Water Ghosts

Jun 02, 2007 Gus rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Let me be the first to say: fucking gorgeous.

Aug 16, 2012 Deb Atwood rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ghost-novels, ghost

With Ghost Month starting this week, this is the perfect time to take a look at Water Ghosts. This book was originally published under the title Locke 1928, and until I neared the end of the book, I would have said Locke 1928 was a better title than Water Ghosts. This is one of those novels in which the town becomes a kind of character, similar to Empire Falls by Richard Russo. And indeed, author Ryan paints the town with sensory-rich detail. I visited the tiny delta hamlet of Locke, CA, still e...more
With Ghost Month starting this week, this is the perfect time to take a look at Water Ghosts. This book was originally published under the title Locke 1928, and until I neared the end of the book, I would have said Locke 1928 was a better title than Water Ghosts. This is one of those novels in which the town becomes a kind of character, similar to Empire Falls by Richard Russo. And indeed, author Ryan paints the town with sensory-rich detail. I visited the tiny delta hamlet of Locke, CA, still extant with wooden sidewalks and narrow storefronts and Chinese gentlemen presiding over all.

In creating Water Ghosts, the author peoples this unique location with quirky characters such as the psychic brothel owner who employs white prostitutes for Chinese men.

Through such characters, Ryan explores the tug of old world traditions against new world desires. First wives in China feel abandoned, losing face. Their husbands in Locke forge new lives and turn away from the old ways. Everyone suffers. Unrequited love and unfulfilled dreams abound.

Much of the novel follows Richard whose life intertwines with those of three women: Ming Wai, his China wife who becomes a water ghost; Poppy See, the psychic madam; and Chloe Howell, Richard’s lover and prostitute barely out of her teens who, in turn, loves the preacher’s daughter. If it sounds complex, it is, and the writing is further complicated by multiple viewpoint characters and confusing time shifts. Actually, I began this novel in an audio format, which I don’t recommend. There was just no way I could change lanes, merge into traffic and make any sense of the narrative. As a printed book it works much better though it tends to drag in the middle. The story-telling is so interior, so though-rich that not a lot happens for a very long time. If the author had eliminated just one narrator (I vote for Chloe), the novel would have benefited.

Yet, that said, the ending coalesced with a magnificently rich weaving of myth into story. The repeating water motif is both symbolic and literal and adds wave upon wave of thematic significance. The prose is beautiful and lyrical as in this sample of Richard musing about one of the water ghosts: “The sadness of Tuesday’s song still lingers, drawing up curiosity about what luck or misfortune brought Ming Wai here…When wisps of the song drift through his head, he feels like he’s crouched in the woods without the will to scream, watching a retreating trail of lanterns bob over hills and disappear into valleys” (215).

If you’re in the mood to explore folklore such as The Hungry Ghost Month and Dragon Boat races (a celebration which continues in California to this day), to delve into the ways in which centuries-old Chinese tradition is braided into 20th century western reality, or to mine the history of Chinese American levee workers, you would do no better than to read Water Ghosts.
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Jul 27, 2011 Bethany C added it · review of another edition

I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about this book. When I first started it, the writing style seemed very strange. Present tense, and no quotation marks when people were clearly speaking, almost like one long run-on sentence. But I actually got used to it surprisingly quickly, and helped the book flow so that I seemed to read it faster. Then I was slightly put off and confused by jumping back and forth between years, but after a few times it fit the story as memories shaped the characters. H...more

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May 30, 2010 Maryan added it · review of another edition

Shawna Yang Ryan’s beautifully written and evocative debut is splendid and I am looking forward to her continued career.

Water Ghosts is an exquisitely crafted insight into a Californian community of Chinese immigrants in 1928. Three spectral women emerge on a dilapidated boat out of a mist on the Sacramento River, one the wife of Richard Fong, manager of a local gambling saloon and two who are not known but their presence casts a strange shadow over this male dominated Chinese community.

The app...more

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Nov 19, 2010 Christina rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 17, 2012 Noah rated it 5 of 5 stars

There might be a conflict of interests in me reviewing this book, as the author is my (awesome) former professor. But regardless of the possibility that my opinion was colored by me knowing her, I stand by my opinion that this book is awesome, and easily the best fiction I've read all year.

The plot summary reads like a Chinese-American version of Beloved (and although this book really is its own thing, I draw the comparison because she quotes Toni Morrison’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech): the y...more There might be a conflict of interests in me reviewing this book, as the author is my (awesome) former professor. But regardless of the possibility that my opinion was colored by me knowing her, I stand by my opinion that this book is awesome, and easily the best fiction I've read all year.

