Woman of resentment

Author: Eileen Chang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: The backdrop of Eileen Chang's novels is desolation. Eileen Chang's desolation is a pessimistic lament, a sensitive and delicate lament from a woman's perspective. Grand themes such as the era, the nation, and revolution are condensed into a scene or a corner of family life. The vast waves of society are distant and fleeting, while the ordinary joys and sorrows of ordinary men and women endure. It is the twists and turns within these ordinary lives that form the essence of existence.
In Shanghai at that time, people went to bed early, especially in the city, which had not yet been equipped with electric lights. Around 8 o'clock at night, as dusk settled, the sky, turning a deep blue, while the buildings below were dark, like sediment. The hum of human voices also died down. Small shops had closed their doors, and on the cobblestone street, only he was staggering along, carefree, walking from one side of the street to the other, humming Peking opera, sometimes interspersed with a "tigelongdiengdong," representing the sound of a huqin (a Chinese string instrument).
It was hot, so he wore his hair tied at the top and his short shirt unbuttoned all the way down, exposing his chest. He carried a banana fan, swishing it back and forth under his clothes. Passing by a shop, he noticed a square hole left open in the wooden door. It was too hot, so they needed ventilation. Inside the hole, only a banana fan was swaying back and forth under the yellow light.