Chinese authors who write in English

[Luoman]

Can anyone recommend me any Chinese authors who write fiction in English? It seems that the most famous are Amy Tan and Ha Jin. I want to know if there are other good writers. I remember seeing a book by Liu Hong. Has anyone read her books?

[gato]

Here are some that I've enjoyed reading. David Wong Louie and Samantha Chang are both Chinese-Americans, I believe. Ying Chen is a emigree from mainland China to Canada, and she writes in French.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/105-2893932-1916461?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=David+Wong+Louie&x=0&y=0

Pangs of Love by David Wong Louie

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/105-9307851-9010844?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=samantha+lan+chang&x=0&y=0

Hunger: A Novella and Stories by Samantha Lan Chang

http://www.amazon.com/Ingratitude-Ying-Chen/dp/0374175543

Ingratitude by Ying Chen (orig. in French, translated to English by Carol Volk)

[Lu]

Lin Yutang wrote fiction and sanwen.

Jung Chang (Zhang Rong) has written two famous books, although neither are fiction.

If you count Chinese Americans like Amy Tan, there are tons more. I'd try wikipedia for some lists.

Other languages:

Dai Sijie writes in French; Gao Xingjian is in France but I don't know if he actually writes in French.

Holland has Lulu Wang and Yuhong Gong (Gong Yuhong) who write in Dutch.

[Kristyx]

Xiaolu Guo has written a book in English (Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers), as has Geling Yan (The Uninvited/Banquet Bug (Same book-different titles)).

Yiyun Li's first collection of short stories (A Thousand Years of Good Prayers) was written in English and she is writing her first full length novel in English which is due to be published this summer. All are worth reading.

I read one book by Liu Hong but didn't like it too much.

There's also Anchee Min.

[roddy]

There's a Li Yunyi short story on the New Yorker's site currently - I really enjoyed it, am about to see what else of her work I can find . . .

Edit: Just spent money on A Thousand Years of Good Prayers - that's how much I liked the story . . .

[Lu]

Found a few more, if anyone is still interested:

Shan Sa writes in English.

Wang Ping idem dito (there must be hundreds of Wang Pings, but at least one of them writes in English).

Wei Wei writes in French (and quite well, too).

[Meng Lelan]

What stories has Wei Wei written in French lately?

[Alicia]

Lisa See is a Chinese-American writer. I would say her books are geared towards teens, (I found her books in my High School library last year,) but maybe they'd be an enjoyable and easy read for anyone. I liked them atleast.

[rob07]

Shan Sa also writes in French. She has won a couple of Prix Goncourt prizes, although not in the main category.

[miss_China_so_much]

Among those mentioned above, I like Amy Tan and Yiyun Li very much. I also read Xiaolu Guo's novel but didn't like it.

Lisa See is Chinese-American? I thought she had no connection with China or Chinese except she grew up in a China town!

[Alicia]

I read that she's Chinese-American but I'm pretty sure the Chinese is from a few generations back. Her hair is as red as mine.

[Luoman]

What Amy Tan wrote after "The Kitchen God`s Wife" I didn`t like at all. It all reads like a parody or mocking of Chinese culture and gave me a feeling that the author herself really couldn`t stand it and was very depressed with her own cultural heritage. Comared with this, Lisa See`s novels seem more real and more Chinese, although Lisa See herself is more American than Amy Tan.

[Lu]

Seems to me that Amy Tan is just writing the same novel over and over again. Her first one was good though.

And I thought Lisa See is half-Chinese (or quarter, I don't know)? Don't remember where I read that though.

But if we start counting overseas Chinese writers as well the list is going to be a lot longer. Not sure if that is of any use.

[miss_China_so_much]

Seems to me that Amy Tan is just writing the same novel over and over again.

