Peach Blossom Pavillion

I’ve read this book 3 times throughout my life, I never get tired of the adventurous story. Ming mei yips storytelling is emotional, funny, and really makes you attached to the characters. I don’t understand why this book doesn’t have more positive reviews, I really think it’s one of the best books I’ve read.

I was immediately fascinated by this narrative of a world we in the modern West can barely imagine. It kept me reading with its many turns of plot. Many areas of life in early modern China are seamlessly woven into the plot: the sad fate of children whose parents cannot afford to feed, life in an upscale brothel with clients who are rich and powerful, yet boorish, the friendships that develop between the women who console themselves with artistic cultivation. An unexpected part of the plot, which I will not reveal, is how the heroine's mother is transformed by her life as a Buddhist nun in a completely unexpected way. The Buddhism described by Yip is as it really existed in China, not the prettified version presented to the contemporary West. This may be discomfiting to some who want to believe Buddhism is the perfect religion. However, the authentic voice of Buddhism, apparent in this novel, always values seeing through illusion to face the difficult facts of human existence. Daoism also plays its part and we see how this too, in its use of sex as path to enlightenment, limits the role of women to their sexual function. Sex plays a central role throughout but always advancing the plot and dramatizing its variety. This book has an absorbing plot and keeps one turning the pages. Yet unlike Memoirs of a Geisha, to which it has been ignorantly compared, it goes far beyond easy exoticism. Whether you want an enjoyable read or a pleasant way to learn about aspects of Chinese culture that are little know in the West, such as the art of qin or the ways calligraphy was used to confer power, this is a wonderful book that I cannot recommend too highly.

Having read a review in the Sunday paper I asked my wife to buy the book for me. (Hence, this review is under her name.) I'm glad she did. This was one of the best novels I have read in ages. This was a "no put down" book. I devoured all 421 pages of this fascinating novel in four readings. Ming Mei Yip's writing style and the story that unfolded from her pen had me spell bound the entire time. "Peach Blossom Pavilion" is the story of the ten year adventure of the principal character, Xiang Xiang (Precious Orchid). It starts with Xiang Xiang being given up by her mother as a innocent 13 year old imp to the surprised harsh life in the Peach Blossom Pavilion. She quickly gains the status of a favored courtesan in early 1900 China. We are taken on a stunning ride of all the characters that enter her life and the peaks and valleys she endures and eventually her quest for revenge and to escape the life of dare I say, a "whore". Upon reading the book to its end the reader will come to realize that there is more to be told and will be left begging for more. A sequel is a must. Truly worthy of a TV mini series.

I am not a literary expert, but just your everyday 'joe' who loves a book that moves quickly and keeps my attention. Peach Blossom is such a book. Actually, I took quite a few days of delayed reading because I did not want it to end. Mingmei Yip captures my attention with the first page and holds it until the last page. Xiang Xiang, the main character comes to life and makes me laugh, cry and smile. The story was fairly predictable but this was not a bit disturbing to me. Mingmei's description of Xiang Xiang's qin and pipa playing brought music to my ears. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast paced romance read and especially to those interested in life in China. I can't wait to read another Ms Yip book.

This is a bold, honest and sometimes startling novel, reflecting the harsh phenomenon of prostitution pavilions in China without sugar-coating it. The sweetness comes in the rich details of setting and the brighter side of Chinese culture--art, literature, music--and in the relationships, especially the tender friendship of Xiang Xiang (Precious Orchid) and Pearl. I loved the opening, and the way in which the author uses the aged courtesan's point of view to characterize her great-granddaughter and fiance. Precious Orchid sees that the young people's passion is more for the book they are writing about her than for her life of suffering. She handles it with the same light touch by which she has survived in a world not of her choosing.The juxtaposition of beauty and brutality kept me turning page after page until the young Xiang Xiang's life as Precious Orchid came full circle in a touching and satisfying end.

Anyone who has read my reviews of books about China knows I do not bestow praise lightly. Too many books are written by authors with only a shallow knowledge of this ancient culture. Hard as I am to please, this novel pleased me more than any other work of fiction I have read in years. I cannot imagine that any reader could fail to be beguiled by its heroine, Precious Orchid. Yip has done what would be impossible for most novelists: create a multidimensional character who maintains her innocence in the most corrupt of circumstances, even as she carries out a plan of revenge that could only have happened in China. Precious Orchid is an waif, a highly sought-after courtesan, a Buddhist, a master of the guqin (the most refined of all Chinese musical instruments), a filial daughter and, eventually, an American matriarch. But these subtleties and the historical accuracty do not keep Peach Blossom Pavilion from being a page-turner. It is that now rare species: a literary novel that will keep you up all night. There have been other recent novels about prostitutes, such as Memoirs of a Geisha, but only Peach Blossom Pavilion has characters who will stay in your heart forever.