell’opera di Pechino, sta cercando di raggiungere un vecchio pretendente, al quale, tempo prima quando lui era ricchissimo e sposato, aveva rifiutato una proposta di matrimonio ( sarebbe diventata una seconda moglie o concubina). Ora il suo vecchio adoratore è povero e malato ad Hong Kong. Il guidatore accetta di darle un passaggio, caricando i pesanti, senza chiederle niente perché è un suo estimatore. Lei per ringraziarlo gli regala la lavagna con la scaletta delle scene . Tutto questo mentre la Cina diventa Repubblica Popolare Cinese unificandosi.
“ La notizia della morte di Bai Jie in Corea arrivò in Vicolo della Polvere Rossa agli inizi del 1953. Giovane infermiera nei Volontari del Popolo Cinese, aveva appena compiuto vent’anni. Secondo i suoi commilitoni, Bai era stata colpita da una pallottola vagante durante una confusa ritirata.” Il suo corpo non fu restituito, Bai era considerata una martire . Ma un anno dopo la ragazza fece ritorno, l’opinione comune mutò, da martire divenne sospetta di collaborazionismo con gli americani. Bai non scopriva mai le parti del corpo nemmeno in estate, così si sospettò che fosse stata fatta prigioniera dei giapponesi e poi stuprata e torturata, ma Vecchia Radice, il giovane saggio del vicolo, la difende ed esorta con veemenza tutti affinché non si elucubri più sulla povera Bai.
Le storie sono tante altre non entrerebbero nello spazio

[Kathy Piselli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought Italians took the cake for nicknames, but the Chinese do a good job too, with Bookworm Cheng, Four-Eyed Liu, or a thin woman called Bamboo Chopsticks. The tales from the shikumens of the lane are a nice way to give an idea of how ordinary people lived, from 1949 until the book's abrupt ending in 2005. The stories are well-written individual microcosms with the lane a common character, like a Shanghainese Women of Brewster Place but with an entire country's history far more prominent, outlined on the blackboard at the start of each. A couple of characters last the entire timespan of the book - "Old" Root, who is in his twenties when first introduced, and the tragic Bai Jie who went to Korea. There could be a contrast between the 1949 Shanghai of the hot water shop and the 2005 Shanghai except that so many things don't really change. There is always a tofu place where tofu is made by hand, and preferred that way. And I loved the crab bookends: a dinner of crab dismemberment at the beginning on the eve of the dismemberment of the upper and middle class, the grandson at the end whose only knowledge of crab is sayings of Confucius.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is definite discontent in the kind of economic system that prevails, one which exploits a finite earth and churns out production, production, and production in the name of wealth accumulation. One of the natural inclinations after this discontentment is the study of the very opposite of capitalist idealogy: communism. However, the challenges in this consideration are the simple facts of death and violence brought upon by attempts at proletarian dictatorship in the past.

Red Dust Lane puts into perspective the everyday experiences of those who lived through the peak and fall of China's communism (Man, they are extremely capitalist today even with their Mao Zedong portraits). It gives a highly realistic view of the cultural revolution through stories of friends and neighbors in a tight-knit community and a blackboard on which the newsletter is read and written. Some of the stories are humorous, some tragic, some disturbing. The book is neither condescending nor subtle: here, these are the lives of the characters, take them as they are.

What I found most interesting are the parallels of faults in both capitalists and socialists that became evident to me as the pages went by. The singling out and jailing of suspected counterrevolutionaries in China reminded me of McCarthyism in the USA, for example. The paranoid suspicion of class enemies seemed as undeserved as the practice of red-tagging today. The aggressive hold on power did not dissipate in Red Dust Lane during Mao's time either, as new authorities such as the story's Hunchback Fang took the role left behind by the stinking capitalists in executing unfair punishment.

The Red Dust Lane grounds the idealism of a forced overthrow of culture in the name of working-class toil. The idealogy states that art is a reflection of class; art must serve the people. And I agree, I do, that art does not emerge in a vacuum. The kind of art that you do depends on the resources that you have, the free time that you have, and the medium that you have access to. I understand now that when taken to an extreme, this idealogy is dangerous. The destruction of past artworks due to them being "liberal" and the jailing of historians who do not adhere to communist beliefs are disasters waiting to happen. Perhaps it is my petite-bourgeois ignorance that is realizing that I do not want to see revolutionary art, always, all the time. I do not want to read literature that adheres only to one idealogy.

