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Chenxi and the Foreigner
Love in the time of the Tiananmen Square. Anna never imagined living in such a foreign place. Fresh out of high school, she has joined her father, who works in Shanghai. She's eager to see China beyond the bicycle-crowded streets between their apartment, her father's expatriate community and the art school she's attending. That's why she's thrilled when her father hires a cute local -- a fellow student named Chenxi -- to be her translator and guide. Too bad Anna seems nothing but trouble for Chenxi. His ideas about art already rankle the authorities, and he could do without the added attention of being with a wai guo ren -- a foreigner. Even so, he is intrigued by Anna's brashness and the freedoms she takes for granted. But when Anna turns their friendship toward passion, her actions have consequences that are intensified by a watchful regime looking to get rid of disruptive artists. Set around the time of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and inspired by the author's time spent in China as a teenager, Chenxi and the Foreigner crackles with emotion, ideas and authenticity.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
6 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Sally Rippin
800 books226 followersSally Rippin was born in Darwin, but grew up mainly in South-East Asia. As a young adult she lived in China for three years, studying traditional Chinese painting. Sally has over seventy books published, many of them award-winning, including two novels for young adults. Her most recent work includes the highly acclaimed children’s novel Angel Creek and the popular Billie B Brown books, which became the highest selling series for 6-8 year olds in Australia within the first year of their release. Sally is Australia’s highest selling female author and her Billie B Brown books have sold more than 4.5 million copies in 14 languages.
Sally is a popular presenter in schools and at literary festivals both in Australia and overseas and has a regular program on 3RRR interviewing children’s authors and industry professionals. She is a passionate ambassador for the 100 Story Building creative writing centre for marginalized youth and has mentored many emerging writers and illustrators. Recently, she and her partner co-founded Story Peddlers, a hand-made performance tent that packs away into a custom-built bike, with the aim of bringing back the art of the roving storyteller.
Sally is a popular presenter in schools and at literary festivals both in Australia and overseas and has a regular program on 3RRR interviewing children’s authors and industry professionals. She is a passionate ambassador for the 100 Story Building creative writing centre for marginalized youth and has mentored many emerging writers and illustrators. Recently, she and her partner co-founded Story Peddlers, a hand-made performance tent that packs away into a custom-built bike, with the aim of bringing back the art of the roving storyteller.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
May 15, 2011
Here in the West, we take our artistic freedom for granted, forgetting that throughout history - and in other parts of our world right now - men and women have died in the attempt to express themselves honestly through their art.
But, interestingly, there are also artists in our “free” society who censor themselves for fear of the reactions their works may elicit. Our artists may not be physically imprisoned, tortured or executed, but they can be attacked by critics and opponents in ways that deter others from telling the stories they want to.
This week, I read an amazing young adult novel by Sally Rippin, called Chenxi and the Foreigner, chosen for me by the Ink-stained Toe-poker (thanks pal: great pick!). The novel’s theme of artistic freedom is particularly meaningful, because this edition is not the first version to make it into print.
Chenxi and the Foreigner is the story of 19-year-old Australian, Anna, who travels to Shanghai in 1989 to visit her father and study traditional Chinese painting. Struggling to cope with her status as a foreigner, she becomes obsessed with fellow art student Chenxi, who ultimately teaches her life-changing lessons about the nature of freedom, and what it means to be an artist in a culture that forbids non-sanctioned artist expression.
It was one of the earliest young adult novels written by the prolific Rippin, who now has more than 20 books for children of all ages in print. It was inspired by her own experiences as an art student in China, and the people she met there. But nearly 20 years later, she realised she’d sold herself and her readers short.
In the after word in this new 2008 version, Rippin explains she had compromised her original story through her own self-editing, “which is ironic given that this is a novel about artistic freedom”.
She says she was afraid of the parents, teachers and librarians who were the literary gatekeepers of her target market. In that original version, she cut out profanity, sex scenes and “unfamiliar Chinese politics”, for fear her book would be blocked and never reach its intended young adult audience.
She was also not sure she was ready for the potential backlash to her political themes. “I was worried at that time that, if my novel was too obviously political, I might stir up a discussion I wasn’t brave enough to enter into at that age.”
