By Janie Chang
This book is about the turmoil in China during WWII. Japan attacks viciously from the East, civil war further breaks the country apart from within, and the wealthy keep gaining wealth while the impoverished have less and less. Sound familiar? I have to admit my ignorance in that I didn’t know China endured all this, knowing only a bit about Japan during the war, and most of that from battles with American troops.
Beautifully layered on top of this turmoil is the Library of Legends, books that describe the deities, demons, and spirits that have long protected China. The volumes are a five-hundred-year-old national treasure, entrusted to Minghua University for study, preservation, and to print more modern copies, much like sets of Encyclopedias. As the Japanese attack with air raids and ground troops, all universities are evacuated further West. The students and professors of Minghua are aided by soldiers to carry the library with them to safety. The students are encouraged to read the book each of the 123 of them are carrying individually, keeping the legends alive in another way.
The students, a group that is mostly of the privileged elite, was forced to walk at night with straw/cloth shoes that literally disintegrate, feel hunger as never before, and are exposed to the elements and cold. Even this is better than what the other refugees encounter on their travel as the students are nationally sponsored. Most start to reexamine their values, and the ever-present communist ideology and representative among them is ready to gather more members to the movement with which the Chinese government is also at war.
As the violence and infighting escalate, some special individuals can see that the Legends of which they are reading are real, and unfortunately, leaving China behind. The Queen Mother of Heaven is calling them all home, which begs the question, what will happen to China now?
Soundtrack
- Evening Primrose (I like the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal version)
- Jasmine Flower by Lei Qiang (again, lots of versions)
- Tonight is Unforgettable
- Night Life in Shanghai by Zhou Xuan
- Pennies from Heaven by Louis Armstrong
Pros & Cons & Potential Spoilers
Pros
- Beautiful imagery rich with history and culture I had no previous idea about, really educational
- Two strong, female, main characters in a country and time that traditionally relegates them to subservient roles
- The juxtaposition of a traditional myth interwoven with modern warfare
Cons
- Ultimately, men save the female characters from precarious fate by marrying them, and the wealthy stay wealthy and protective of their own. To be fair, at this time and place, I don’t know that there could be another resolution, but it is still demotivating
- Unrequited love spanning centuries stays unrequited, again a female sacrificing for a male