Full of fascinating passages, Ian Buruma's new book, The China Lover (2008, Penguin Press, New York, 320 pages), somehow fails to enthrall. This historical fiction by an accomplished author stirs too little passion and lacks the suspense to keep most readers interested.
Using three narrators, Buruma tells the life-long story of Yamaguchi Yoshiko (alias Ri Koran and Shirley Yamaguchi), a Japanese singer-actress-journalist who grew up in China and lived temporarily in the United States. Constantly reinventing herself, Yoshiko has a long and successful career. But she's often naïve and manipulated by military or political leaders.
The author shares insights and details that clarify 20th century history, everything from Japanese aggression in China to terrorism and the plight of Palestinians. Yoshiko struggles to reconcile her patriotism with sympathy for the victims of injustice.
Sidney Vanoven, a homosexual military man and movie buff with the U.S. forces occupying Japan, narrates first. A second section, narrated by Sato Daisuke, a movie-industry insider with shady connections, time-travels back to tell how Japan justified its wartime atrocities to “liberate” Asia. Then zipping decades ahead, a TV-crew member who worked with Yoshiko falls in love with a Palestinian “freedom fighter”, joins the cause and narrates from a Lebonese prison.
But Yoshiko, the main character who must weave together the story, never narrates. The disjointed results make for difficult reading, even confusion. Some pages induce tedium with too much wordy detail while others, much too sparse, leave the readers hungry to know more.
Buruma studied in the Netherlands and Japan, focusing on history, Chinese literature and Japanese movies. He has worked in journalism, photography and documentary film-making. The likes of The New Yorker, The Financial Times and The Guardian carry his articles on politics and culture.
The author once worked in Hong Kong as cultural editor of The Far Eastern Economic Review. His previous books include: God's Dust, Behind the Mask, Playing the Game, The Wages of Guilt, Bad Elements and Murder in Amsterdam.
Buruma poured plenty of research, effort and talent into The China Lover. Yet the book's a chore to read and doesn't quite make the grade.
Approval rating: 48 per cent
For more information: www.ianburuma.com or us.penguingroup.com
(October 1, 2008)
ARCHIVES
|