In the new edition, the main character’s name has changed, as has – apparently – the ending. I say apparently because I’ve only read this latest, grittier, version, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s the political context, honesty and realism that make this story so compelling, without being so confronting as to scar its young readers.
The timing of the novel’s re-release this year, when the world’s eyes are on China, might be a coincidence, or a brilliant marketing ploy. Either way, Chenxi and the Foreigner is an excellent novel on several levels: the characters are fascinating, raw and real, and the narrative brings China – and its politics – into sharp focus in a way a detached news report rarely can.
Yes it is challenging, and yes it covers aspects of Chinese politics many young adult readers may be unfamiliar with – and are now likely to explore to better understand Chenxi and his struggles.
And isn’t that what great stories should do?
But, interestingly, there are also artists in our “free” society who censor themselves for fear of the reactions their works may elicit. Our artists may not be physically imprisoned, tortured or executed, but they can be attacked by critics and opponents in ways that deter others from telling the stories they want to.
This week, I read an amazing young adult novel by Sally Rippin, called Chenxi and the Foreigner, chosen for me by the Ink-stained Toe-poker (thanks pal: great pick!). The novel’s theme of artistic freedom is particularly meaningful, because this edition is not the first version to make it into print.
Chenxi and the Foreigner is the story of 19-year-old Australian, Anna, who travels to Shanghai in 1989 to visit her father and study traditional Chinese painting. Struggling to cope with her status as a foreigner, she becomes obsessed with fellow art student Chenxi, who ultimately teaches her life-changing lessons about the nature of freedom, and what it means to be an artist in a culture that forbids non-sanctioned artist expression.
It was one of the earliest young adult novels written by the prolific Rippin, who now has more than 20 books for children of all ages in print. It was inspired by her own experiences as an art student in China, and the people she met there. But nearly 20 years later, she realised she’d sold herself and her readers short.
In the after word in this new 2008 version, Rippin explains she had compromised her original story through her own self-editing, “which is ironic given that this is a novel about artistic freedom”.
She says she was afraid of the parents, teachers and librarians who were the literary gatekeepers of her target market. In that original version, she cut out profanity, sex scenes and “unfamiliar Chinese politics”, for fear her book would be blocked and never reach its intended young adult audience.
She was also not sure she was ready for the potential backlash to her political themes. “I was worried at that time that, if my novel was too obviously political, I might stir up a discussion I wasn’t brave enough to enter into at that age.”
In the new edition, the main character’s name has changed, as has – apparently – the ending. I say apparently because I’ve only read this latest, grittier, version, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s the political context, honesty and realism that make this story so compelling, without being so confronting as to scar its young readers.
The timing of the novel’s re-release this year, when the world’s eyes are on China, might be a coincidence, or a brilliant marketing ploy. Either way, Chenxi and the Foreigner is an excellent novel on several levels: the characters are fascinating, raw and real, and the narrative brings China – and its politics – into sharp focus in a way a detached news report rarely can.
Yes it is challenging, and yes it covers aspects of Chinese politics many young adult readers may be unfamiliar with – and are now likely to explore to better understand Chenxi and his struggles.
And isn’t that what great stories should do?
October 15, 2009
Chenxi and the Foreigner is set in China in 1989, in the weeks before the Tiananmen Square protests. It tells the story of Anna, an eighteen-year-old Melbourne girl, who is visiting her father in Shanghai and taking classes in Chinese painting. There, she falls in love with Chenxi, who is also a painter and engages in counter-revolutionary activities.
I found this to be an incredibly interesting novel. Very few Young Adult books are set in China (even though a fifth of the world’s population lives there), and the way it is described – the people, the places, the customs – seems brutally honest. The setting is very central to this novel, especially because Anna is new to the country, and all of it was compellingly real.
All of the interactions between the characters were particularly believable – the dialogue convincingly real, and each character unique and genuine. Everything seemed like something that could have occurred in real life, and nothing was held back. Chenxi and the Foreigner was to me a really authentic novel.