The plot summary reads like a Chinese-American version of Beloved (and although this book really is its own thing, I draw the comparison because she quotes Toni Morrison’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech): the year is 1928, and one day in the Chinese immigrant town of Locke, three worn and weary women appear through the mist on the Sacramento Delta. What follows is the reunion between one of the women, Ming Wai, and her husband, Richard, who came to Locke ten years prior. We’re also made privy to the repercussions Ming Wai’s arrival has for the two other women in Richard’s life: a blonde whore named Chloe, and the psychic brothel madam, Poppy See. Drama ensues.

At 254 pages, this isn’t a very lengthy read, although the style in which it’s written demanded that I spread the novel out over a few days. In fact, I needed to re-read the prologue several times before I fully understood what was being done with the language, which I will try to explain now: in addition to using the present tense and lacking quotation marks, as so many novels use these days do, the writing is deliberately spare. It’s a style that calls to mind the word ‘intangible’ because of how much of it was, to me, like a memory: certain details are easier to recall (or, in the case of the novel, are given to us), and from them we extrapolate a “whole,” if that makes sense… These details are planted like seeds, and they blossom into full ideas in our imaginations. You could say all books do this, I suppose, but this one in particular did it more. It’s not a particularly “easy” or “difficult” style, in my opinion, but a lot of the other reviews here seem to indicate that people didn’t like it because of how much more patient and engaged it asked them to be than other novels that do a bit more of the “work” for their readers.

Anyway, whether or not I’ve helped you understand the distinctiveness of the novel’s style, let me just tell you that the results are stunning, and highly effective, demonstrating just how true the “less is more” cliche can be, and how powerful implication can be when it’s done right. I had never read anything written like this before, but to do so was to repeatedly have these moments in which I awed at the effect produced by the language.

Aesthetics aside, Water Ghosts is also a very rich human story about love. It’s not just about love—there’s plenty to be said about the novel’s handling of immigration, racism, the loss of culture, sexual orientation, and feminism, all of which I’ve thought about but won’t write about because it would be way too much for one review—but I think love is the most important topic raised, and the one from which the most pathos is mined. All of the characters (except for Richard, maybe) long for relief from their struggles in the form of another’s affections, and it’s absolutely crushing to see it elude them. In fact, the only character who gets what she’s looking for (and holy shit is she looking for something) takes it by force in the story’s climax. And the gorgeously-written, articulated-with-laser-precision line in which I realized what was happening was like being struck in the heart and lungs.

My complaints are few, mostly revolving around the title, which is kind of a massive spoiler. It was originally published as Locke, 1928, which does a much better job of preserving the mystery of who (or what) the women in the boat are.

One of my favorite passages, with my favorite favorite parts in bold, and my favorite favorite favorite parts underlined…

"Please look at me, she says. He opens his eyes and looks at her. The pallor of her face seems to be fading, even as they move. Her face takes on a color, a luminosity that it had lacked when she first came two weeks ago. She watches him carefully. Her eyes move from his eyes to his forehead, to his nose, to his mouth. She kisses him. His heart slows. The pump, as steady and measured as the ticking of a clock, fills his ears. So slow, he feels blood fill one chamber and push out of another. He feels the muscles contract in their choreographed dance and the blood leave his chest.

"His hands slide off her back and fall to the bed. She puts her hands on both sides of his face and holds him, kisses him. Her mouth is salty. He thinks of the shore, rather than the water. Blood fills one chamber. It pumps out of the other. He’s too weak now to kiss. His mouth goes still and she moves her lip insistently over his. She covers his mouth with hers and he hiccups for breath. He closes his eyes and waits for the waves."(less)

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Jun 10, 2009 Eileen Souza rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: north-america, asia, china

So disappointing - this book has received rave reviews, and received nothing but 5 stars on Amazon. Even good reads has it at 4.57 stars, but it's completely unreadable.

The major flaw here is the fact that there are no quotations around what people are saying - and there's a lot of saying one thing and thinking another.

There are too many characters, and the story is told from each person's ownperspective, but again, I can't follow the thoughts and words because there's no differentiation - and...more

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Aug 23, 2010 Amanda Seats rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Historical fiction lovers.

Shelves: reviewed

This was an interesting read. It was my first Goodreads Giveaway win, so thanks to Goodreads and the ones that opened the contest!

This was a quick, light read, but it was a little difficult to follow. There aren't any quotation marks used when people speak, so it's hard to decide what's spoken word and what is thought. The time-line also jumps around a bit, but eventually, the storyline of the characters unfold and the ending was pretty good.

