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2006-01-18 15:10
From: melancolia
(Vienna, Manila)
a review of Shanghai Baby
 
Like everyone, I was fooled, not floored.
Like everyone I bought the hype, the publicity. And oh, how much did I regret shelling out 15 euros to get it.
Like everyone I wanted to believe she is the voice of my generation, the Asian women generation. But hell, no, she is not and she will never be.
Her promise came empty-handed like the story itself. She wanted us to believe that she, through her protagonist Coco, represents the modern China. But if you read each word, each sentence she used, it is evident that she just wanted to take you in for a ride, her obsession with herself, her blatant name-dropping (the quotes overkill she plastered in the beginning of every chapter) of literary icons and pop culture celebrities, her fascination with labels and designer goods.
In the end her debut came out superficial, detached, sloppy.
“Shanghai” was her ego. And it felt flat.
Wei Hui should thank her enemies by catapulting “Shanghai Baby” to the “watchlist.” The buzz, more so the banning and the burning hysteria, doesn’t deserve it.
This review is helpful to 6 person.
2006-01-23 21:03: eden
Nicely put.
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2006-02-01 21:02: Phil
Spot on. This is nothing more than a very bad book which was marketed quite well. As you point out, banning the book in China did nothing but help it to win a little bit of international attention. A fact which reflects poorly on the intelligence of the Chinese authorities and the Foreign critics and readers...
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By Wei Hui
Washington Square Press
ISBN: 0743421574
Release Date: 2002-08-07
Paperback
List Price: USD 13.00
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