Anna was a frustrating character. She was stubborn. She was naive. An otherwise fantastic novel, but Anna was a bit of a downer. HOWEVER Anna is a sheltered girl from an affluent country, and her reactions to things, her behaviours and her naivety are all reflective of the way she’s been raised, and what a fish out of water she is in China. There’s no other way she could have been written, and she’s very true-to-life.
One thing disappointed me. It was the ending – not that it was unsatisfactory, but that it was so brief. It was a truly wonderful novel, and I really felt like the ending could have been expanded more, to give it a deserved finished. Apart from the ending, it was a very satisfying and beautifully written novel.
Overall, Chenxi and the Foreigner is a really brilliant book, which packs so much to think about. This is a novel that will really appeal to teenagers who are interested in foreign culture, and books with a bit of substance. I think it’s also a novel that will have a lot of crossover appeal, so adults should check it out as well.
I found this to be an incredibly interesting novel. Very few Young Adult books are set in China (even though a fifth of the world’s population lives there), and the way it is described – the people, the places, the customs – seems brutally honest. The setting is very central to this novel, especially because Anna is new to the country, and all of it was compellingly real.
All of the interactions between the characters were particularly believable – the dialogue convincingly real, and each character unique and genuine. Everything seemed like something that could have occurred in real life, and nothing was held back. Chenxi and the Foreigner was to me a really authentic novel.
Anna was a frustrating character. She was stubborn. She was naive. An otherwise fantastic novel, but Anna was a bit of a downer. HOWEVER Anna is a sheltered girl from an affluent country, and her reactions to things, her behaviours and her naivety are all reflective of the way she’s been raised, and what a fish out of water she is in China. There’s no other way she could have been written, and she’s very true-to-life.
One thing disappointed me. It was the ending – not that it was unsatisfactory, but that it was so brief. It was a truly wonderful novel, and I really felt like the ending could have been expanded more, to give it a deserved finished. Apart from the ending, it was a very satisfying and beautifully written novel.
Overall, Chenxi and the Foreigner is a really brilliant book, which packs so much to think about. This is a novel that will really appeal to teenagers who are interested in foreign culture, and books with a bit of substance. I think it’s also a novel that will have a lot of crossover appeal, so adults should check it out as well.
July 1, 2020
This novel was rewritten from a previous edition, and apparently includes more sex and politics.
The protagonist is an 18 year old girl from California, although her life in San Francisco never comes into focus. She is a child of privilege, and self-absorbed, which is normal enough and can be entertaining in a main character— after all, the Ugly American is a stereotype and one that comes in all ages.
The narrative is suspended (in limbo, unfortunately) between this “American” girl and her Shanghai crush, the honey-skinned titular Chenxi. We do witness events where Anna is not present and that opens up the big question— why don’t we see more of this male character? He is in the title, and looms large, but then just disappears. It might have been better to go with only the girl’s POV, if the boy was going to be so mysterious and disposable. And that would be more realistic in terms of the affair — often we just know what we see.
As a YA novel this was okay. A little bit of history and some life lessons.
The protagonist is an 18 year old girl from California, although her life in San Francisco never comes into focus. She is a child of privilege, and self-absorbed, which is normal enough and can be entertaining in a main character— after all, the Ugly American is a stereotype and one that comes in all ages.
The narrative is suspended (in limbo, unfortunately) between this “American” girl and her Shanghai crush, the honey-skinned titular Chenxi. We do witness events where Anna is not present and that opens up the big question— why don’t we see more of this male character? He is in the title, and looms large, but then just disappears. It might have been better to go with only the girl’s POV, if the boy was going to be so mysterious and disposable. And that would be more realistic in terms of the affair — often we just know what we see.
As a YA novel this was okay. A little bit of history and some life lessons.
June 30, 2015
Es ist was für zwischen durch.
Ich hab das Buch beim Ausverkauf unserer Bücherei mit genommen den der Klappentext hörte sich spannend an, aber irgendwie hat mir die Spannung gefehlt, das Buch war mir zu glatt O.o
Anna will die vier Wochen die sie bei ihren Vater in Shanghai ist auf die Kunstschule gehen, dort trifft sie Chenix und verliebt sich schon Kopf über Hals in den , wer meine Rezis kennt der weiß das mag ich ja gar nicht. Ich habe das Buch dennoch selber weiter gelesen da die Umgebung dort wo Anna war total genial beschrieben war, daher die 3 Sterne.
