Little Hut of Leaping Fishes
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Product Description
New Books
'...confines of the family mansion, the rivalries, adulteries, and jealousies, are all vividly evoked in fresh and exuberant prose.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Sunday Herald
'Tei keeps the reader entertained with her graceful observations and steady handling of a significant slice of Chinese history.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I loved this book and completely agree with the other two reviewers. It has a compelling story, strong characterisation, and is set in interesting times which are perhaps not well known to readers brought up on a British school history curriculum. The style of writing is original, touching and appropriate to the subject, without being pretentious or self-consciously 'literary'. It is both engrossing and instructive - bring on the sequel!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A fine book thanks to three key ingredients: (a) its fascinating socio-historic setting, (b) a strong plot, and (c) excellent prose. As a small example of the latter, chapter 18 opens: "Someone has spilt colours on the palette of his life. Everything brightens up". Simple but graphic.
The story takes place in late C19th imperial China. Two half-brothers are born into a wealthy family of landowners whose dictatorial figurehead, Grandfather Chai, turns the crop over to opium harvesting. Not only does this boost profits but it also lubricates the wheels of influence. The older grandson and principal character, Mingzhi, is a good man who rises to the office of Mandarin through intensive study. Once there he spurns the customary bribery and corruption in an effort to govern even-handedly. Meanwhile his younger brother, Mingyuan, takes a rather more pragmatic view on life. There are enough twists, turns, interesting characters and situations to hold the reader's attention throughout.
Apparently this is Chiew-Siah Tei's first novel although she has written scripts for play and film. Let's hope there will be more.
The story takes place in late C19th imperial China. Two half-brothers are born into a wealthy family of landowners whose dictatorial figurehead, Grandfather Chai, turns the crop over to opium harvesting. Not only does this boost profits but it also lubricates the wheels of influence. The older grandson and principal character, Mingzhi, is a good man who rises to the office of Mandarin through intensive study. Once there he spurns the customary bribery and corruption in an effort to govern even-handedly. Meanwhile his younger brother, Mingyuan, takes a rather more pragmatic view on life. There are enough twists, turns, interesting characters and situations to hold the reader's attention throughout.
Apparently this is Chiew-Siah Tei's first novel although she has written scripts for play and film. Let's hope there will be more.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is an excellent book. The language and structure capture from the start giving an exotic feel to the book. The subject matter is pretty exotic in any case; this is a period of Chinese history that I knew almost nothing about, but is wonderfully evoked through the realistic characters. I identified with Mingzhi from the start. His triumphs and, especially, his disasters resonated very much with where I was when I read it. Like the other reviewer, I too am looking forward to seeing how he gets on in the sequel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Little Hut of Leaping Fishes
This was bought as a gift for Christmas. I chose the book as it sounded good and had good reviews on Amazon and because the person I was buying it for loves books with this... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Green Book Addict Librarian
Terrific
An engrossing tale of a man growing up in China at the turn of the 19-20th centuries; an fascinating picture into another world and culture, so different, so removed from ours,... Read more
Published 15 months ago by S. WOODRUFF
Absolute recommendation - Beautifully written
Enchanting oriental tale. told in a way that is extremely difficult to put down book. So beautifully written. I know she is writing sequal so can't wait. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Jayngelle
One of the best books I've read this year
I thought this book was wonderful. I loved it. So beautifully written. And great characters. My favourites were Mingzhi and Liwei and Da Niang. Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2008 by Lynsey Calderwood
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