Coco is a Shanghai cafe waitress, full of enthusiasm for life. She falls in love with a young man, Tian Tian, for whom she feels tenderness and love but who is reclusive and impotent. Despite her parents' objections, she moves in with him. But then she meets Mark, a dashing businessman.
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"Banned by Beijing, Wei Hui's tales of sin in Shanghai show the cracks appearing in communist China" -- Sunday Times, June 3, 2001
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Further information about 'Shanghai Baby'
First championed by the Chinese state media as a rising star of her generation, Wei Hui is now dubbed 'decadent, debauched and a slave of foreign culture. 'Shanghai Baby' was banned by the Chinese authorities in April 2000 and 40, 000 copies were publicly burned.
First championed by the Chinese state media as a rising star of her generation, Wei Hui is now dubbed 'decadent, debauched and a slave of foreign culture. 'Shanghai Baby' was banned by the Chinese authorities in April 2000 and 40, 000 copies were publicly burned.
'Shanghai Baby' deals honestly with areas that are conventionally taboo, especially in its portrayal of the new woman in contemporary China. The novel arrives at a time when China's urban youth challenges her historic and traditional mores and very sense of self. The gap between the old and the new is typified by the wealthier, better-educated and mature one-child-family generation that is now impatient for recognition, empowerment and self expression.
Here is a beautifully written novel that champions female sexuality, dares to transgress convention and describes China on the brink of her own social and sexual revolution.
There has be early press interest in the translation of 'Shanghai Baby'in to English. The Times ran a piece in October 2000 describing it as: "a steamy Chinese novel in the Western style about life in contemporary China". In April 2001 The Economist wrote: "A semi-autobiographical novel, which explores the sexual awakening of a beautiful 26-year-old writer in China's livelist port city...a runaway bestseller despite ...its banning by the authorities."
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First Sentence
My name is Nikki but my friends all call me Coco after Coco Chanel, a French lady who lived to be almost ninety. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
My name is Nikki but my friends all call me Coco after Coco Chanel, a French lady who lived to be almost ninety. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
A marketing sucess; but a failure as far as any other quality standard could judge. Cliched; trite; and probably banned because it was so bad. It's a shame that this kind of stuff gets so much publicity - more on the looks of the writer and the fact that it deals with Western man and Chinese woman having an affair than anything else. I got so bored i left this on the train - and i've never done that before.
There are much better books than this set in China - Please Don't Call me Human, or the Drink and Dream Teahouse (interestingly by a young English man) are much better in every respect.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I thought I had missed something! This book left me with no real feelings about the characters. I felt void of sympathy (or anything else)for Coco. I thought the story was disjointed in places, predictable in others. Not as enjoyable as I hoped it would be.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Wei Hui (pronounced Way-Way) is the daughter of an army officer and spent three years of her childhood living in an army-occupied temple from which monks had been expelled during the chaos of the Cultural Revolution. She studied literature at the prestigious Fudan University in Shanghai, China.
Wei is now dubbed 'decadent, debauched and a slave of foreign culture.' Chinese authorities banned this novel, "Shanghai Baby," in April 2000 for its sensual nature and irreverent style. Forty thousand copies of "Shanghai Baby" were publicly burned in the government's attempts to ban this young author's rise to fame. This novel is the semi-autobiographical story of Coco, a café waitress, who is full of enthusiasm and impatience for life. She meets a young man, Tian Tian, for whom she feels tenderness and love, but he is reclusive, impotent and an increasing user of drugs. Despite parental objections, Coco moves in with him, leaves her job and throws herself into writing.
Shortly afterwards she meets Mark, a married Westerner. The two are uncontrollable attracted and begin a highly charged, physical affair. Torn between her two lovers, and tormented by her deceit, her unfinished novel, and the conflicting feelings involved in both love and betrayal, Coco begins to find out who she really is.
This novel also focuses on China's present day social and sexual revolution. New voices are emerging that challenge China's current cultural generation gaps, those that divide young adults born in the 1970s and the older generation, a gap that has never been, as wide, as today. This is a beautifully written novel, by a young author from the forbidden culture.
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2.6 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
eye opening coming of age novel
very well written, i can see why this was banned but i dont see anything too contraversial about. great story that shows us the world of a twenty something chinese girl figuring... Read more
Published on 22 July 2007 by Lindymck
2.0 out of 5 stars
Hmmm, vaguely interesting in parts but not very authentic.
The plot could well be based on Wei Hui's own personal experiences, but to be honest the plot, right from the outset seems really strained. Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2003 by Arynth
4.0 out of 5 stars
East Meets West.
semi-autobiographical, "SHANGHAI BABY" tells the poignant tale of Coco a struggling writer whose discoveries of life, love, infidelity and personal development are all... Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2002 by "cburtle"
5.0 out of 5 stars
An incredibly accurate description of today's China
I read this book after my first two trips to China. It gives an incredibly accurate description of this fascinating country which has opened up for the first time in years to the... Read more
Published on 1 May 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
compelling, Wei Hui tells it like it is with brutal honesty
i couldn't believe how amazing this book was, im only 17 years old and i usually read something far more light hearted. Read more
Published on 18 Jan 2002
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good
Overall, I liked this book. A good story -- to some extent a page turner. It started out very promising, but it declined slightly all the way through. Read more
Published on 5 Jan 2002 by Karen L. Cuthbert
3.0 out of 5 stars
Educational, but rather disappointing
The educational part : it was interesting to see how the Chinese youth have adapted to western ideals and ways of life. Read more
Published on 24 Dec 2001
2.0 out of 5 stars
silly, wooden
I bought this novel because I was intrigued by the premise: a wild young thing takes Shanghai (and a married, expatriate German) by storm. Read more
Published on 19 Nov 2001 by Gift Card Recipient
2.0 out of 5 stars
Overhyped drivel
I admit, I bought this book as I was intrigued about it being banned and wanted to know why - I was immensely disappointed. Read more
Published on 25 Sep 2001
3.0 out of 5 stars
a talented writer and a could-be-true autography
After reading the book, I consider Hui Wei as a very talented and young writer; being talented to have been able to vividly portray the mentality and inside struggles any modern... Read more
Published on 12 Sep 2001 by xpredoehl@yahoo.com
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