Dieses rosa Rote Leben was dann beim ersten treffen von Anna statt fand fand ich nervig, gerade da Chenix so kein großes Interesse an Anna zeigt, aber egal immer hin da. Sie selber versteht die Sprache kam und Chenix wird dann eher ihr Begleitet , den er muß das machen, es wurde ihn befohlen und irgendwie nähern sie sich dann doch...dann wieder nicht und dann....ging es zack zack Buch war zu ende .
Wie gesagt es ist was für zwischendurch und das war es von meiner Seite leider nur :(
Ich hab das Buch beim Ausverkauf unserer Bücherei mit genommen den der Klappentext hörte sich spannend an, aber irgendwie hat mir die Spannung gefehlt, das Buch war mir zu glatt O.o
Anna will die vier Wochen die sie bei ihren Vater in Shanghai ist auf die Kunstschule gehen, dort trifft sie Chenix und verliebt sich schon Kopf über Hals in den , wer meine Rezis kennt der weiß das mag ich ja gar nicht. Ich habe das Buch dennoch selber weiter gelesen da die Umgebung dort wo Anna war total genial beschrieben war, daher die 3 Sterne.
Dieses rosa Rote Leben was dann beim ersten treffen von Anna statt fand fand ich nervig, gerade da Chenix so kein großes Interesse an Anna zeigt, aber egal immer hin da. Sie selber versteht die Sprache kam und Chenix wird dann eher ihr Begleitet , den er muß das machen, es wurde ihn befohlen und irgendwie nähern sie sich dann doch...dann wieder nicht und dann....ging es zack zack Buch war zu ende .
Wie gesagt es ist was für zwischendurch und das war es von meiner Seite leider nur :(
May 31, 2022
This book is a brave one, daring to explore the political themes of older China as well as heavy themes such as sex and casual racism. The book is willing to explore how artists do not have the freedom that is considered standard in todays time. The book also makes several references to heavier political themes such as the cultural revolution and the 1989 Tiananmen square incident. With the casual racism, it is commonly used in subtle ways and the use of it in things such as white saviorism evident near the end is just an extreme example of the bravery and extra steps this book takes. Despite the bravery from this book, the books use of language was not my taste and style. How the girl is so caught up in her non existent romantic fantasies also does not seem very interesting and drags on. So despite the romantic side plot of this story, I think it drags the story down slightly. The plot also confuses me and is highly inconsistent. At the beginning, it starts out as trying to get better at art, then it almost immediately jumps to her romanticising about Chenxi whilst still having other plots and changes.
October 29, 2020
Au début du livre, je trouve que l'histoire n'est pas réellement prenante. Mais au fil des chapitres, les personnages font des actions qui nous donnes tellement l'envie de savoir la suite des événements.
Et puis, en commençant ce livre, je ne me serait jamais doutée de cette fin!
Et puis, en commençant ce livre, je ne me serait jamais doutée de cette fin!
December 2, 2019
good but the ending tho
February 2, 2022
had to read for school not the best but i have also read worse
July 7, 2017
"She saw herself in Chenxi's eyes: the privileged foreigner with an endless supply of FEC and wondered if his ambivalence toward her was more about what she stood for rather than who she was. She would prove to him that she was different from the other foreigners. She was not a rich and greedy capitalist like the other expatriates here seemed to be - she was an artist. Like him. She would show him that they had more in common than their differences."
Chenxi and the Foreigner is set in 1989, just weeks before the Tiananmen Square massacre. Anna is an art student from San Francisco studying Chinese painting in Shanghai for a month. She meets and falls in love with Chenxi, a classmate, and fellow artist. Unaware of the political tension and strict government control in China, Anna encourages Chenxi to express his art freely - at a terrible price.
Sally Rippin is a children's author, which is very apparent in her style of writing. Chenxi and the Foreigner is Rippin's first young adult novel but the manner and use of vocabulary in which the book is written made it seem very middle-grade despite the swear words and the sex scene. I'd say the style is middle-grade because the romance between Anna and Chenxi was more of a 'puppy love' one-sided crush. Furthermore, Anna's naïveté, stubbornness, and simple-mindedness made her appear more like a 12-year-old, not an 18-year-old.
