Petulia's Rouge Tin

by Su Tong, Jane Weizhen Pan (Translator), Martin Merz (Translator)

China, early 1950s: Two friends find themselves on their way to a re-education camp for those not adhering to the standards of the new order—working girls, madams, misfits. Who would have anticipated that Petulia, stripped of her silk gowns, would be forced to denounce the Red Delight Pavilion? Or believed that Autumn Grace would cry in desperation as nuns shave off her locks? After years working side-by-side, their sudden goodbye was the first sign of a changing society. Still, the scent of rouge filling their memories keeps them close, despite the twists and turns that life throws at them. Until one day, the promise of love and stability becomes a temptation neither can deny.

Genres: China, Asia, Short Stories, Historical Fiction, Chinese Literature

108 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Su Tong (simplified Chinese: 苏童; traditional Chinese: 蘇童; pinyin: Sū Tóng; born January 23, 1963) is the pen name of Chinese writer Tong Zhonggui (童忠贵 Tóng Zhōngguì). He was born in Suzhou and lives in Nanjing.

He entered the Department of Chinese at Beijing Normal University in 1980, and started to publish novels in 1983. He is now vice president of the Jiangsu Writers Association. Known for his controversial writing style, Su is one of the most acclaimed novelists in China.

(from Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Su_Tong

Reviews

[Kumasama]

*Score: 7/10*

Story is set in 1950s China, about 2 prostitues who are forced by society to adapt and reform to a new life with different professions. The focus is their friendship, as well as their quest towards stability.

Overall, the writing is pretty good, and the story progresses smoothly and keeps the reader hooked. The ending also is good and is a nice reflection of reality in those difficult times for China. The chapters alternate from the prespectives of the 2 main characters and offers enough content on both, with solid characterisation and portrayal of the inner struggles of those characters.

However, the main issue I have had with this novella is the aggravating nature of the characters constant bad decisions that lead them further into misery. In literary fiction, I personally like to have characters that show growth throughout a story, and for their personalities to be more dynamic. Instead, while the characters are well portrayed, they are also very shallow and one dimensional, and they act in ways that truely baffle sometimes, making me less inclined to feel sympathy when more misery comes their way. In particular for a novella to work as an emotional piece it needs to have more dynamic characters to make a lasting impression on the reader.

Overall, I think this is a nice little diversion, and a good book but nothing very special, though I would be willing to read more from this author in the future given the solid writing style.

[Maria]

Commovente. Struggente. Molto crudo.

[Marianna Botticchio]

La storia è ben scritta e scorre velocemente, come primo approccio a Su Tong sono più che soddisfatta.
Questo libro ci parla delle nostre protagoniste che, nel periodo della rivoluzione vengo arrestate e portate nel luogo in cui verranno rieducare. Una storia che, a mio parere va letta almeno una volta, anche solo per curiosità o per leggere cosa passano le protagonisti.

[Marijke]

Een aangrijpend verhaal, dat denk ik een bepaalde periode in de geschiedenis van China, begin jaren vijftig vorige eeuw pijnlijk maar liefdevol weergeeft.

[Susan]

This is a stirring tale of New China, after the communist revolution. It’s more a criticism of the patriarchy than the new government. When two former prostitutes are “reformed” in 1950, their lives follow different paths that later intersect yet diverge again. It’s a sad story and shows how difficult women had it both before 1949 and after.

[Roberto]

Ancora Cina che cambia, ancora storie personali intense in un contesto grande e invasivo.

[Anne-Marie]

2.5 stars

I've had this on my digital shelf for almost 5 years (the only ebook I own) and I'm kind of disappointed now that I've read it.

While I appreciate the thematic explorations of the patriarchy (both systemic and within a marriage's dynamics) and the treatment of prostitutes in 1950s China as part of the first wave of reforms, I just didn't like the characters or the limited space the novella form gave.

Both women were at turns unlikeable, but our titular character, Petulia, was particularly pathetic and emotionally manipulative. Constantly threatening to kill herself to get what she wanted, easily giving up on anything and anyone, emotionally manipulative of her husband (who also wasn't great - he was very pathetic and weak willed), and honestly just a whiner. She might be realistic - there are certainly people like her in the world - but I didn't like reading her story and the limited explorations of her interiority by the author do her and the reader no favours. I don't think Su Tong accomplished what he hoped to with this novella and his approach to the story.

The surrounding historical elements and descriptions were the best parts for me.

[Martina]

In pochissime pagine viene raccontata una storia drammatica, tagliente e profonda. Il modo in cui le vite delle due protagoniste continuano a intrecciarsi e poi separarsi l’ho apprezzato molto, soprattutto per quanto riguarda il fatto che in fin dei conti, nonostante tutto, fossero esattamente uguali: due donne prive di educazione, incapaci di vivere nel nostro mondo, simbolo di un degrado che raramente ho trovato in altri libri.
Estremamente malinconico, una volta che lo finisci rimani fermo fissando il vuoto per un po’ di tempo, chiedendoti quanto fosse stata ingiusta con loro la vita.

[Giulia Maestranzi]

Amo il cinismo cinese.
Un racconto breve estremamente toccante e ironico.
Quanto impattano le nostre scelte su quello che siamo? Ma soprattutto, cambiare dipende solo dalla nostra volontà o anche e soprattutto dal giudizio della società che ci circonda?
Io la penso un po’ come Qiu Yi, alla gente il cuore è stato mangiato dai cani.

[Shiro Mori]

Io ho capito solo una cosa: non sono fatta per la letteratura asiatica. Sicuramente non per questo tipo di narrazione e non per questo autore.
L’ho trovato desolante, senza un tema. Grande grande no.

[Jessica]

La storia di due ragazze che non sono mai cresciute.

[Ina Cano]

cute

[Alessia Guerrieri]

Bello, ma non balla più di tanto onestamente, però consiglio dai, siccome le tematiche di cui tratta sono IPER importanti! Leggetelo, siccome è carino, femminista e super scorrevole :3

[Gabriel Rojas Hruška]

Sharp - cutting really. A consistent tone that occasionally shows concision and beauty can partake the same bite. Lengthy in tale, short on words - a precision so apreciable that it in no way detracts from the tale even without much flourish.