Shanghai Girls

So much for New Year's Resolutions.

I'm afraid my 1book/10days goal has fallen to the wayside to make room for shopping trips to Seattle, Holidays to Ontario, and far too much TV watching (have fallen in love with the new series SMASH and Revenge, and am, as always, obsessed with Fringe, The Office, Grey's Anatomy, and countless others).

I did manage, however, to fit a 3rd book into January before falling off the resolution train (I made that metaphor up.  It isn't a thing.)

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, I'm afraid, was a waste of my time. I haven't read any of this author's previous works (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, etc.) but judging by their title's alone, I imagine See fell into Jodi's trap a bit, and figured that if Asian Chick Lit worked once, it would work again.  And again.  And, apparently, again and again.  The website link above gives a similar synopsis to the one I read on the back cover of this "borrowed from an aunt" book, and gave me sufficient cause to believe I'd enjoy it.

I think where See failed was in keeping my interest.  Her novel is essentially a memoir, and documents the lives of two sisters from early adulthood to old ladyhood.  Their journey begins in Shanghai, lasts through the Japanese invasion against the city, sees them illegally immigrate to America, start families there, and in the end, head back to China.  They face a few tragedies along the way, and another thing that somewhat turned me against See was what I viewed as a trivialization of rape, and then of suicide.  Maybe its a culture thing that I was unable to pick up on, but I found that these events felt forced, almost as if they were stuck willy-nilly in to the story to add excitement (not sure it worked).

I simply found myself bored with See's novel, and really had to force myself to finish it.  I contemplated not even dignifying the read with a blog, but then I figured I could at least give my small readership a warning to not bother.

I have higher expectations for my next couple reads- ones I picked up onsale at the Indigo in Oshawa whilst shopping with my Aunt, little cousin, and best friend.  "Good Bones and Simple Murders", a short story collection by my main madam Margaret Atwood, and The Meaning of Matthew, written by Judy Shepherd following her son's murder in Laramie (sidenote, "The Laramie Project" is one of the most moving plays I've ever read", both promise to be better than my last pick.