Reviews for When Red is Black (Inspector Chen Cao Series #3)

The average rating for When Red is Black (Inspector Chen Cao Series #3) based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-09-25 00:00:00 Donald Woods I loved the previous entries in this series, however this one didn't quite engage me to the same level. The story seemed to plod just a bit. However, learning more about Chinese culture was truly interesting. Additionally, the food was as intriguing and mouthwatering as usual. Inspector Chen Cao is also a poet and it is a treat to listen to the narrator read the poetry that is included. I also enjoyed learning about the network of people swapping forbidden literature, in an underground book club of sorts. New books obtained from "outside contacts" were prized and passed clandestinely from member to member. Each person had just one day to read the book before passing it to the next person. Favorite lines: "People here still seemed to be covered with the dust of the past, just like the Shikumen building itself. To be more exact, they were still living in the shadow of the Cultural Revolution. The government called on the people to look forward never turning their head back." "She had long since accepted the truism that happiness comes only n contentment." I thought about this as I walked my dog while listening. "The clouds eager to make your dancing costume, the peony, to imitate your beauty, the spring breeze touching the rail, the petal glistening with dew........ " by Tang dynasty poet Li Bai.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-05-26 00:00:00 M.c. De Voogd What a great book. I love Xiaolong because he gives me an insight into an alien world - all the more fascinating because it is a world that actually exists; China. A former Red Guard is found murdered. Known for a book she has written about the Cultural revolution, her death could be an embarrassment for the State - they can already see the headlines "Dissident Dies!". Inspector Chen has taken time off to carry out a very lucrative translation so Yu investigates. This book is actually about the nastiness of the Cultural Revolution and the present-day pains of a China which has abandoned Maoism for a society based on the old, equally questionable values of a society based on contacts, nepotism and social unfairness. The book is almost depressing as one reads about the living conditions of the ordinary Chinese, of the loss of status of men and women who once played their part in trying to create a better world and seen their hopes, dreams and sacrifices ripped apart. Somehow they struggle through the unfairness of the world they find themselves in. Food plays an interesting side-role and gives us another dimension through which we can view this world. Reading this book I kept thinking back to other books which tried to depict the unfairness of society and of the struggle of individuals to carve out some sort of future and my thoughts constantly returned to "Man's Estate" and how little has really been achieved by the Chinese in this century.