To be honest, the ending was probably the best part....more

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Aug 28, 2010 Bethany C rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about this book. When I first started it, the writing style seemed very strange. Present tense, and no quotation marks when people were clearly speaking, almost like one long run-on sentence. But I actually got used to it surprisingly quickly, and helped the book flow so that I seemed to read it faster. Then I was slightly put off and confused by jumping back and forth between years, but after a few times it fit the story as memories shaped the characters. H...more

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Aug 25, 2010 Courtney rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: good-reads-first-reads, own, 2010

"I'd give my breath to you." A beautiful line from an absolutely beautiful book.

Water Ghosts is the story of Locke, California, 1928, when three Chinese women appear on the river out of the fog and disrupt the town. Who are these women? Where have they come from? Why have they come? These women become entwined with the lives of the townspeople as the story unfolds. It is a story of love, passion, ambition, and betrayal that feels almost dream-like.

I appreciate the style in which the book was wr...more

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Jan 23, 2012 Florence Primrose rated it 1 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book about a Chinese immigrant community, Locke, in California in 1928. It was short but very disjointed bouncing from 1912 to1928 and back to the 1860s before returning to the 1920s. Very confusing.

Richard Fong Is a successful businessman who frequents the brothel. When he first arrived Poppy was his favorite, but now it is the much-younger Chloe. But then out of the fog in the river come three unknown women, one of which is the wife he left in China ten years before. The...more

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Aug 25, 2010 Kasa Cotugno rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, disappointed, subject-immigration-experience

I wanted to like this book better than I did. The premise seemed intriguing, but the execution was clumsy, the style pretentious. As another reviewer pointed out, I was hoping for more entree and got side dish. There aren't many books out there about the Sacramento River delta towns and the hard lives of their Chinese settlers, and the characters do not have enough breath in their lungs. The descriptions to carry quite a bit of sensual detail, giving a 3 dimensional quality to the4 story, but it...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Marty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ctmh-challenge

A very poignant tale of a small California town where most of the population are Chinese and men overwhelmingly outnumber the women. The story revolves around the present and past experiences of a half-dozen characters, including a manager at the gambling hall, his wife who has traveled from China to reunite with him, his former lover who is the madame of the local brothel, Chloe, a Anglo prostitute and her friend, Sofie who is the daughter of the local baptist preacher and his white wife. The n...more

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Aug 18, 2010 Vanessa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: asian-literature, hist-fic, gay-and-lesbian-lit, women-s-world-lit

This is a beautiful concept of a book and as for the lack of dialogue punctuation, it actually works for me in that it gets the reader to have that sense of disconnect and confusion that plagues so many of the characters in this novel. Whether it is due to gender, culture,sexual persuasion, or obligations, the characters all struggle with something in their lives and how to escape from it or make it better. The use of the Chinese concept of ghosts also adds to the unique approach of this novel....more

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Jul 01, 2011 Jill Paulson rated it 3 of 5 stars

The story is intriguing, no doubt, and while there several things that I really liked about this book, there were a few things that I mildly disliked as well.

Let's start with what I liked.

First of all, the prose is SO beautiful...often quite poetic which was a feast for my imagination. The scenes and characters really came to life as I was reading.

I have always been a fan of cultural and historical novels and this one fits both. There is a very strong infusion of the Chinese culture even though...more

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Jul 27, 2010 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I feel bad because I know Shawna and my 4 star review seems to have brought her average down. So let me clarify what I mean by 4 stars.

I think this is an excellent book. It does a fantastic job of touching on interpersonal relationships within a specific historical context and invoking emotional responses to spiritual/fantasy possibilities. I would recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone. It is not my type of writing, along the lines that Toni Morrison is not my type of writer. Which is to...more

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Jul 02, 2010 Jason Pettus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

One of the biggest pleasures of running this website is the chance to discover new books recommended to me by other writers I admire; take for example California author Jason Riley, who earlier this year sent along to me the novel Water Ghosts by his ~~buddy~~ acquaintance Shawna Yang Ryan, under the belief t...more

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Jun 07, 2012 Megan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: biblioteca

There was certainly some very poetic phrasing in this novel, but I found that I just couldn't connect to any of the characters. Sometimes I choose a book because I am unfamiliar with parts of the subject matter and am willing to read the book with the possibility of learning more about it, such was the case with this book about a 1920s Californian town mostly populated by Chinese immigrants. I mean, am I supposed to feel like I ghosted through this book, because I definitely feel that way.

