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esther_me's review against another edition
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A strange and unusual read for me. But I kind of liked it...
beastreader's review against another edition
5.0
Pan Yuliang has lived and taken care of her uncle, ever since her mother died when she was young. At fourteen years Pan Yuliang was sold to The Hall of Eternal Splendour to become a prostitute. Her uncle did it to play off some loans he had accrued for his habit of opium. After two years of working at The Halls of Eternal Splendour, Pan Yuliang was saved. A young man by the name of Pan Zanhua, who is an inspector. He is so fascinated by Pan that he offers to take her away from Eternal Splendour and make her his wife. For once Pan Yuliang sees Shanghai through a different light. Pan Zanhua recognizes Pan Yuliang interest and talent for painting. He encourages her to become a professional painter but is Pan Yuliang to free spirited for the school and will they even accept a woman.
The Painter from Shanghai is based on true events of Pan Yuliang life. I have to admit that I had never heard of Pan Yuliang. After reading The Painter from Shanghai, I found Pan Yuliang to be a very remarkable woman. She could find beauty in everything around her. This included even during the two years Yuliang was at The Halls of Eternal Splendour. Pan Zanhua was a good husband to Yuliang. He helped Pan Yuliang pursue her dreams no matter what people thought. For this fact Pan Yuliang was able to stand up for what she wanted to paint and not just what sold. I feel Jennifer Cody Epstein did Pan Yuliang justice in this creative masterpiece of a book titled The Painter from Shanghai.
The Painter from Shanghai is based on true events of Pan Yuliang life. I have to admit that I had never heard of Pan Yuliang. After reading The Painter from Shanghai, I found Pan Yuliang to be a very remarkable woman. She could find beauty in everything around her. This included even during the two years Yuliang was at The Halls of Eternal Splendour. Pan Zanhua was a good husband to Yuliang. He helped Pan Yuliang pursue her dreams no matter what people thought. For this fact Pan Yuliang was able to stand up for what she wanted to paint and not just what sold. I feel Jennifer Cody Epstein did Pan Yuliang justice in this creative masterpiece of a book titled The Painter from Shanghai.
ckjaer88's review against another edition
3.0
The story was interesting enough, but the storytelling just didn't do it for me. The pace was fine, but it was like reading a flat lining heart monitor. Epstein made the mistake of making her fictional story about a real painter, too biographical, without any real devastating actions in the storyline. She should either have made a factual biography or put some sass into her fictional story.
With the bile out of the way, I will say though, that it was interesting to read about how Flower houses operated, and how they fit into Chinese culture. Yuilang is a well-rounded character, but you never really feel any empathy for her, and that is where it all falls apart.
With the bile out of the way, I will say though, that it was interesting to read about how Flower houses operated, and how they fit into Chinese culture. Yuilang is a well-rounded character, but you never really feel any empathy for her, and that is where it all falls apart.
emilyusuallyreading's review against another edition
2.0
What I Liked
I love reading about the talent of women in history, and Pan Yuliang is one of those women I delighted to learn about - I had never heard of her before!
Pan Yuliang was sold by her uncle into prostitution when she was 14 years old. Through her intelligence and ability and the help of her eventual husband, she managed to escape the brothel life that she hated and became an incredibly famous, successful, and controversial painter.
What I Didn't Like
I hugely enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha when I read it a few years ago... and this feels like Memoirs of a Geisha 2.0 Hopefully, Maybe, Right? But instead it fell flat quickly. The majority of the book is focused on Pan Yuliang's early years, being forced into prostitution, having her innocence torn from her, and yet the part of her life that was glorying is so often over-shadowed by the chapters and chapters about her years as a prostitute.
Although it is clear that Epstein has spent time in China and knows about the culture, at times the sexual phrases, meant to make the book a little more PG-13, came across as weird and silly. "Jade sword," "ruby cave," etc. Yikes.
Pan Yuliang should either be unlearned or well-learned, but instead she was both in this novel, whenever was most convenient.
I had a problem with how Yuliang's husband was portrayed. At the beginning of the novel, he was an incredible feminist - so feminist, in fact, that it seemed entirely unrealistic to an early-20th century Chinese world. "Women and men are partners and equals. Women should go to school. Women should have their feet unbound. Consent is 100% necessary, etc." It's not that I disagreed with him; it just seemed odd to me that every other human being in the novel had traditional views except for him. Again, this was one of those issues that only existed when it was convenient for the author. When Yuliang needed a defender to help her escape prostitution, her husband was a major feminist. When she wanted to become a painter against all odds, he was suddenly extremely traditional and seemingly non-feminist at all.
I love reading about the talent of women in history, and Pan Yuliang is one of those women I delighted to learn about - I had never heard of her before!
Pan Yuliang was sold by her uncle into prostitution when she was 14 years old. Through her intelligence and ability and the help of her eventual husband, she managed to escape the brothel life that she hated and became an incredibly famous, successful, and controversial painter.
What I Didn't Like
I hugely enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha when I read it a few years ago... and this feels like Memoirs of a Geisha 2.0 Hopefully, Maybe, Right? But instead it fell flat quickly. The majority of the book is focused on Pan Yuliang's early years, being forced into prostitution, having her innocence torn from her, and yet the part of her life that was glorying is so often over-shadowed by the chapters and chapters about her years as a prostitute.
Although it is clear that Epstein has spent time in China and knows about the culture, at times the sexual phrases, meant to make the book a little more PG-13, came across as weird and silly. "Jade sword," "ruby cave," etc. Yikes.
