Two Views of China:
Two Books by Two Wildly Different Expatriates
Sunday, August 21, 4pm
RMB 65, includes a drink
Missy's China – Letters from Hangchow,
1934-1937 by Doris ("Missy") Arnold
Missy was a "small town American girl"
who came with her family to live in
China during a troubled era.
In a memorable three years she gained
great insight into life in a small expat
enclave surrounded by the culture -
and chaos - of her host city.
She is a keen observer of her little world,
and her two weekly letters home are rich
in the minute details, and the humor,
that enable her family (and the readers) to
experience China through her perceptive eyes.
Peking Sun, Shanghai Moon –
Images from a Past Era by Diana Hutchins Angulo
This is a rare glimpse into the private lives
of wealthy foreigners, first in Beijing
and then in Shanghai.
Through the eyes of a beautiful young girl
we are caught up in a frenetic life of wealth
and privilege, of social activities and obligations,
even as the Japanese begin encroaching.
Supplemented by photos from family albums
and contemporary newspapers, her story gives us
an entrée into the privileged,
glamorous world of old China now long extinct.
Editor Tess Johnston
will read selections from both works.
She hopes to captivate the audience with
that which so entranced her in these two stories -
disparate in both outlook and styles -
that she chose to publish them pro bono
as a set in order to share these unique narratives
with a wider world.
Two Views of China (RMB 300/the set)
will be available in the Glamour Bar,
and thereafter in Shanghai
at the Old China Hand Reading Roomat Shaoxing Lu 27,
and the Deke Erh Art Center
at Taikang Lu,Lane 210 #2B.
______________________________________________________
Maria's Choice Movie Screening:
Park Shanghai
Sunday, September 28, 5:30pm
RMB 65, includes a drink
Park Shanghai, the first feature film from director Kevin Huang,
takes place almost entirely on the roof of a single building,
as a high school reunion party rages on downstairs.
Huang, a promising young director,
wrote the screenplay and shot the film
immediately upon graduating from university,
using his friends as actors.
The film, which received a nomination
at the Moscow Film Festival 2008,
is set overlooking a Shanghai city park,
an oasis of green amidst the city's
labyrinthine highways and towering high-rises.
No comments:
Post a Comment