Raise The Red Lantern
(Su tong)
A cruel, intelligent, wonderfully written tale about China in the 1930?s. Su Tong bravely writers about a man and his four concubines, whose only pastime is competing about who gets to spend the next night with him, using any and all possible means at their disposal. Songlian, the fourth and latest concubine, and also the heroine of the story, never thought that she could belong to this group of women, until his father loses his job, slits his wrist in a bout of self-pity and thereby robs his family of their livelyhood. Songlian?s family can no longer support a female student, and she must, therefore, choose between work and marriage. She must also consider carefully whether to marry a rich man or a poor man, since she would be a poor man?s only wife, but if she marries a rich man, she will only be a concubine. As the story progresses, we realize that an easy life in a huge house, yet being valued about as much as a dog, may not after all be the best choice, even for someone a bit lazy. Songlian is young, only 19, and a bit lost in her own feelings. She finds herself as the wife of a rich, lustful man. Having servants, food and leisure is wonderful, but Chen, her new husband, seems to like women as much as he likes money. Money is quickly running out, but the number of women in the household is only increasing. It is clear than four women cannot live under the same roof without gossiping and conniving. And if we add a man who decides their position in the hierarchy based on whom he happens to prefer, a man who belongs to all of them, yet only to one per night, who loves all of them?occasionally. Add also a bit of alcohol, cute music teachers from whom the frustrated wives seek solace, servants sick of the way they are treated, who practice voodoo in order to get back at the mean mistresses of the house. Add game nights, birthdays, Buddha and the well of death, where the women who have been unfaithful mysteriously disappear. Then add some red lanterns - and we have the makings of a story that vividly brings to life this era of Chinese history.
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