Anchee Min
Mar. 14th, 2007 07:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranI had a bit of reading time yesterday, and started reading Empress Orchid by Anchee Min. It's been very interesting so far.
The story is told in the memoir voice, in a very similar style to Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha. The narrator addresses a specific audience directly, and in a natural voice. She alternates between presenting information in past omni and presenting only things that the protagonist would have known at the time. As in Memoirs of a Geisha, the audience is assumed to be distant enough from the milieu to need straightforward explanations of some things, although not quite distant enough that everything needs to be explained.
The writing style is economical but vivid. Emotions are rarely described outright, but the characters' situations are keenly felt. At times, this economy tends a little too much towards symbolism, but I think overall, the author finds the right balance.
The setting and the character's worldview is pleasingly authentic. The descriptions of the places I've actually visited all ring true, and different aspects of the culture seep through in different ways. There's a certain consistency of texture that makes the world seem believable, for example in the way the Forbidden City exists not just as a part of the capital, but as a force that shapes the worldview of those in the city too.
Also interesting is the way the plot tension is built up. Again, it is very similar to Memoirs of a Geisha. Instead of escalating crises, the tension is based around hunger, a hunger that is established early and then left to lurk in the background. In this case, it is a hunger for security that drives the protagonist and this sets up a darker counterpoint to her otherwise extremely fortunate rise. Without that hunger, the story might read as something of a wish-fulfillment fantasy, as the protagonist outcharms and outwits her way to the top. With the hunger there, and the ever present fear of what might happen if she fails, her slow journey upwards becomes enthralling and gratifying.
The story is told in the memoir voice, in a very similar style to Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha. The narrator addresses a specific audience directly, and in a natural voice. She alternates between presenting information in past omni and presenting only things that the protagonist would have known at the time. As in Memoirs of a Geisha, the audience is assumed to be distant enough from the milieu to need straightforward explanations of some things, although not quite distant enough that everything needs to be explained.
The writing style is economical but vivid. Emotions are rarely described outright, but the characters' situations are keenly felt. At times, this economy tends a little too much towards symbolism, but I think overall, the author finds the right balance.
The setting and the character's worldview is pleasingly authentic. The descriptions of the places I've actually visited all ring true, and different aspects of the culture seep through in different ways. There's a certain consistency of texture that makes the world seem believable, for example in the way the Forbidden City exists not just as a part of the capital, but as a force that shapes the worldview of those in the city too.
Also interesting is the way the plot tension is built up. Again, it is very similar to Memoirs of a Geisha. Instead of escalating crises, the tension is based around hunger, a hunger that is established early and then left to lurk in the background. In this case, it is a hunger for security that drives the protagonist and this sets up a darker counterpoint to her otherwise extremely fortunate rise. Without that hunger, the story might read as something of a wish-fulfillment fantasy, as the protagonist outcharms and outwits her way to the top. With the hunger there, and the ever present fear of what might happen if she fails, her slow journey upwards becomes enthralling and gratifying.
