"A Secret Map of Shanghai" on Strange Horizons
My little allegorical tale of imperialism was up recently on Strange Horizons - http://www.strangehorizons.com/2013/2...
Here's a short review from Locus by Lois Tilton -
A symbolic history of the imperialist making of the city and its remaking as a dominant power. The god of Shanghai, having once been formed by his Western dominatrix goddess, is now in the ascendancy.
Although the text alludes to Western domination by several powers, the name Mrs Plimm strongly suggests the British, as do the references to Kipling. The piece is quite short, poetic in an erotic key; where it might have been conceived as a rape, it takes the form of a seduction, a love story.
“Shanghai is a woman, a beautiful Vitruvian woman,” GG whispered softly, as he traced the city’s contours on her smooth body. “Her head is at Qîngpu, pointing to Sûzhôu, the land of old dreams. Her left hand is at Baoshân Qû, holding the hand of Mâzu, the goddess of the sea. Her right hand is at Jînshân Qû, crushing mountains of gold. Then there is Pudông. Pudông starts where her jade wheel crushes dew and ends with her toes touching the endless, restless water.”
–RECOMMENDED
(from - http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/2013/...)
Here's a short review from Locus by Lois Tilton -
A symbolic history of the imperialist making of the city and its remaking as a dominant power. The god of Shanghai, having once been formed by his Western dominatrix goddess, is now in the ascendancy.
Although the text alludes to Western domination by several powers, the name Mrs Plimm strongly suggests the British, as do the references to Kipling. The piece is quite short, poetic in an erotic key; where it might have been conceived as a rape, it takes the form of a seduction, a love story.
“Shanghai is a woman, a beautiful Vitruvian woman,” GG whispered softly, as he traced the city’s contours on her smooth body. “Her head is at Qîngpu, pointing to Sûzhôu, the land of old dreams. Her left hand is at Baoshân Qû, holding the hand of Mâzu, the goddess of the sea. Her right hand is at Jînshân Qû, crushing mountains of gold. Then there is Pudông. Pudông starts where her jade wheel crushes dew and ends with her toes touching the endless, restless water.”
–RECOMMENDED
(from - http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/2013/...)
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