Sojourner
by Yan Geling
About This Novel
The story took place in Shanghai during the Anti-Japanese War. The heroine Mei told it to a biographer in her later years: In Shanghai in 1939, Mei fell in love with a Jewish man who had just escaped from a concentration camp and landed ashore. At that time, Joseph Messinger's infamous "ultimate solution" was about to be implemented. In order to let her lover go to the United States, Mei temporarily caught a savior in Shanghai - another young American - to be her husband. In troubled times, little people began a series of fateful rescues. In the end, Mei used her "lover's" money to redeem her "husband" and used her "husband's" passport to escape her "lover". At the same time, she realized love by destroying her original understanding and belief in love... The ending of the story is unexpected and sad in the love part. This work is another fresh and successful attempt by Yan Geling in terms of subject matter, writing techniques and female character creation. At the same time, the novel continues the author's unique self-narrative and visual narrative style.
What Readers Think
Rating
Community(0)
Official(6)Scraped 6d ago
A very good story about one woman and two men
It has a unique female perspective, the text is delicate, and the inner activities of the heroine are described in detail. It is like the heroine recalling the emotional story of her youth during a period of war. It comprehensively displays the living conditions of various residents of Shanghai during the Japanese invasion under the background of World War II. There is a certain description of the fiery life of the Chinese people, but not much. The author focuses more on himself as a restless sojourner, but he also expresses his attitude towards the invaders. The most impressive one is the description of Chinese people cutting fish in Chinatown while foreigners of all kinds watch. That passage shocks the viewer! Overall, the author felt like an outsider towards China at that time. Maybe because I am a Chinese-American. This is the nature of sojourners, staying away from war, not caring about politics, and wandering around. In terms of emotional description, the ending is still very reasonable. Does the heroine love skin? Maybe it's just appreciation? Mr. Ai is a more suitable candidate for the heroine. In fact, youth is like this: uncertain, not knowing exactly what you want, but just throwing yourself into it with enthusiasm. But in the end, after experiencing all kinds of things, the heart will still find its direction. This is a purely literary piece and has nothing to do with politics. I love so much.
Not embarrassing to read
Well written, I like every work of the author.
Fascinating and good at psychological description
This book is not bad
Is this book good to read?
Rating
Community(0)
Official(6)Scraped 6d ago
A very good story about one woman and two men
It has a unique female perspective, the text is delicate, and the inner activities of the heroine are described in detail. It is like the heroine recalling the emotional story of her youth during a period of war. It comprehensively displays the living conditions of various residents of Shanghai during the Japanese invasion under the background of World War II. There is a certain description of the fiery life of the Chinese people, but not much. The author focuses more on himself as a restless sojourner, but he also expresses his attitude towards the invaders. The most impressive one is the description of Chinese people cutting fish in Chinatown while foreigners of all kinds watch. That passage shocks the viewer! Overall, the author felt like an outsider towards China at that time. Maybe because I am a Chinese-American. This is the nature of sojourners, staying away from war, not caring about politics, and wandering around. In terms of emotional description, the ending is still very reasonable. Does the heroine love skin? Maybe it's just appreciation? Mr. Ai is a more suitable candidate for the heroine. In fact, youth is like this: uncertain, not knowing exactly what you want, but just throwing yourself into it with enthusiasm. But in the end, after experiencing all kinds of things, the heart will still find its direction. This is a purely literary piece and has nothing to do with politics. I love so much.
Not embarrassing to read
Well written, I like every work of the author.
Fascinating and good at psychological description
This book is not bad
Is this book good to read?
