Review: A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers

by Xiaolu Guo

WHY I READ THIS BOOK
It was shortlisted for the 2007 Orange Prize.


ABOUT THE BOOK
Twenty-three-year-old Zhuang, the daughter of shoe factory owners in rural China, has come to London to study English. She meets an English man who changes everything and from the moment he smiles at her, she enters a new world of sex, freedom, and self-discovery. But she also realizes that, in the West, “love” does not always mean the same as in China, and that you can learn all the words in the English language and still not understand your lover. (from Goodreads)

MY THOUGHTS
I really enjoyed that it was written in "broken English," and though at times this seemed uneven to me, it is the first book the author had written in English, so I am certain that she has a better understanding than I do about this matter. And it was an interesting (and sometimes amusing) examination of the vast differences between Chinese and English cultures, covering everything from food choices to life philosophies.

I did not like the protagonist and this was a huge stumbler for me. She is just so whiny and clingy and needy, and I couldn't get into her head at all. And when she toured Europe, I wanted to smack her. She had this awesome opportunity (that I would kill for) to sightsee and discover all this culture and history - but all she does is complain and hook up with random men.

And that was the second thing I didn't much like about the book: there is a lot of sex. I'm not a total prude, but this was just major overkill. I mean, comparing a lighthouse to a certain part of the male anatomy? Completely unnecessary.

If the book is supposed to illumine the differences between cultures, is the author saying that all Chinese women are overly dependent on men and obsessed with sex?

RATING
somewhere between a 2 and a 3