Masks Review

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(More customer reviews)I first studied this writer in college (with her book, The Waiting Years). I expected Masks to be similar, but it was extremely different. It is more modern and twisted. The story revolves around two women, one older and one younger (the younger is the widowed wife of the older woman's son). However, their relationship is not straight-forward; they have a psychic, almost sexual, connection. They use this connection to play with the hearts of the men around them. I found the descriptions in this book particularly striking; there is a party scene with the release of fireflies that I can still very clearly visualize. It was extremely enjoyable to delve into the dark depths of the two women. Just like in the story, the men are inconsequential. This is a great read for those who prefer things a bit uneasy and weird.

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Bound Feet & Western Dress: A Memoir Review

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(More customer reviews)This novel was given to me by my younger brother for Christmas 1997. He said he thought it might be interesting for me--I think it is the best gift he's ever given me. I am the eldest daughter of a Chinese family; my own mother came from China and I and my brothers were born here in America. The biography "Bound Feet and Western Dress" serves to further enrich all the stories and experiences that my mother has been telling me about our own family history. For me, the book serves as just one piece to the complex puzzle of what happened to some of the families in China during the first half of the Twentieth Century. The novel's poignant story lets me know that I'm not alone in my mother's methods to raise me as a "good Chinese daughter" -- with her strange proverbs, her continuing treatment of me as second to the males in our family, and her insistence on a daughter's family duty. This book illustrates time after time how the main character, Chang Yu-I, deals with many unforeseen circumstances with strength and dignity -- surviving a short-lived marriage, changing cultural traditions, raising children on one's own, living in a foreign land, dealing with wartime, working hard, fulfilling family duty, and doing what is needs to be done. In this story, I do not believe the main character intends to push through major changes but, rather, she does not cower at what life brings to her. This gives the reader extra courage to know that you can deal with whatever the future holds for you. It made me laugh and cry. I especially love this book because of all the translated Chinese sayings. I saved the Christmas ribbons (which wrapped this gift from my brother) and I use the strips for bookmarks; the book sits cheerfully on my shelf bookmarked in numerous places with bright red and green to bring me straight to the poetic and beautiful sayings. The author was introduced to me last night at a dinner event as "Pang Mei" (prounounced like "Bang Mei") -- I was delighted at her beauty, animated enthusiasm and her down-to-earth approachability. I highly recommend "Bound Feet and Western Dress" for young and old alike. Be prepared for the jumping of the timeframes and the two narrative voices--the story will, nonetheless, enrich your life and hopefully it will help you understand a bit more about some of the Chinese women you may meet. The story is quick to read and would be a good springboard for the discussion of duty and honour, and the ability to change, be responsible, and succeed regardless of gender and class.

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The Devotion of Suspect X Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a very clever mystery novel originally written in Japanese and translated into English and is this author's first major English publication. Apparently this novel is a continuation of a popular serial drama, Galileo, and has also been made into a Japanese film, Suspect-X that was released in 2008. The recurring character in the series is Manabu Yukawa, a brilliant physics professor at Imperial University who is respectfully called Detective Galileo. He assists the local police sometimes with particularly vexsome cases, and this murder is one of those.
Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced mother working in a box lunch shop. She left her old life as a hostess behind and is trying to live a quiet existence while raising her teenage daughter, Misato. Unfortunately for her, she has a deadbeat ex-husband who is looking for her and who wants to get back together and who wants money. When he comes to extort her and threatens to harm her daughter at her apartment on that fateful evening, she and her daughter murder Shinji Togashi. Overhearing the scuffle, next door neighbor -- a mathematics teacher named Tetsuya Ishigami -- comes to her door and offers Yasuko total salvation. He tells her that he will take care of everything and will help them avoid prosecution and imprisonment if only they do exactly as he says.
Although the lead detectives on the case suspect that the alibis of Yasuko and Misato aren't quite ironclad, police are confused about whether or not they are truly suspects in the murder. With fantastic misdirection and precise circumlocution directed behind the scenes by Ishigami, the pair are continuing their daily lives as if innocent. Meanwhile the intrepid and faithful Ishigami is still pulling the strings of the investigation. Detective Kusanagi, certain that something fishy is going on, consults his friend Yukawa. It so happens that Yukawa knows Ishigami from their shared history at Imperial University where they both attended -- Yukawa majoring in physics and Ishigami in mathematics. What follows after Yukawa gets involved is a true battle of wits between the two former classmates.
I enjoyed the way the investigation unfolded and the interaction between the characters. The novel is complex and is definitely a thinking person's read. Scattered throughout are complex philosophical questions and mathematical proofs. The highly intelligent Yukawa and Ishigami provide point and counterpoint as the multilayered elements of the crime are slowly revealed. The conclusion, however, is painful. I closed the book with a profound sense of grief.
Recommend to discriminating readers. Don't be put off by this perhaps being an unfamiliar author, or by the fact that it is a translation from Japanese.


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