I applaud Rippin re-editing the story and for overcoming her fear of having the novel censored. But I felt that she was still playing it safe. Rippin could have explored the controversial issues in more depth and have Anna more immersed in the Chinese culture.
Speaking of which, I despised Anna. Here is my "I-hate-Anna" rant:
She is ignorant and naive. She hates her father for refusing to integrate himself into the Chinese culture yet she remains ignorant of troubles she's been causing everyone around her. She never even bothered to reflect that she was making matters worse for Chenxi. Anna also hates Laurent for apparently no reason other than her jealousy towards his ability to integrate fully into the Chinese society despite being a foreigner. Anna's infatuation towards Chenxi also makes me want to laugh - he clearly didn't like her but she kept throwing herself at him.
Anna is also incredibly stupid. She knew Chenxi's father was killed for being with a foreigner but instead of taking it as a warning, she wanted to prove to Chenxi that they were meant to be together.
Please, she barely knows the guy or speaks his language. Or knows anything about his country or culture for that matter. Or his beliefs and the freedom that he was fighting for. She knows absolutely nothing.
January 4, 2016
Throughout the novel, the character Anna, whom for some reason I thought to be from Australia but is actually from the U.S.A., remains very static. She is extremely selfish and naive about the world. She is originally in China with her father to study art. While at the college for art she meets native Chenxi. Rather quickly she starts to fall for Chenxi, but he seems to grow more and more distant, maybe because of the way she refuses to adapt to his culture. She also meets a French student named Laurent, who likes her, but because of how pathetically absorbed in her own little fantasy world she is, cannot imagine herself with him, and hates him. Eventually she has sex with Chenxi and gets pregnant, but because he is a revolutionist he is never around, and hates her for trying to conform him to American ways. She is to stupid to realize how monitored everything is in a communist regime, and gets Laurent deported, because she writes down personal stuff about people in her Journal. The book ends with her setting next to her child in America still lost in freaking lala land about her and Chenxi, even though people are begging her to stop writing to them in China, because she is endangering them, and she wants to publish a book about her and Chenxi in China, probably without realizing how utterly stupid that is, and how many people that will endanger. She does not develop, and shows a complete lack of regard for the Chinese culture, and doesn't help those she supposedly loves. Awful book if it wasn't for Laurent and every now and again Chenxi with his real world views.
March 21, 2018
Hmm. I'm really happy to read YA set in a place/time I don't know a ton about, but there's not really the growth I would have hoped for in this—even when Anna makes choices that go against her father's prejudiced, Western-centric views, it feels much more as though she's doing it to annoy him than because she actually sees real value in learning about another culture.
The writing is...okay. Kind of flat, and too 'tell-y' in places, especially in terms of background about China. The writing feels aimed at a much younger audience than the content.
There's an odd sort of romance in this book, and I'm not really sure what to make of it. That is: I'm rarely a fan of an unrealistic happily-ever-after, and this is far more complicated than that. But there's also a lot left unsaid about the 'relationship', and I'd have loved more analysis. It seems very one-sided much of the time, and Anna very...well, she's projecting, I guess, but there's also this weird and strong sense of exoticism about her interest in Chenxi, and I wish she'd been called out on it and forced to take a close look at herself and her priorities. And...I'm left thinking that, with the way things worked out, she's going to keep looking back and romanticising this 'relationship' and her role in it, never really learning or caring how wrong she might have been.
The writing is...okay. Kind of flat, and too 'tell-y' in places, especially in terms of background about China. The writing feels aimed at a much younger audience than the content.
There's an odd sort of romance in this book, and I'm not really sure what to make of it. That is: I'm rarely a fan of an unrealistic happily-ever-after, and this is far more complicated than that. But there's also a lot left unsaid about the 'relationship', and I'd have loved more analysis. It seems very one-sided much of the time, and Anna very...well, she's projecting, I guess, but there's also this weird and strong sense of exoticism about her interest in Chenxi, and I wish she'd been called out on it and forced to take a close look at herself and her priorities. And...I'm left thinking that, with the way things worked out, she's going to keep looking back and romanticising this 'relationship' and her role in it, never really learning or caring how wrong she might have been.