Spoiler
Perhaps Pan Yuliang really was bisexual, but I haven't read anything to suggest otherwise, and placing this in the novel seemed like further sexual exploitation of a difficult past.Pan Yuliang should either be unlearned or well-learned, but instead she was both in this novel, whenever was most convenient.
Spoiler
Future husband falls in love with her because she can quote any poem ever by memory, but she also is so naive and can't read and has never been to a school ever.I had a problem with how Yuliang's husband was portrayed. At the beginning of the novel, he was an incredible feminist - so feminist, in fact, that it seemed entirely unrealistic to an early-20th century Chinese world. "Women and men are partners and equals. Women should go to school. Women should have their feet unbound. Consent is 100% necessary, etc." It's not that I disagreed with him; it just seemed odd to me that every other human being in the novel had traditional views except for him. Again, this was one of those issues that only existed when it was convenient for the author. When Yuliang needed a defender to help her escape prostitution, her husband was a major feminist. When she wanted to become a painter against all odds, he was suddenly extremely traditional and seemingly non-feminist at all.
jennyn52779's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
nonabgo's review against another edition
4.0
I had absolutely no idea who Pan Yuliang was before reading this book. My interest in modern painting is next to zero, I'm more of a classics aficionado, so I was not familiar with her work or existence. I looked her up after finishing the book and in truth, I was not impressed with her paintings at all. Of course, since it's not my cup of tea.
I do, however, love biographies, even romanticised ones, as this one is. Actually, "The Painter from Shanghai" is not so much a biography, but a novel based on the life of Pan Yuliang, a Chinese painter who, despite being an art revolutionary in her time, being one of the first Western-style painters in China, is known mostly for the fact that she was sold by her uncle and spent a few years in a brothel in her adolescence.
In fact, most of the book - maybe half - revolves around her early years in said brothel. Her entire life after that is crammed in the rest of the chapters, so the novel has an uneven feel to it - a little bit too slow, albeit colourful, in the beginning, and rushed in the second part, with entire chunks of time missing.
Do I mind this as much as I would in other novels? Weirdly, no, mainly because of the writing style. The novel is feminine, flowery and very accessible, despite the rather serious subject. This makes the book a rather easy summer read, but doesn't fall into "girly" because the heroine was such a symbol both in terms of her artistic style and as a sort of political figure, being a known associate of communist leaders.
What this book lacks, in my opinion, is a little bit more "meat" around Yuliang's stay in Paris. We have very few details about her time as a starving artist and I would have been interested to see a little bit more development in regards to the art scene of Paris, as well as the social and political environment that sent so many Chinese people to France during those times. Still, I quit enjoyed this novel. It's not as fluffy as to qualify as chick lit, but still quite readable and appropriate for what I call beach reading.
I do, however, love biographies, even romanticised ones, as this one is. Actually, "The Painter from Shanghai" is not so much a biography, but a novel based on the life of Pan Yuliang, a Chinese painter who, despite being an art revolutionary in her time, being one of the first Western-style painters in China, is known mostly for the fact that she was sold by her uncle and spent a few years in a brothel in her adolescence.
In fact, most of the book - maybe half - revolves around her early years in said brothel. Her entire life after that is crammed in the rest of the chapters, so the novel has an uneven feel to it - a little bit too slow, albeit colourful, in the beginning, and rushed in the second part, with entire chunks of time missing.
Do I mind this as much as I would in other novels? Weirdly, no, mainly because of the writing style. The novel is feminine, flowery and very accessible, despite the rather serious subject. This makes the book a rather easy summer read, but doesn't fall into "girly" because the heroine was such a symbol both in terms of her artistic style and as a sort of political figure, being a known associate of communist leaders.
What this book lacks, in my opinion, is a little bit more "meat" around Yuliang's stay in Paris. We have very few details about her time as a starving artist and I would have been interested to see a little bit more development in regards to the art scene of Paris, as well as the social and political environment that sent so many Chinese people to France during those times. Still, I quit enjoyed this novel. It's not as fluffy as to qualify as chick lit, but still quite readable and appropriate for what I call beach reading.
ninabjorn's review against another edition
5.0
All I can say is that I couldn't put it down and I just wanted to cry and scream for this poor girl and at the same time i wanted to laugh and hug her when things over the things in her life that went right
I was so inspirer by this story and this amassing woman that we follow through things that we can't even imagine how to get through
I was so inspirer by this story and this amassing woman that we follow through things that we can't even imagine how to get through
miathorup's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
marilynsaul's review against another edition
1.0
I had a difficult time distinguishing fiction from fact in this book. Juliang's early life was grueling to read about (but was it real or fiction) and though she came into a Mr. Higgins situation and started painting, it was difficult to actually believe that she was a 21st century feminist living in 1920s China. Was this just the author making her out to be a feminist based on the author's own experience? How much was real? 3/4 of the way through the book, I realized I didn't like Juliang as a person. The author painted her as obsessively self-centered. Her artwork, rather than being a statement against male ownership of women, seemed more to me to be an extension of selling her body as a young woman by exhibiting paintings of her body to the public (primarily men). Her discordant relationship with her husband (who, according to how the author wrote the book, truly loved her) was fueled by her self-absorption. In short, I'm going to stay away from "historical novels" in which there is so little real information out there about the protagonist that the author resorts to immense (and displeasing) fabrication.
amygeek's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book a lot - I like books about China that give me some insight into what it was like there during different times. This book wasn't all that specific about the timeframe - I don't feel like I learned that much about China, but the story was interesting. However, I wish it didn't have the big time gaps. it jumped a lot from one chapter to the next and the ending kinda snuck up on me. No big surprises, but an enjoyable read.