2017-October- I am China by Xiaolu Guo

I AM CHINA - XIAOLU GUO

Iona Kirkpatrick lives in a flat in North London and is contracted to translate from Chinese to English, the letters and diaries of Mu and Jian.

These two had a strong relationship in China but have become separated and estranged after the birth of a child who died, we are not informed of this event until quite late on in the book. The letters and diaries reflect the strain and their feelings for one another.

Jian becomes an agitator against Chinese authority and takes part in Tianamen Square demonstrations attracting the attention of his father, a senior politician, resulting in him banning his son from China. Mu looses contact with him and feeling abandoned goes back to live with her parents. She enjoys writing poetry and somehow is able to leave her family to begin touring in the USA.

Jian was sent to England and arrived in Dover to be detained in an immigration  camp for many months before being transferred to Switzerland.

Moving on from there to France,  Greece and the Greek Islands.

There are very mixed feelings about this book but all agreed it was difficult to get into because of constantly referring backwards/ present time and found this particularly irritating. Some gave up because of it others continued to enjoy the story and insight into China in modern history, where education for girls was not considered necessary and difficult to obtain. Therefore for a Chinese woman to achieve success as a novelist is a major accomplishment in its own right, particularly in English Language.

There are some doubtful phrases including Jian's letter to, and reply from the Queen. His ability to travel across Europe seemingly un hindered and Mu's ability to tour the USA with her poetry.

Marks varied from 3(1) to 9(2) with an overall average of 6.

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Maggies review:

I enjoyed reading this although I found the movement between voices and times hard to start with.

I felt that the innermost feelings of Jian,Mu and Iona were extremely well portrayed with beautiful language. In particular the experience of Jian,cut adrift from his family and state came across with all of his anger and despair. I found a parallel in this with Iona's own unhappiness - manifested in meaningless casual sexual encounters.

The book moved me to tears in several places - with the sad hopelessness of Jian and Mu's separation; and the loss of their child as well as  Mu's description of her father's dying days.

I liked the way in which parts of modern Chinese history were woven into the storytelling - some of it quite chilling.

There were a couple of things that I found irritating - Jian's letter to the Queen which seemed to indicate a naive understanding of democracy given his political idealism in China. But even more the supposed reply from HM.

I'm also not convinced that Iona's stumbling upon her father with his mistress would have been enough to colour her adult attitudes and behaviours in the way this is implied. At 15 would she have been so traumatised by this that she would as an adult treat sexual liaisons almost as a way of punishing herself. Or have I got that wrong?

Overall though I found this a thoroughly good read with well drawn characters, a compelling story line and wonderful use of language. It's a book which really made me think about modern China and its influence in the world.

My score is 9

I hope you all enjoy discussing it - I'm really sorry that I can't  be there to hear what everyone has to say and whether others liked it as much as I did.

Second Review:
Dear All

I am really sorry to be missing this discussion. It was good to have something more challenging. I agree with all Maggie’s comments, especially the quality of the writing. I had the luck in the Library to find Xiaolu Guo’s autobiography “Once upon a time in the East”, and think you would all find it as interesting as I did. It says a great deal about the Chinese Education system that a girl whose primary education was in a small, poor isolated fishing village, living with an illiterate grandmother, was eventually, from a provincial urban secondary school, able from 6000 applicants to gain one of 11 places at Beijing Film school, and later to master English in the way that she has, and devise complex structures for her story. To be one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists in 2013 is an amazing achievement. The book itself is a great addition to our repertoire of migrant stories, and the counterpoint between the leaver & remainer (!) very clever.

I too would give it 9.

And mine: 

I don't like this book, but you do want to know what happens to Jian and Mu. The author must have a very low opinion of British women, the way that she makes the translator Iona go out periodically to get a quickie from any male she can, even if it is in a hovel. There are too many stories in here, and they are all over the pace timewise. We have Iona's story, the random transcriptions of Mu and Jian's letters, and the stories of what Jian and Mu are doing at different times. Jian's is almost chronological, but in the past compared with the Iona story and moving at a faster rate. My feeling is that it is a feminist book, as none of the men seem any good.