Status Updates From 倾城之恋

the male loneliness epidemic sometimes they deserve it (jasmine tea)

also I keep trying to lock in and finish this book before the NY (unlikely) but indyreads I love you so dearly and hate you all at the same time. ty for ur expansive library, ur ereader strikes the anger of Zeus into me

ooft just finished the titular novella and fear this is well written but v boring to me

incredibly unsurprising but still harrowing that 2 of the translated books i've read this year which are considered classics by their respective countries were US-funded propaganda, this one (funded by the US to write anti-communist propaganda) and 'the beautyful ones are not yet born' - ayi kewi armah (work supported by a fund revealed to be a cia front) knowingly and unknowingly. sickandtwisted!

‘—he lived in Shanghai—returning to—Guangzhou only when—necessary. The unstable emotional environment—left its mark on him— // No matter how amazing a woman is—she won’t be respected by her own sex unless she’s loved by—the opposite one. Women are petty this way. Was it really true that he liked her? Not certain in the least—Puff after—puff—green smoke—mosquito-repellent incense floated up, seeping into her brain’

‘—plum-rain season—mountain—mist—scent of green leaves—everywhere. Plantains, Cape jasmine, magnolia, banana trees, camphor trees, sweet flag, ferns, ivorywoods, palms, reeds—tobacco all growing—rapidly—w/ a whiff of something like blood in the air. The humidity—oppressive—furniture—slick w/ moisture—flame flashed before—mouth like an orange blossom—bloomed—then died—Weilong’s brazier of incense will soon go out too’

‘When your incense has burned out—my story too will be over—One time somebody made a wisecrack—saying that if girls from Canton & Hunan—with their deep-set eyes and high cheeks—were sweet-and-sour pork bones—then Shanghai girls were flour-dipped pork dim sum—an “ill-bred remark” that popped into her mind just as she was appraising her looks—green-blue tinge to her white skin—purple-black lipstick—the 'mulberry red'—'