The Flowers of War by Geling Yan

In the opening pages of Geling Yan's novel, The Flowers of War (Jingling Shisan Chai, translated from Chinese by Nicky Harmon) a young girl awakens in the middle of the night to discover her first menstrual period has arrived.  She's torn between curiosity and disgust by it.  Shujuan is one of more than a dozen girls left behind in Nanking as the Japanese invade the city.  Most of the other girls are orphans, but Shujuan's family are in America.  She feels utterly betrayed by her parents who have left her there alone when the other parents have already come for their daughters. 

"Clearly her cowardly parents had not wanted to come back to a capital city abandoned even by the Chinese government."

The girls are in the care of two American missionaries who are unable to lead the girls into the city's Safety Zone, though they feel assured that the Japanese Army will act with honor once the city is secured.  The girls hide in the attic of a Catholic Church protected by the elderly Father Engelmann and Deacon Fabio Adornato, an Italian-American who was raised in China and speaks nearly flawless Chinese.  It's mostly through the eyes of Shujuan, not yet even fourteen, that the events of the story are played out.  Feeling abandoned and confused, though mostly angry, Shujuan and the other girls are juxtaposed with a group of courtesans who have fled a nearby brothel to seek refuge in the church. 

Both Fabio and Father Engelmann try to discourage the women from entering the grounds for fear they will put their young wards in danger, but the women disregard them and climb over the compound walls until the men have no choice but to allow them to shelter there as well.  Some of the prostitutes are nearly the same age as the girls, but for ill luck they might have had the same chance for a safe and secure life with more hope and opportunities.  They are, however, seen as interlopers by the girls.  Already food and water are in scarce supply, and now the women with their flashy clothes, dissolute ways and seemingly voracious appetites hasten the depletion of what little they have creating tension and animosity between the two groups ending in a fight between the two. 

"The Japanese were still abstract enemies, but this teenage prostitute was an enemy they could see."

For Shujuan the women repulse her but they also exude a certain fascination, particularly Zhao Yumo, who is the most elegant and beautiful of the group.  Shujuan feels so many emotions like any girl of her age who is on the cusp of maturity, but she hates both the Japanese for cutting her off from her family and the prostitutes for reasons she likely doesn't even understand herself.

"She was overwhelmed with anguish, and hatred for everything and everyone.  She even began to hate herself, now it turned out she had the same body and organs as those women downstairs, and the same cramping pains expelling the same unclean blood from her body."

Putting the already precarious neutrality of the church at risk, three Chinese soldiers beg entrance and help from the missionaries.  Two have been injured in what turned out to be a massacre of POWs and a third, an office, managed to escape the carnage when a group of soldiers were fired upon by their own troops who thought the men were fleeing rather than understanding they had received the order to retreat.  They, too, force their way in, which of course sets the story up for a somewhat disquieting climax.

This is a slim novel told in simple unadorned prose.  Yan, to some extent, explores the lives and experiences of each group of individuals from the priests to the soldiers to the prostitutes.  Some in more depth than others.  I found the story surprisingly easy to read as I was expecting it to be both  horrifying and harrowing considering the subject of the novel is the 1937 Rape of Nanking where hundreds of thousands of Chinese were murdered.  There were certainly some disturbing scenes but none so horrendous as to make the story wholly demoralizing. 

Therein lies a problem, as I feel slightly ambivalent about the book.  Is it strange to say I "enjoyed" it on one level--particularly the moral dilemmas posed by such disparate groups of people thrown together in a time of war and who may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice for others (perfect setting then to have the story take place in a church), yet I wonder if for all that it still feels a little more "slight" than I had anticipated for a story about such a horrific event?  I'm not entirely sure and need to mull it over a bit more.  It was made into a movie in 2011 (you can watch the trailer for it here), which I have not yet seen but plan to (it's already been requested from my library).  It appears many changes to the story were made, but it looks visually striking, and perhaps the horrors of what occurred are more pronounced in the movie than they were in the book.  

For all that, and despite a few reservations, I did very much like the book and am planning on reading more of Geling Yan's books.  I've read far too few Chinese authors so look forward to exploring more of the culture and literature.  You can read Caroline's thoughts (as well she'll link to more reviews) here.  Next up for March is Elizabeth Bowen's The Heat of the Day.  Bowen is an author I've read before and been impressed by, so I am happy to have an excuse to get back to her work.

Comments

[Caroline]

Thanks for the review, Danielle.
We both liked the book but I think this time I liked it more.
I didn't think it was too slight or anything. Funny enough, Kevin who is always so over critical really liked it. Maybe you need to know more about the event to fill in the gaps? I've seen a few movies, one of which John Rabe, and saw the horrors like a background image while reading. Those who read the book and watched the movie were disappointed in the film. From Novroz review I deduced it showed more of the fighting but something else was off. I hope I can watch it as well. I'm curious to hear what you will think of it. It must be very beautiful.

[vicki (bibliolathas/skiourophile)]

After going to China at Xmas with zero reading beforehand, I'm keen to have a go at reading some Chinese fiction. It is so hard to know where to start - perhaps this might be a way into the maze.

[Stefanie]

With all your war reading, maybe the disappointment comes from wanting something more from the book than it gave you? Or an expectation of what it should be but wasn't? At least, it seems, you liked it more than you didn't like it.

[Danielle]

I did enjoy the book, reading reviews about it made me second guess myself. But I think subtle is a much better word for the story than slight--she is just not heavy handed in how she dealt with the war scenes. I'm so glad to hear it was well received by others, too! :) I guess what I know about the Rape of Nanking is all really very peripheral and I would like to read more, though I guess it being so horrific (especially in terms of what happened to women) has made me a little apprehensive about picking up more books about it. I really would like to read more though now that I've had a taste. I brought the movie home with me today from the library, but I am not sure I'll get a chance to watch it this weekend. I'm looking forward to it.

[Danielle]

I have been swapping postcards with someone living in China and have a small collection now of views--it looks like a really amazing place to visit--maybe someday I will get there! I brought home from the library two more books by the author so am looking forward to trying more of her work. I think this would indeed be a very good place to start. I'll be looking around, too, for more fiction (and non fiction) to read. Have you read Wild Swans by Jung Change? It's an amazing book--about three generations of Chinese women. I highly recommend it and really must get around to rereading it someday. When I first read it I found it riveting!

[Danielle]

I think I was preparing myself for the worst as a lot of what I have read has been quite harrowing in many cases, but when it was far less graphic than I anticipated, I think I was a little surprised. On thinking about it, however, I really did like it--much more than not. I've even got two more books by the author to read now.

[litlove]

I quite understand - I would have prepared myself for the worst when I'd heard the subject of the novel, and would have been really surprised to find it takes place on the margins of the atrocities. I think pretty much whenever we're disconcerted by a book, it's because it was really different to expectations. However, the good news is that if it's not too gory or upsetting, I might be able to read it! Actually, I'm intending to join in for Elizabeth Bowen this month. She's right up my street.

[Anna (Diary of an Eccentric)]

It was easy to read given the subject matter, but I still was horrified by the ending. It's what isn't written that disturbed me so. But overall, I "enjoyed" it, too. Great review!a

[Danielle]

I did quite like this upon reflection--but I was surprised that it was not so horrible in the descriptions. Not a bad thing at all really. So glad you are going to read Elizabeth Bowen, too. I have my copy pulled out and hope to start it soon.

[Danielle]

Thanks Anna. The ending was a little surprising and really horrifying to think of--incredible, too, to think it was based on true events. Sometimes it's what's left unsaid that is so devastating since it is left up to your imagination then. I hope to read more of her work now.