It is too easy to fall into seeing things in monochrome. This idealogy is bad; this idealogy is good. But at the heart of every belief is the complexity of being human, the tendency for most of us to fall into the gray area of what we think to be right and wrong. The Red Dust Lane shows a gray area. And for that, I think it should be read by everyone, especially people who are interested in philosophy and politics.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book for 'Q' in my 2017 alphabet reading challenge. These stories were enjoyable enough to read, but nothing really stood out as fantastic. I started this book thinking the stories were written in the years in which they took place (1949-2005) but this is clearly not the case since the author was born in 1953. I enjoyed reading the newsletter prefaces at the beginning of each story; they seem to accurately reflect the political state of China for the given time period. Similarly, the stories themselves seem to change in tone somewhat as the period of time in which they took place advanced. A few of the earlier stories displayed the "China is doing great, look at what we've achieved despite all odds" type propaganda I've about heard from friends who have lived in China though this disappears by the middle of the book. I preferred the stories toward the end because they exhibit a more "slice of life" style than the earlier stories. Additionally, they seem to be more in line with the various Chinese (dubbed to English) movies I've seen.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple but effective short stories (very short). Has a YA feel.

[Unalettriceatokyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 ⭐️

[Regina Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

“But, in the last analysis, where do we live? In our petty personal lives, not in a history text book.” Red Dust is a residential area in Shanghai, China. In the early days of its formation the residents start a tradition of gathering in the open spaces each evening to catch up on personal, political, and other news. Eventually, a black board is brought in and a loose newsletter begins to be produced. Each chapter starts with the final newsletter of years between 1949-2005. The newsletter reflects all of China's "achievements" throughout the year. The subsequent chapter follows the life of one of the lane's residents. The result is a look at the evolution of Chinese life through the rise of Chairman Mao, the Cultural Revolution, the transition of power after Mao's death, economic reforms, and China's normalization of relationships with foreign countries.

This is a book of short stories. Normally, I don't enjoy them as much as fuller work. However, this was an exception and probably wouldn't have worked as well trying to develop this many characters in a longer narrative. While the stories are about separate individuals, they are tied together loosely since they are sharing each others lives on the lane and the character, "Old Root," the common denominator in most of the tales.

Xiaolong did an excellent job of exploring what life was life for a variety of people under a constantly changing, tumultuous environment and the different views on socialism versus capitalism. I thought some stories were stronger than others. My favorite was the tale of Bai Je, a young woman who eagerly fought for China in the Korean War, who was thought to be killed in action but was later found to have been captured and returned home. The tale is utterly heartbreaking, and she is the only one to receive a follow up chapter later in the book.

I think the work in strong on its own merit with great character development. I do question, however, if someone approaching the work without any context of China's major political events throughout these years would appreciate the book as much as those who do. It is a story of lives, but set in the context of some pretty gruesome history which the book doesn't explore in detail. But, I really enjoyed it and would recommend it favorably to others.

[Fadillah · Rating 4 out of 5]

What kind of soybean makes what kind of tofu,
What kind of water generates what kind of color,
What kind of skill produces what kind of product,
What kind of class speaks what kind of language.
- (Tofu) Worker poet Bao 1 by Qiu Xiaolong (Years of red dust, stories of Shanghai)
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I actually enjoyed this collection of stories much as i expected i would be. I may not remember all, but the few stories that lingered in my mind proved that they dont have to be a novel to give an impact to the readers. I am still at the novice stage in familiarizing and learning China History so i really appreciate the factual description of what seems to be important occurred in the China and the story revolved around the event. The span of 1949 - 2005 : We saw China’s Growth and development in the narrative of its citizens that lived in Red Dust lane in Shanghai during those period. The change and the shift of events that these people has to go through captured the essence of political and social landscape in China and eventually showed the degree of how much it affected them. From the notable event like the communist revolution to the rather a forgettable visit of US president, Nixon - The stories in this book is having a rather diversified persona. It might be due to the reliable storyteller who sat by the end of the lane with his blackboard proven to be a reliable narrator. All you need to do is just sit and read the book. There is no plot twist and turn of events except what has happened in China History and the book flow well in its simplicity. Overall, I would recommend this if you just wanted to read something light but at the same time , learn a little bit of China’s history.
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Out of 23 stories in the book, this is the one that stood out :
1. Housing Assignment (1988)
2. (Tofu) Worker Poet Bao 1 (1958)
3. Return of POW 1 (1954)
4. A Confidence Cap (1987)
5. Big Bowl and Firecracker (1984)
6. Return of POW 2 (1992)
7. Iron Rice Bowl (1990)

[Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and fascinating. Its a collection of short stories all placed in a given lane in Shanghai. Its a good read to commence to understand the recent changes in China. The author places each story in the same place since 1949 through the present times. The political, economical and social changes are cleverly presented to the reader. When you are done, it feels more like a novel than a collection of stories. You actually want to go on.

