Three Sisters [Paperback]

Three Sisters by Bi Feiyu is a tragicomic novel, a tongue-in-cheek parody, about three sisters in the Wang family living in Wang Family Village in rural China. "Many rural villages are populated mainly by families with the same surname ." The novel opens in 1971 and ends in 1982. It is structured like three novellas though it is described by the publisher as a novel. The book's strength, and also its weakness, is that it is primarily comprised of character studies without a lot of plot. This can make it less accessible to some readers. Throughout the novel, the author utilizes Chinese proverbs, aphorisms and adages to make points. It comes out sounding something like a Greek chorus, adding a comic element to what is often heart-rending or calamitous. It is also very culture-specific which makes it harder to access for many readers.

The background is Maoist China following the Cultural Revolution. The position of women is lowly. They have no say in their lives except through subtle avenues where they can make small choices that may have a large impact on their lives and those in their community. This is often achieved by how a salutation is given, who is addressed and who is ignored, and what gossip is spread among them.

The book opens in 1971 with the story of Yumi, the oldest sister in the Wang family. The family is comprised of seven daughters and one son. Yumi's mother has given up the care of her son to Yumi who takes her brother around the village with pride as though she were his mother. In essence, she is the head of her family. Her father is a philanderer and a drunk who has the job of commune-secretary. He falls from grace when an affair he is having with the wife of an active duty soldier comes to light. This impacts Yumi's marriage plans. She had been engaged to an aviator from a neighboring town but he pulls out of the engagement because of Yumi's father's disgrace. Yumi is a strong woman who has plans - she wants to be associated with power. She manages to become the second wife to a powerful man in another village. Though her heart is broken and she is filled with embarrassment and shame, she proceeds with her life, giving the appearance of "one of those intrepid women in propaganda posters, a woman who could charm any man and still look death in the face without flinching."

The second part of the book is about the third daughter,Yuxio. Yuxio is a flirt and is described as cunning and two-faced, like a fox or a snake. She and Yumi have never gotten along and she has never respected Yumi's authority. After her father's downfall, she goes to attend a movie and during the course of the film she is abducted and raped. Yumi does her best to help her maintain face in the village but is soon gone off with her husband to a new town. On top of the shame associated with the rape, Yuxio gets into a fight with one of her younger sisters that is observed by many in the village. The outcome of this fight is that Yuxio becomes a village outcast.

Yuxio leaves her village and travels to Yumi's home where she seductively entrenches herself into the good graces of Yumi's stepdaughter and husband. The next thing Yumi knows, Yuxio is living with her family. There is already a wedge between Yumi and her stepdaughter and this is widened by Yuxio.. Though Yuxio actually despises the girl, she fawns and acts obsequiously towards her. Yuxio tries to install herself into the good graces of various town folk but over and over she sabotages herself by her indiscreet and false pretenses. It doesn't take long for others to catch on to her back stabbing personality. Yumi becomes pregnant and Yuxio loses her power at home. By the end of this section Yuxio is in much worse shape than when she started. She has ended up fooling nobody, not even herself.

The third chapter in the novel is about Yuyang, seventh sister, and takes place in 1982. Yuyang has won a scholarship to a teaching college and gets involved in the intrigue of the school, working on underground intelligence. This consists primarily of keeping an eye on her fellow students and teachers to see who is fraternizing with whom and reporting these events to her superior. She has read a lot of Agatha Christie and feels up to the job.

The novel ends without pulling together the lives of the three sisters. There is no follow-up to the other two stories and no real connecting of them. That is why I consider this book to be comprised of novellas rather than considering it a novel. I think this book might appeal to readers who are familiar with Chinese literature and culture. It is not likely to have widespread appeal because of stylistic issues. I found it informative and interesting, at times laugh at loud funny, but I am sure that there is a lot here that went past me.

A very adult rated book that explores human lust, sexual awareness blooming in young adults, the intricacy of the Chinese culture of your standing in society marred by the stance of the Chinese revolution under Chairman Mao. Although the exact period is not spelt out in the novel, but you get a sense the people's revolution has been in place for a while, late 70's to early 80's, where the story follows one family, the Wang family, and the story really explores in depth the three of seven daughters: Yumi: the eldest, the one who had the responsibility of looking after the family and siblings and how her quick mind maneuvered to ensure the family's face is saved in on so many occasions because of her father's wondering eyes and her third sister who shared the same `wild' genes; Yuxiu: the third daughter who is her father's favorite daughter has to deal with the humiliation of an event that is considered a big no-no for Chinese girls, and then having to show humiliation when she escapes to live with Yumi, who has resurrected her life as a married woman to a senior general. Then you have the seventh daughter (7 girls and the 8th was the boy), Yuying: who managed to be blessed to have none of the responsibilities of her older sisters and was able to attend an elite school for budding teachers. Her tale follows her through the communist part approach to loyalty to the party, the need to sneak on each other that lead to the discovery of a relationship between student and teacher!
I am not sure whether it was the intention of the author to depict how women are treated in Chinese society as third class citizens or whether it reflects his unconscious thought due to his own up bringing? The treatment of women certainly comes across as being quite harsh, but descriptive to be interesting to read about their struggles and how they view themselves in a male dominated society and the importance of a male child to carry on the family name. this novel is not so dated in that it is that far removed from what is still happening in today's society. An interesting read.

Boring, morose, and self pitying, this is the kind of fiction that earns man booker derived awards.

Oprah book club admirers will love this, but I thought it stank: no plot, no depth of character development, no writing worth admiring.

Best part of the book is that it is a wonderful campaign against both imperialism and statism. Next time you want to bash liberty and justice for all, read this.