Shen’s Reviews > Last Night at the Telegraph Club > Status Update

> 4.

“I could you see you in Hollywood.” — Will Chan, 1954



> 5.

I am reading ao3 material in a paper book I am so excited (

I must say, the methods of description on feminine features differ starkly between this book and An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. Writing period pieces is indeed difficult and the writers’ voices often inevitably seeps through the lines. But I think, at times and in many situations, contemporary ideologies should not be sacrificed if the only stake is accuracy. I would need to elaborate more on this if I were to write a review. Not now though, brain is hurting.

> 8.

It’d be really bad to daydream about going to a gelato place with someone, being promised with “fancy Italian flavors,” and sharing an ice cream, wouldn’t it? And then I’ll take them to ChinaTown–preferably the one in Boston and not Covent Garden–and get those red-bean popsicles I used to get in China before I grew up…

Help this is reminding me of certain people I should not be thinking of Laura please fix this

Edit: I actually have quite a bit more to say about these two chapters specifically but I am too tired to write them out right now.

------------------------------------

> 9 & Grace.

Wonderful placement of the Grace chapter! Gosh they were so red twenty years ago hahaha they’d actually be common character tropes in Chinese period dramas.

So far, it seems like the portrayals of antagonism, as in displays of sexism and racism, are pretty typical and a bit didactic (i.e. Grace scoffing at Lily “Don’t you want a doll instead”, “China doll”, comments on queerness) (it might be a YA novel thing but I’m not familiar,) but the names in the timeline really hit me.

I don’t know if you caught this, Laura, but Lily’s and Eddie’s names in Mandarin truly reflects the (binary) gendered naming conventions in Chinese-speaking regions–the boys usually get the carefully deliberated characters carrying wishes for achievements and a broad future, and the girls get vaguely feminine (and thus frequently extremely common) ones resembling womanly virtues (what even are those.) This is still the norm in China; my name was exactly like this.

Let’s talk about this, maybe along with some other things in these chapters, next time when we play True Colors together.

Also kudos to the mentions of Qian Xue Sen and Man Qing and stuff.

> 10.

Hahahaha I really chuckled at the ending. All paths really lead to Rome, but the Rome is Kath.



> 11.

Holding out a moment of silence for Jean. Jean is really the friend in “I have a friend…”



> 12.

Lily is practically reciting my career plans and I am getting self-conscious. Please stop.

If I ever change my mind on the concept of intimate relationship, I would love to bring a prospective other-party-in-my-monogamy to Chengdu. Terrifying but exhilarating. Definitely more terrifying though. If that ever happens, let’s hope we don’t run into a random relative of mine.

GYAAAAAAHHHHHH THE ENDING!!

> 13.

Leaving behind the cacophony and stepping into the silence with only the two of us? Definitely played that scene in my brain before. Might have even written about it not long ago. Well.



> 14.


I don’t particularly care for historical inaccuracies when it is not plot-related, but Kath mentioning getting a “fake I.D.” with Lily immediately understanding feels so modern lol. I believe the use of the initialism of “I.D.” did not appear until almost the end of the 1950s (so likely no use in 1954) and wasn’t common until the early-mid 1980s (boohoo thumbs-down nerd emoji.)

Another moment of silence for Jean.

I was internally screaming “HOLD HANDS HOLD HANDS” when Kath gave Lily her jacket.

I think I’m going to keep reading but don’t expect any more from me today. So happy I continued this even if it's out of sheer frustration of the other book. Good night!