[Chris Bull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Xiaolong Qiu's Red Dust is a time warp of everyday existence from 1949 to the present. His characters are everyday people trying to get along as best as they can. China has moved several centuries in development since 1949 but not without Sturm und Drang, this reflected in the microcosm of Red Dust Lane. A great book.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories were wonderful, but the inclusion of political information about China, while it set the scene, threw off the pacing for me. I especially liked the later stories, where the lives of some characters were laid out from the 1950s to the present, and the way life in China has been dangerous and volatile due to their political circumstances is really brought down to a personal level.

[Mattia · Rating 4 out of 5]

La storia della Cina comunista attraverso la vita della gente di una piccola strada di Shanghai. Per conoscere quello che da noi, per provincialismo o per ideologia, non si è mai raccontato della Cina.

[Michael O'Donnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read. Traces the path from 1949 Nationalists through to 2010 Communist China. All from one street. Separate short stories. Context provided early. The stories were simple yet intertwined. Wise ones still exist but sometimes observe only. I loved A Jing Dynasty Goat.

Shanghai.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories in this book must be read slowly to allow the significances of set in.

[Mish Middelmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The grand sweep of China's history and the deep complexities of human relationships intertwine masterfully in these stories covering 56 years of tumultuous change. It's as if Qiu Xiaolong has compressed all the wisdom and insight, history and a good measure of entertainment from the entire Inspector Chen series of 9 novels into one book of short stories.

Each story includes a precis of the history of China for that year, reminding me of events in my lifetime that were a bit distant as I grew up largely unaware of what was happening in this great country. I liked the device for this precis: the chalkboard "newspaper" of Red Dust Lane is transcribed for us in a realistic way that shows the huge contradictions of a centrally controlled economy and politics: the obvious propaganda slant, the constant struggle between socialist dreams and capitalist realities, and growing evidence of the huge economic transformation that has been brought about in the last 50 years.

And each story has the quirky deep slice of life one expects from a good short story. Part of Qiu's excellence is that he never seems to sacrifice the human wisdom or the political and social awareness he brings to his work. Every story has both and reaches far beyond the specifics of China and in particular the one lane in Shanghai where all the action takes place.

For example: In the 1964 story Chinese Chess we follow the pain of a family where the son's entire life is overshadowed by the fact that his father had decades earlier, before the revolution, been loosely linked to a Nationalist student movement. The son can't get jobs, and doesn't even try to write an exam that might help him out of the hole he is in - because he knows his ancestral class status means his exam result will mean nothing. Mind you, the job he gets is to take over his father's role washing dishes in a small eatery - how elevated a class status is that? It's a case of identity politics gone wild. In spite of all the importance of identity, this story elegantly and simply exposes the pain that "identity politics" can cause.

[Veronica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ho scelto questo solo perchè mi serviva assolutamente per completare una challenge altrimenti non lo avrei mai scelto semplicemente perchè molto lontano dalle mie solite letture.
Ho cercato comunque di partire con la mente libera e di dare un'occasione alla letteratura asiatica.
E niente, non fa per me.

Non tutto è negativo, anzi. Ogni capitolo ci parla di qualche avvenimento accaduto in Cina in un arco temporale bello lungo e questo è stato molto utile perchè ammetto di sapere poco o nulla dell'argomento. Solo che dopo la prima pagina del capitolo, scritta come se fosse un giornale, ecco che l'autore si lancia nelle infinite storie di tutti gli abitanti del vicolo. Tantissimi personaggi con nomi cinesi dei quali è pure difficile capire se si stia parlando di un uomo o di una donna.
I racconti sono noiosi e poco interessanti, avrei sicuramente preferito una storia sola magari sviluppata durante tutti gli anni che racconta il libro. Invece questi piccoli scorci di vita sono molto confusi, o comunque per me lo sono stati.
Il libro è breve e si legge velocemente ma a parte le notizie, vere di storia, scritte sulla lavagna all'inizio del vicolo, non resta niente.
Anche il finale mi ha lasciato molto delusa. So che c'è un altro libro che parla del vicolo, ma a meno che mi serva per un'altra challenge, non lo leggerò di sicuro.

