A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers
by Xiaolu Guo
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List Price: ££7.99
Our Price: ££2.94
Your Save: £ 0.00 ( % )
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Manufacturer: Vintage
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780099501473
ISBN: 0099501473
Label: Vintage
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: 2008-01-03
Publisher: Vintage
Studio: Vintage
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A beautiful and subtle book that gives an outsider's viewpoint of English culture
Comment: Twenty-three year old Zhuang has come to London to study English. When she arrives she is bewildered that it is not the London of Victorian novels (where's the fog?)
Zhuang discovers a love for film and is desperate to immerse herself as much as possible in English language and culture but when she falls in love with an English man, twenty years her senior, things become even more complicated.
This is an incredibly beautiful book which gives you a completely new and refreshing viewpoint on English culture and language. The book is written in Zhuang's broken English, which results in startling sentences that really illuminate how easily things can be misinterpreted and how, when language is manipulated in a different way you can discover whole new layers of meaning. It's not all doom and gloom either, there are some really funny moments: why is it Ok for Shakespeare to spell things `incorrectly'?
The love story at the centre of the book is also incredibly touching. I really enjoyed this book and it reminded me a lot of `The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time,' not because of content, but because it made me look at a familiar world in a completely different way.
Recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: culture
Comment: When I bought this book I didn't think I'd like it too much, but I was wrong. The main reason why I did get it was because there was 3 for 2 in the shop and I figured if nothing else I like the cover. In short it's about a Chinese 20 something year old woman moving to England to learn English, and you might have guessed she falls in love. All through the book there is a misunderstanding and miscommunication in language and culture.
If your at all interested in oriental cultures then you should get this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Could have been good.
Comment: This book apperaed to cover a few literary interests of mine. Mainly Chinese literature. I find the insights into China, past and present, interesting for some reason (but do I need one?). I also enjoy a good story that is able to move me emotionally. This can include a romance story. This book failed to please my appetite in both instances.
I found the structure clever enough to give this review two stars, however.
The potential for this book was big. The diary format is not my favourtie, it has to be said but it is not bad. Overall though, I found the book rushed and lacking a lot of depth. This made any potential for emotion to build non existant. For example, I could not build up any mental picture for what the man looks like other than he is 40 something and he looks old when he is tired. I had no idea what Z looks like or any detail at all. The was not enough detail about the house looks like. Even a general colour of the place would have been nice. I also found the final letter confusing. Was that only half of it? In any case it lacked any form of a "tearful goodbye" or an "I must never see you again" letter.
The only time when the detail shows is during the fairly graphic sex seen descriptions. It is far too frank for my likeing. I found it all an attempted to express passion but it comes off as immature. The metaphors to describe her sex organs are a prime example of this. Her "cave". Honestly, I would have felt really silly writing this.
I did find the insight into China interesting, but not nearly enough information was present and all it was was a comparison with the west, mainly with food, which did not interest me enough.
Overall, the book lacked too much detail and it also lost the pace towards the end. (I think that is a general opinion about this book based on the other Amazon reviews). A missed opportunity.
For a novel that gives an insight into ancient China I'd recommened any of the four classics of Chinese literature and "Empress Orchid" and "The Last Empress" by Anchee Min. For an insight into modern China I'd recommend the Inspector Chen mysteries by Qiu Xiaolong. For an emotional love story I'd recommend "A Dream of Red Mansions" also known as "The story of the Stone" (which is one of the four Chinese Classics)
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Cultural Experience with Humour
Comment: I bought the book out of my desire to understand my Chinese Girlfriend & our Cultural differences more. By chance I had already heard part of the serialised Radio 4 version, when later, walking with her along the Creek in Dubai, she quoted the "Close the Door, Properly" scene with the London Cab Driver, to me. My immediate response was to get her to write down the title of the book, because I remembered both the angst & humour portrayed on the Radio. The book has opened my eyes to many of our own cultural clashes, before and since, sadly one too many caused our break up, but the authors' portrayal is uncannily close to many of our own situations and has enhanced my love & desire to learn more about Chinese culture and many of their new emerging authors. This was a beautiful love story tinged with sadness and funny situations, which also gave a great insight into the problems of a lone immigrant coming to London & coping with life in that vast lonely metropolis. A very emotional read for me personally also.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A lovely book
Comment: This is a essentially a love story that stems from a misunderstanding brought about by the heroine's naive grasp of English. You are brought on a wonderful cockeyed journey as she begins to grasp the eccentricities of the language and those of it's native speakers.
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