‘The masses are the real heroes, while we ourselves are often childish and ignorant, and without this understanding it is impossible to acquire even the most rudimentary knowledge’(Mao Tse-tung, 1941) Except for the word ‘often’, which Simon Leys would wish to be replaced by ‘always’, this statement is one with which he would agree, because by ‘we ourselves’ Mao means the Chinese Communist Party. In this book, which deals with China in the early 1970s, Leys appears preoccupied with four major concerns: (1) He is a deep lover of the Chinese people (2) He hates intensely everything connected with ‘the authorities’. In his view, everything good about China is due to the people, everything bad to their government.
(3) The author is a great lover of the Chinese Tradition, especially its culture. (4) With very few exceptions he appears to see foreign observers of China as beneath contempt. The book is divided into eight chapters. The main ones are ‘Foreigners in the People’s. Republic’; ‘Follow the Guide’, in which Leys relates impressions of visits to several famous cities; ‘Bureaucrats’; Cultural Life’; and finally, ‘Here and There’, which actually consists of snippets of comments with no connecting theme.
Chinese Shadows by Simon Leys
Penguin Books Australia, $12.95 pb, 220pp.
ABR receives a commission on items purchased through this link. All ABR reviews are fully independent.
If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.
If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.
Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.