Yes, mother-daughter relationship (both in pre-1949 China and modern American among first and second generations of Chinese immigrates) seems her favourite theme. I am not too impressed by Joy Luck Club (her fist novel, I think), but I love Bonesetter's Daughter! Her latest, Saving Fish from Drawn has a very different theme and I quite enjoyed reading it.

Never read Kitchen God's Wife, so I can't comment

[JenniferW]

I've really enjoyed all the novels written (in English) by Qiu Xiaolong, which are a series featuring a poetry-writing Shanghai detective. They're a lovely mixture of light and serious heavy stuff.

I'd also second the recommendation of Li Yiyun's 'A thousand years of good prayers' - beautiful writing.

I've just been reading short stories and novellas by Eileen Chang, recommended to me by a Chinese friend. She wrote in Chinese and English. The stories are set in the 1930s and 1940s. Some are set in Shanghai in the period of the Japanese occupation. Some are set in the Hong Kong of that time. The opposite of light reading, but well worth the effort.

I'd also recommend Xin Ran's 'Sky Burial', which I just chanced across on a library bookshelf. It's not her most well known novel, but I thought it was very interesting.

I also liked Fan Wu's 'February Flowers', about two female Chinese students - a beautiful and sharp picture which I felt I learnt a lot from as well as enjoying reading it.

Yan Geling's 'The uninvited' is a lovely comedy about someone who cons their way into endless free dinners.

An earlier writer whose short stories I've read in tranlation is Lu Wenfu - the most famous one I think is 'The Gourmet'. Very good writing - and translation.

I loved Da Sijie's 'Balzac and the Little Seamstress', but found the next novel, 'Mr Muo's Travelling Couch' very hard going, and am not sure I'd recommend it.

Edited March 23, 2009 at 10:59 AM by JenniferW
typing errors

[rob07]

An earlier writer whose short stories I've read in translation is Lu Wenfu - the most famous one I think is 'The Gourmet'. Very good writing - and translation.

I had this in a Chinese-English parallel text. I read the translation (by a Yu Fanqin) before I knew any Chinese and I loved it. It remains one of my favourite stories.

Years later I read the Chinese original. It was quite different in a lot of places. For example, I remember there was one extended rant about how evil the Americans were for supporting the Kuomintang. It was not translated. I guess the translator thought - I'm translating this into English for Americans to read, why include something that might offend them. Cultural references (eg comparing someone to the Lu Xun character Kong Yi Ji) generally also were not translated. Quite a bit of dialogue and descriptive passages were simplified or cut.

I really enjoyed reading "The Gourmet" in English too, but quite a bit was lost in translation - at least the one I read.

[JenniferW]

Sorry - I got a bit carried away and included translations in my recommendations. But I've really appreciated this question and the suggestions for new authors to try.

[carlo]

Probably off topic (is this about authors born in China who write in English?) but IIRC Lisa See had a great-grandfather who was born in Guangdong, went to the States and married a European-American girl. So in fractions this would make her something like.... 1/8. Doesn't make her memoir on the Chinese American experience "On Gold Mountain" any less interesting though.

[tooironic]

Having read a truckload of English novels about China, my two favourite would probably have to be "Life and Death in Shanghai" by Nien Cheng and "Red Azalea" by Anchee Min. I'm currently in the middle of the seminal "Wild Swans" by Jung Chang which is a great read, if a little complicated (the cast of characters being about as complex as the Chinese family tree itself). I'd also recommend "Things That Must Not Be Forgotten" by David Kwan and Li Cunxin "Mao's Last Dancer", definitely check them out if you have the chance!

[Lu]

I liked Jung Chang, Wild Swans was the book that initially got me interested in China, which eventually led me to study Chinese, so even though I don't love the book anymore like I did when I first read it, you can say it changed my life. Anchee Min though... after reading her Wu Zetian book I'm surprised that she's capable of writing something that someone would actually like to read. That was one thoroughly lousy book, I never want to read any of her work again. I have Life and Death in Shanghai, thanks for the recommendation, I'll read it a bit sooner perhaps :-)