The Girl Who Played Go by Shan Sa

I first heard about this book in its original French when Shan Sa won the 2001 Prix Goncourt des Lycéens for La Joueuse de Go or The Girl Who Played Go.  The Prix Goncourt des Lycéens is a literary prize voted for by secondary school students.

Shan Sa was born in China and didn't move to France until she had finished secondary school herself so winning a literary prize in her adopted language was no small achievement.

I read it for that reason and because I wanted to read a book set in China.  It wasn't until I'd finished the book that I realised that the format of the story was based on the game of Go, a very tactical that game I don't really know or quite understand.

It is set in China, Manchuria, at the time of Japanese occupation.  The chapters alternate telling the story of the girl and her opponent in Go, a Japanese soldier.  The chapters mirror the conflict in the game as well as the conflict between the girl and the soldier, and between China and Japan.  It wasn't the easiest read, but a fascinating glimpse into a part of Chinese history I hardly knew, nevertheless.

The Girl Who Played Go from Amazon.com

The Girl Who Played Go from Amazon.co.uk

Fear and Trembling by Amélie Nothomb

 

Amélie Nothomb was born in Japan to a family in the diplomatic service and lived there until she was five. She speaks fluent Japanese and did return to work in a Japanese company for a year.

Although for some reason I thought it was going to be a “difficult” book, it wasn’t at all: it’s entertaining and very easy to read. My usual caution about reading books in translation was totally swept away because at no point was I aware of its having been originally in French.

I don’t know whether the fairly dreadful portrayal of Japanese corporate life is accurate or not, but the most fascinating part of the book I found was the section about Japanese women, “if the Japanese woman is to be admired – and she is – it is because she doesn’t commit suicide”. Japan apparently has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, but in spite of the pressures put on them by society, the rate is very much lower in women than men. How much that holds true now I’m not sure.

Something I heard quite a while ago was also mentioned in the book. When people were starting to become aware of water conservation, a hotel said it would be very difficult to put effective measures in to reduce water consumption because a large portion of their clientele was Japanese. Apparently Japanese women become terminally embarrassed if they feel they can be overheard in the bathroom and will turn taps on full in order to prevent this. I never really knew if this was true, but Amélie Nothomb says the same thing.

Memoirs of a Geisha By Arthur Golden

It is truly hard to believe that this is a novel because it paints such a vivid picture of the life of a geisha that you could swear it was autobiographical. It took a long time to read (it is a big book!)but it wasn't a struggle at all. It gives an insight, sometimes romantic, sometimes tragic, into a disappearing culture.

Fear and Trembling by Amélie Nothomb

Amélie Nothomb was born in Japan to a Belgian family. She lived in Japan until she was five years old, and returned to work for a year in a Japanese company when she was 21, to work as a translator.

Eleven years later she wrote the book Stupeur et Tremblements, translated as Fear and Trembling which tells the story of a young woman going to work in a Japanese firm, and comping up against all the intricacies of Japanese ways. It is both depressing and amusing at the same time, but above all it gives some insight into working life in Japan, an extreme culture clash even if it has been exaggerated.

I loved the book. It is short, so a quick and easy read, but at the same time thought provoking. I am often put off by books which have been translated, but this is an exception. I had no feeling of the clumsiness that is often there.