2007 books

[peteryoung]

101) Eileen Chang, Lust, Caution, 1979
This short novel was begun in the early 1950s but not completed and published until 1979, and Ang Lee's film version (trailer) has just won several trophies at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards. Set in occupied Shanghai during the Second World War it's the story of a young student's role in the entrapment of a Chinese minister who is a sympathiser of the occupying Japanese. The turbulent Chinese politics of the time always formed the backdrop to Chang's novels and was never usually the story itself, so the political theme makes Lust, Caution an unusual story for her. It's a convincingly told tale, and one in which the motives of all the characters are morally dubious. Chang was one of the most popular writers in China during her life but is largely out of print now in the English-speaking world, though Penguin are soon releasing a few titles in their Modern Classics series which I'll certainly check out on the strength of this.

Comments

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Ang Lee certainly got the morally dubious motives of all characters right! It isn't completely clear until the very end, but there are no good guys in the movie. I was fascinated by the portrayal of cosmopolitan Shanghai in the movie too.

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

Ah, someone who's seen it! (Did I miss you blogging that?) I'm hoping it gets released over here, otherwise it's another long wait for the DVD.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I did write a review. It hasn't done very well in the US, although it seems to be doing pretty well throughout Asia. Here it had the double disadvantage (from a box office perspective) of being in a foreign language and rated NC-17, which is just below X.