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The Girl Who Played Go
 
 
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The Girl Who Played Go (Paperback)

by Shan Sa (Author), Adriana Hunter (Translator)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; New Ed edition (3 Jun 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099444984
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099444985
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 674,218 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"Measured . . . Precise . . . The historical backdrop, itself a forceful character, provides a compelling context for this economical story of impossible love."
-Sara Ivry, "San Francisco Chronicle"
"Spare prose adorned with images that linger in the mind . . . In this elegant translation . . . the dreamlike, mesmerizing alternation of voices stands in uneasy contrast to the operatic violence of the plot."
-Janice P. Nimura, "New York Times Book Review
"
"What makes Sa's novel so satisfying is the deceptive simplicity of her narrative strategy . . . We watch in fascination as the terrible secrets of their lives begin to coincide."
-Charles Matthews, "San Jose Mercury News
"
"Shan manipulates the scope of silence with a wisdom beyond her years."
-Elsa Gaztambide, "Booklist
"
"Dreamy . . . powerful . . . this unlikely love story . . . is beautiful, shocking, and sad."
-Jennifer Reese, "Entertainment Weekly
"
"Lovely and delicate as a carved jade flower . . . This is beautiful writing."
-Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal
"
"Harrowing . . . While exploring epic themes like the loss of innocence and the meaning of honor, it lingers on the tiny, exquisite details of life in a remote, cosmopolitan Manchurian town in the thirties."
-Elizabeth Schmidt, "Vogue
"

"From the Hardcover edition."



Product Description

Set in Japanese-occupied Manchuria in the 1930s, The Girl who Played Go is a haunting tragedy, a shocking tale of love and war reflected in the age-old game of go. In the Square of a Thousand Winds, snow falls as a sixteen-year-old Chinese girl beats all-comers at the game of go. One of her opponents is, unknown to her, a young Japanese officer of the occupying power, rigidly militaristic, imbued with the imperial ethic, but far from home and intrigued by this young opponent. Their encounters are like the game itself, restrained, subtle and surprisingly fierce. But as their two stories unfold the Japanese army moves inexorably through their huge land, in the vanguard of a greater war, leaving blood and destruction in its wake.
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, 12 Sep 2004
By Jess (Cheshire, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
Breathtakingly written, Sa's elegant language carries you through the whirland of love and sorrow life brings. Somehow she manages to capture the deep intensities of love, and leave you with a dark haunting sorrow as the book climbs gracefully to its dramatic climax.

Not only is the language beautiful, but the story it relates is tense, gripping and filled with a rich passion rarely found in contemporary fiction. Set in a shaky country, amid troubled times where people are forced to struggle against all odds to mould their futures in the finicky political environment around them, their is a sort of shy hope that comes with tragedy of love and betrayal depicted.

I've never read any of Shan Sa's other works, but after the taste this book has given me, I'm intrigued by her style, and intoxicated by her portrayal of China, and I've no doubt I will go on to savour every last word she writes. Definiately one of, if not the best book I've ever read.

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Silk Cuts, 6 Oct 2004
By Is (Tokyo) - See all my reviews
Shan Sa has written an aloof little book about the violent Japanese occupation of China, as experienced by a Manchurian girl and an officer from Tokyo.

A good half of the book builds up to their eventual meeting over a prolonged game of go. There are quite a few flashbacks to the Tokyo earthquake and the officer's earlier affairs with geishas and prostitutes, while the Manchurian girl gets unwittingly involved in the underground resistance.

Narrated alternatively by these two main characters, the short chapters offer brief, haiku-style glimpses of the events. The mood is dark throughout and full of almost clichéd Chinese lyricism - whirling snow, soft silk, a girl's white cheek... Love is depicted as a destructive force, a power-struggle, mirrored in the cruelty of war.

Still, the story somehow failed to move me. In the end it seemed to me to be a rather empty piece of literature, in spite of all its violent emotions and poetic images.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful hours of reading.., 27 Dec 2006
Shan Sa is very skillful in describing the feelings of both her kind and the man-kind with an unusual way of exposing the story. I enjoyed reading it, even quoted some parts in my daily life. Well done.
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