December 12, 2009
Anna is so painfully naive and selfish that I hope it's merely the author's portrayal of a single character and not a general depiction of eighteen-year-old foreigners. She makes little attempt at educating herself on her surroundings and its culture; it doesn't even occur to her that people in a different country might possess their own customs and expectations. She is a child in almost every negative sense of the word, lacking the open and accepting curiosity of someone so young, instead pouting and yelling when things become unpleasant for her. And while her romantic interest in Chenxi was initially interesting, what with the cultural divide between them, it quickly became the obnoxious simpering of simple want unfulfilled. After only a barest acquaintance of one, two weeks, she was already scribbling in her journal how she longs to "make him understand that we are meant to be together" (117). Therefore, the sex scene between Anna and Chenxi is unexpected and distasteful--but I think this is evident by Chenxi's emotional distance.
The setting was at least thought-provoking, prodding the reader to contemplate the meaning of freedom, or its void of meaning, when being free thousands of miles away while millions of others are very much not.
The setting was at least thought-provoking, prodding the reader to contemplate the meaning of freedom, or its void of meaning, when being free thousands of miles away while millions of others are very much not.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 19, 2010
To be a foreigner is not an easy thing. But, going to somewhere once foreigners were abandon was harder than just to be a foreigner. Anna travels to Shanghai, China, to study traditional Chinese painting, while her father is a businessman. Anna gets to meet her translator, ChenXi and has to face reality of been called "foreigner" or "Wai guo ren" anywhere she goes. People touch her hair and staring at her. Until, Anna has deep falling in love with ChenXi, and discovers another side of ChenXi. This side is real about him, is about China's politic, is about Anna making a change.
I like the part where it mentions Chenxi is trying to pick out art supplies for Anna. Everything he wants must be perfect while Anna is just looking at him. Yet, I also like ChenXi's personality, as a translator is hard job and in addition of his another important stuff to take care of. He's a helpful young man and thoughtful. Like this kind man, how could Anna not dying to love him?
I would recommend this book to people who like history and politic. The theme of politic is central of the story. Nevertheless, Sally Rippin is based on what she had experienced change into a book for us to read about her past life.
I like the part where it mentions Chenxi is trying to pick out art supplies for Anna. Everything he wants must be perfect while Anna is just looking at him. Yet, I also like ChenXi's personality, as a translator is hard job and in addition of his another important stuff to take care of. He's a helpful young man and thoughtful. Like this kind man, how could Anna not dying to love him?
I would recommend this book to people who like history and politic. The theme of politic is central of the story. Nevertheless, Sally Rippin is based on what she had experienced change into a book for us to read about her past life.
June 30, 2015
Wer es mag... Es ist was für zwischen durch.
Ich hab das Buch beim Ausverkauf unserer Bücherei mit genommen den der Klappentext hörte sich spannend an, aber irgendwie hat mir die Spannung gefehlt, das Buch war mir zu glatt O.o
Anna will die vier Wochen die sie bei ihren Vater in Shanghai ist auf die Kunstschule gehen, dort trifft sie Chenix und verliebt sich schon Kopf über Hals in den , wer meine Rezis kennt der weiß das mag ich ja gar nicht. Ich habe das Buch dennoch selber weiter gelesen da die Umgebung dort wo Anna war total genial beschrieben war, daher die 3 Sterne.
Dieses rosa Rote Leben was dann beim ersten treffen von Anna statt fand fand ich nervig, gerade da Chenix so kein großes Interesse an Anna zeigt, aber egal immer hin da. Sie selber versteht die Sprache kam und Chenix wird dann eher ihr Begleitet , den er muß das machen, es wurde ihn befohlen und irgendwie nähern sie sich dann doch...dann wieder nicht und dann....ging es zack zack Buch war zu ende .