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Jul 31, 2012 Robyn rated it 2 of 5 stars

I don't normally give up on books, but this just didn't capture me. I've read other reviews and there were so many phrases like, "so poetic, beautiful prose, connection with the characters and story."
Unfortunately, I felt none of this while I was reading it. The writing style is too choppy, too vague, and I just can't wrap my head around not using quotation marks.

If this style of writing is something you enjoy - go for it - but it was not for me.

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Aug 27, 2010 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, north-america

I really enjoyed this book! I didn't expect to, because I did get it for a dollar and the last few Borders $1 books have been awful to mediocre at best. This multi-ethnic cast and intriguing concept are enough to keep you hooked even through the slightly anti-climactic and unsurprising ending. It ended a little too abruptly for my taste, and I feel like the author didn't know how to end it, but it is definitely one of the better books I've read recently.

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May 02, 2011 Kae Cheatham rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical

Chinese American farming community in 1928, near Sacramento. The passions and longings of many of the residents. Excellent language. A mix of mythology and reality. The story occasionally seemed disjointed, as if "trying too hard" to set the tone. I also had trouble differentiating between the many female characters. A character list is at the beginning of the book, but that didn’t help much.

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Jul 04, 2009 Janine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love reading books that take place in towns that I live somewhat close to. I am an Asian American Studies kid so this book was right up my alley. After reading it I went online and looked up everything I could on Locke, California. Shawna's depiction seems pretty accurate and well researched. My favorite character was Poppy See the brothel madam who pretty much can sense your whole life story and your future does by touching or smelling or tasting or any kind of "sensing" of something of yours...more

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Aug 29, 2010 Arlith rated it 4 of 5 stars

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway...

First off, the book is very lovely. There's a lot of really great imagery. I did find it distracting that there weren't any quotation marks used. About a third of the way into the book, I got used to it and it added a dreamlike quality to it.

Smells and scents were mentioned and described quite frequently that, and the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab addict in me was absolutely delighted by it. Then when it was Hungry Ghost Moon in the book, I was thrilled.

Without...more

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Mar 20, 2011 Jennifer Kim rated it 1 of 5 stars

A total waste of time. I don't think I got what the books is supposed to be all about. Too confusing with the chapters going back and forth into different time period WITHOUT letting the reader know that is what's happening. Also, I couldn't connect with a single character. At the end of the book, when the levee broke, I was hoping it would sweep through the whole town and leave it barren so that another set of more interesting people would settle there.

I kept reading, hoping for it to turn and...more

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Sep 16, 2010 Judith rated it 3 of 5 stars

I thought the characters were very interesting and well developed. However, I think the author left a little too much to the reader's imagination. Trying to figure out exactly what was happening was difficult. Read to the end hoping to get some satisfaction but was left hanging. I give it 3 stars because I did like the characters and the basic story.

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Aug 16, 2011 Andrea Allison rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is the first book I've won in a giveaway on Goodreads. The storyline sounded intriguing and couldn't wait to start reading it. After finishing Water Ghosts, my excitement level wasn't so high.

I don't know much about Chinese culture for which I'm unable to comment on, but I found myself liking the story for the most part. I think the style of writing the author chose really throws readers for a loop, or at least it did me. I'm use to reading books where quotation marks identifies dialogue. T...more

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Sep 04, 2012 tbears rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

2-1/2 stars

Like some of the other reviewers, I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I was also confused with the lack of quotation marks when dialogue would suddenly show up especially in the middle of a paragraph. It was written as if the story was told in one long breath. Much of the story is predictable but the haunting tale kept me drawn to it to the end.

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Oct 11, 2009 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This sad story is fiction based on fact that takes place in Locke, CA. (Locke is near Sacramento and was built by the Chinese.) The story deals with Asian culture and superstition that is on occasion difficult to follow. However, I liked the characters in the story inspite of their sad loneliness and longing for love.

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Aug 24, 2010 Kathleen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-won

I really hate to give this book only three stars because it is truly beautifully written. I love the haunting mood of the novel and the use of Chinese mythology and stories. However, I have to add into my rating how enjoyable I found it to read. I tend to love novels that give me characters that I come to care about or at least find fascinating and this novel really didn't provide that. The story was also very hard for me to get into which would have been ok if in the end I felt it had a large i...more

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Dec 27, 2009 Christine rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Terrible! I don't even really know who half of the characters were because the writing was so confusing in an attempt to be artsy or something. It just bored the heck out of me. I rarely give a one. I even throw Danielle Steele a bone and toss her a two, the very rare times I read that tragic broad.

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