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A review by stefhyena
The Flower Net by Lisa See
1.0
This was a disappointing read. I do love that it was book-ended by Hulan rather than the really irritating and passively arrogant David Stark. The romance of the two (if you can call it that when it has elements of abuse in it) gets in the way of what in some ways is a good story-puzzle. I predicted the twists but I have been reading crime fiction for years and I think in some ways they were well structured. What I didn't enjoy was the descriptions of various gruesome crime scenes (luckily these scenes were kept short and not dwelt on), I am not fond of too much creativity in killing methods.
Back to Stark, he is immediately introduced as a very selfish person, whose relationship has broken down because of his coldness and absence, but he seems to feel hard-done by because his ex-wife didn't choose to try to save the marriage by having children he would probably be as absent to as he was to her. Considering they both have careers and he feels like she was small minded for not honouring more his commitment to his, the idea of bringing children into the situation seems ludicrously selfish even for a 90s American white male. And the narrative of the book alludes to this again later in passing, both times completely uncritically, we are meant as readers to take it as reasonable.
Then the way capitalism in the story is presented as a good thing that improves and saves lives (see e.g. p55 "He's bringin modern technology to the countryside and rewarding people who work hard". Actually it is pretty obvious to almost anyone that the lack of labour laws in China (ironic considering the communism) mean that most Chinese poor people work hard and DON'T get anything that could be glorified by the term "reward". This glorification of capitalism is at times undermined, with for example admissions of how the US profits from the Chinese political situation. And at the same time the very descriptive and as far as I know probably accurate descriptions of life under the communist regime argue convincingly that China's answer to poverty and exploitation didn't work too well. But the constant presence of Stark as a white American male who is casual about his privilege over others (for example he keeps pushing Hulan for relationship even when she is saying "no", later he does not listen to her ideas when she knows more about it than he does, he abuses her as "corrupt...foul...revolting"p262 after grabbing her violently and then next chapter redundantly claims "I love you Hulan...nothing you could say or do would ever change that" p277 and suddenly they are closer than ever? Albeit that he STILL refuses to listen to her.
That "relationship" more than anything else ruined any enjoyment I could have drawn from the story but I felt there were a lot of contradictions around sexual (im)morality, corruption, wealth and class. Hulan seemed at first to be likely to be a feminst heroine, having refused to be just a tea pourer and worked herself through the glass ceiling into a decent sort of a job, but she still plays her femininity in a cringing way which the book accepts as natural and unproblematic, and she is also an individual in a very male-centred book (albeit by a female author).
I got this book second hand for $3, and for the price I appreciate some of the cultural and historical learning about China. It is a pity how little I liked the characters, and the extent to which the author chose to foreground Stark even against the more interesting Hulan.
Back to Stark, he is immediately introduced as a very selfish person, whose relationship has broken down because of his coldness and absence, but he seems to feel hard-done by because his ex-wife didn't choose to try to save the marriage by having children he would probably be as absent to as he was to her. Considering they both have careers and he feels like she was small minded for not honouring more his commitment to his, the idea of bringing children into the situation seems ludicrously selfish even for a 90s American white male. And the narrative of the book alludes to this again later in passing, both times completely uncritically, we are meant as readers to take it as reasonable.
Then the way capitalism in the story is presented as a good thing that improves and saves lives (see e.g. p55 "He's bringin modern technology to the countryside and rewarding people who work hard". Actually it is pretty obvious to almost anyone that the lack of labour laws in China (ironic considering the communism) mean that most Chinese poor people work hard and DON'T get anything that could be glorified by the term "reward". This glorification of capitalism is at times undermined, with for example admissions of how the US profits from the Chinese political situation. And at the same time the very descriptive and as far as I know probably accurate descriptions of life under the communist regime argue convincingly that China's answer to poverty and exploitation didn't work too well. But the constant presence of Stark as a white American male who is casual about his privilege over others (for example he keeps pushing Hulan for relationship even when she is saying "no", later he does not listen to her ideas when she knows more about it than he does, he abuses her as "corrupt...foul...revolting"p262 after grabbing her violently and then next chapter redundantly claims "I love you Hulan...nothing you could say or do would ever change that" p277 and suddenly they are closer than ever? Albeit that he STILL refuses to listen to her.
That "relationship" more than anything else ruined any enjoyment I could have drawn from the story but I felt there were a lot of contradictions around sexual (im)morality, corruption, wealth and class. Hulan seemed at first to be likely to be a feminst heroine, having refused to be just a tea pourer and worked herself through the glass ceiling into a decent sort of a job, but she still plays her femininity in a cringing way which the book accepts as natural and unproblematic, and she is also an individual in a very male-centred book (albeit by a female author).
I got this book second hand for $3, and for the price I appreciate some of the cultural and historical learning about China. It is a pity how little I liked the characters, and the extent to which the author chose to foreground Stark even against the more interesting Hulan.