[Giuls · Rating 1 out of 5]

Avevo sentito parlare bene di questo autore e di questo romanzo, per cui ero molto curiosa di leggerlo, nonostante io non sia un’amante degli autori asiatici. E alla fine devo dire che questo romanzo ha confermato la mia solita idea su questi autori.
Vorrei infatti dire di aver trovato questo romanzo noioso, ma ciò non basta a descriverlo.
Il libro racconta degli eventi nel Vicolo della Polvere Rossa di Shangai nell’arco di circa sessant’anni. Ogni capitolo è scritto sotto forma di giornale, fatto su una lavagna, che riassume gli eventi dell’anno. Le prime righe di ogni capitolo raccontano di ciò che è successo in Cina in quel periodo, per cui si tratta di eventi reali, spesso a me sconosciuti, e quindi in realtà molto interessanti. Inoltre ho apprezzato molto il velo di critica che ne fuoriesce. Peccato però che tutto ciò duri poche righe per ogni capitolo.
Dopo quel momento, infatti, si passa alla storia di personaggi che abitano nel Vicolo. In ogni capitolo i protagonisti sono tantissimi e diversi, rendendo il romanzo per me troppo confusionario e difficile da comprendere. E quindi per questo alquanto indigesto e per nulla in grado di catturarmi.

[cantread26 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked how you saw the evolution of china and its politics through the lens Shanghai's Red Dust Lane community. Because the stories were presented in order, it felt almost like watching a film on a linear timeline with these peoples' stories revealing snippets about the way of life during that specific year. Each story was short and packed a lot of classic Chinese culture into just a few pages. I enjoyed the book more than I expected but I also personally really like reading about Chinese places/history/culture so not sure how much other people would enjoy. And while the short stories gave a wide overview of modern China, it didn't really let you get to know any of the characters well so it was tough to get too attached. Glad I read it but not a top recommendation.

[Thea · Rating 5 out of 5]

The introduction was great. It introduces you to Red Dust Lane and tells you what to expect: the lives of the residents of the lane throughout the history of China.
Each chapter begins with a news paper clipping from the local newspaper paper. The story of that chapter then shows how residents of Red dust lane are affected by the news or how they react to it. Basically shows how China as a whole is growing and changing sometimes for better or worse No two stories are the same. 4 of them are continuous: Return of POW 1 and 2 and Tofu Worker Poet Bao 1 and 2. You get to see almost first hand how each economic change affects the residents of Red Dust Lane. You see people culture, and personalities more so than just made up characters

[Ophélie Regat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Par le biais de nouvelles, Qiu Xiaolong explicite la vie de Chinois d’un quartier de Shanghai entre 1949 (l’arrivée au pouvoir du Parti Communiste) et 2005 (période du « socialisme à la chinoise). Ces nouvelles sont librement inspirées d’histoires entendus lors de son enfance à Shanghai.

Les relations amoureuses, les situations professionnelles ou encore la relations à la nourriture servent de clés de compréhension des différentes périodes traversées par la Chine pendant la seconde moitié du XXème siècle et le début du XXIème. Périodes souvent évoquées dans les aventures de l’inspecteur principal Chen.

Fiction et points historiques se mêlent à chaque chapitre.

L’ordinaire pour comprendre les événements majeurs.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

These short stories are sometimes more like anecdotes about various characters living in cramped condiions on short and narrow Red Dust Lane in the middle of Shanghai. I really liked the historical and cultural aspect, with the year-end China history summaries written on the street's blackboard that puts some perspective on the story that follows. Catchy short stories are not easy to write and some of these are clever, some just okay. Overall I think best for those who find daily life stories interesting and don't mind quiet endings - me, and I liked and appreciated this book but didn't love it.

[Anmol · Rating 3 out of 5]

These slice-of-life stories from a lane in Shanghai trace the history of modern China from the communist revolution to the capitalist economy. As expected, it delves into the contradictions, duplicities, propaganda, and spectacles of this period. The author succeeds in breathing life into the lane itself with its community kitchens, evening story hours, and interrelated lives of its people. The stories are simple but never ignorant, they are witty but not self-congratulatory, and they make me want to visit Shanghai.