Wie gesagt es ist was für zwischendurch und das war es von meiner Seite leider nur :(
Ich hab das Buch beim Ausverkauf unserer Bücherei mit genommen den der Klappentext hörte sich spannend an, aber irgendwie hat mir die Spannung gefehlt, das Buch war mir zu glatt O.o
Anna will die vier Wochen die sie bei ihren Vater in Shanghai ist auf die Kunstschule gehen, dort trifft sie Chenix und verliebt sich schon Kopf über Hals in den , wer meine Rezis kennt der weiß das mag ich ja gar nicht. Ich habe das Buch dennoch selber weiter gelesen da die Umgebung dort wo Anna war total genial beschrieben war, daher die 3 Sterne.
Dieses rosa Rote Leben was dann beim ersten treffen von Anna statt fand fand ich nervig, gerade da Chenix so kein großes Interesse an Anna zeigt, aber egal immer hin da. Sie selber versteht die Sprache kam und Chenix wird dann eher ihr Begleitet , den er muß das machen, es wurde ihn befohlen und irgendwie nähern sie sich dann doch...dann wieder nicht und dann....ging es zack zack Buch war zu ende .
Wie gesagt es ist was für zwischendurch und das war es von meiner Seite leider nur :(
July 12, 2016
I have mixed feelings about this. I think the story has good bones — a privileged Australian teenager spends some time in Shanghai to study art during the lead up to the Tiananmen Square protests — but ultimately fell flat. It was hard for me to connect with Anna, who is self-absorbed and rather blind to the plight of others. She also lacks any sort of respect for her father, who just flits in and out of the story tossing money at her at every opportunity. You get some sense of the political climate in Shanghai during this time, but I think that could have been taken further. I wanted to know more about how the city looked, smelled, tasted. I’m not sure the twist in Anna’s story, the repercussions of her brief affair with Chenxi, were really needed. It showed some interesting thing about healthcare in China at that time, but ultimately made little difference in Chenxi’s story. Maybe I expected too much.
August 3, 2011
In Sally Rippin's new novel, Chenxi and the Foreigner, teenage Anna sees the chance to travel to Shanghai after her high school graduation as a opportunity to immerse herself in the culture of China and study traditional Chinese painting. When she befriends Chenxi, a young artist with radical ideas and a knack for attracting the attention the Chinese authorities, Anna's actions put her friend in danger and places her under the spotlight of a regime with little patience for disruptive artists. Set around the events of the 1989 Tienanmen Square massacre, Rippin draws on her own time in China to create a powerful love story for young adults that critically examines the repressive regime of 1980s China. Chenxi and the Foreigner makes an excellent choice for smart teens looking for an equally smart read.
June 4, 2013
The most interesting part of the novel is the description of Shanghai in the 1980s through the eyes of a privileged Australian teenage girl. There was political undercurrents, disparity of rich and poor, the privileges given to foreigners, etc. Anna was somewhat aware of all those things, but never explored them. The problem with the story was my inability to connect with Anna. She's incredibly self-centered and immature. That's to be expected of a 19 year old rich girl, but you never see her progress or grow towards the end of the story. There's no "coming of age" at all. At the end of the story, she's still incredibly self centered. Reading the reviews (after I read the book), it's interesting that I'm not the only one who felt this way.
October 18, 2016
I have heard nothing but good things about this book and it is recommended on many reading lists. I don't know what I was doing wrong but I think it is really bad. It is so obvious, I mean getting poked in the eye by a blunt stick is more subtle. "Mr White" - the paranoid, racists, money hungry father. Could you make your views on how we're supposed to read people any more obvious. Nothing in this was surprise - oh, wow, she fell pregnant, what a shock. Everything was heavy handed. I was planning to use this with a class for a look at cultural perspectives but there is nothing here worthy of study. It is all cliché.
I would happy for people to tell me I read it wrong because surely I must have. So many people love this - what have I missed?
I would happy for people to tell me I read it wrong because surely I must have. So many people love this - what have I missed?
Read
May 21, 2019love this book.
from drama to to status and race. i mean i didn't know how society works until the author which was based on true events. the girl Anna in this story was an american high classed rich girl of a respected business father. both her and her father moved to china for the summer for business. Anna also came to study arts and crafts. the guy chenxi was her tour guide and translator. he taught her everything she needed to know about the cultural, rules, and respect. soon they became close friends but her father wasn't too fond of him because of his status and race. Anna got to meet his family who were happy to help her and chenxi on a school project about the city. they both soon fall in love and she got pregnant for him. since their separation shes been looking for him
from drama to to status and race. i mean i didn't know how society works until the author which was based on true events. the girl Anna in this story was an american high classed rich girl of a respected business father. both her and her father moved to china for the summer for business. Anna also came to study arts and crafts. the guy chenxi was her tour guide and translator. he taught her everything she needed to know about the cultural, rules, and respect. soon they became close friends but her father wasn't too fond of him because of his status and race. Anna got to meet his family who were happy to help her and chenxi on a school project about the city. they both soon fall in love and she got pregnant for him. since their separation shes been looking for him
July 21, 2015
Picked this up at a library book sale, wasn't a fan of it at all.
Anna was a terrible person, so ignorant that it felt like she was intent on ruining everyones' lives, including her own. She constantly whines about not being able to understand people, but as far as I remember, she only learns like three words of Chinese after being there (and in a school) for a month. She hates on Laurent all the time, but it seems like he might be a better guy than her precious Chenxi. After all, he's the one who takes her to the doctor after she gets pregnant. Which also, her keeping the baby was a little creepy in a "I'll always own a piece of him" sort of way.
Anna was a terrible person, so ignorant that it felt like she was intent on ruining everyones' lives, including her own. She constantly whines about not being able to understand people, but as far as I remember, she only learns like three words of Chinese after being there (and in a school) for a month. She hates on Laurent all the time, but it seems like he might be a better guy than her precious Chenxi. After all, he's the one who takes her to the doctor after she gets pregnant. Which also, her keeping the baby was a little creepy in a "I'll always own a piece of him" sort of way.
November 2, 2011
This book is full of heart. It's a great young adult read, because the author had the sense to set it in another country in a controversial situation. At first I was a bit doubtful about it, as Anna didn't seem like the kind of person you'd want to write a book about. Chenxi wasn't much better. As the story went on though, I got to know them better and and saw what they saw. The only thing I couldn't understand was Anna's overwhelming conviction that Chenxi was the guy for her. That seemed a little fake. But, overall, fantastic!
January 9, 2015
I picked up this novel as I have been reading the authors children's series with my daughter. Having been to China in the late 1990s a lot of what the author wrote really resonated. I remember the frustration of living in a bubble unable to understand the language or even read a sign.
The author has updated this novel so make sure your version is recent. Also from reading the reviews the main character seems to be either American or Australian. I am unsure if this is due to the updating of the novel.
The author has updated this novel so make sure your version is recent. Also from reading the reviews the main character seems to be either American or Australian. I am unsure if this is due to the updating of the novel.
December 17, 2014
J'ai très vite accroché à l'histoire et on s'attache très vite aux deux personnages principaux, même si on ne comprend pas toujours les réactions de Chenxi tant qu'on ne connait pas son histoire. Ce livre m'a fait découvrir la Chine tel qu'elle l'était au moment de Tian'anmen et tel qu'elle doit l'être actuellement.
February 7, 2011
The level of privilege (not to mention cultural inaccuracies) in this book is driving me up a freaking wall. How much sushi do I get for Ugly American falls for Mysterious Chinese Artist in immediately pre-Tiananmen Square China memoir masquerading as teenlit?
May 20, 2012
Interesting viewpoint of a foreigner in Shanghai - how they are received, their assumptions of freedom and rights and the realities of life of Chinese living in communist Shanghai.
Some young adult concepts include drug use, sex, violence, with the main protagnists being 18/19 years old.
Some young adult concepts include drug use, sex, violence, with the main protagnists being 18/19 years old.
March 6, 2009
For professional review.
August 10, 2011
A sweet, easy-to-read story. The ending was disappointing.
Want to read
July 13, 2012If someone ever bought me this book! I can't find it in any library in Brampton! I found once in a library in Toronto though. But, I didn't get to finish it and the part I did read was pretty good.
January 9, 2012
I LOVE CHENXI AND THE FOREIGNER !!!!!!!!!!!! <3
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