His recurring hero, the Inspector Chen, has just been appointed to a higher post but in China reappointment does not necessarily mean good promotion.
From his position as Deputy Secretary of the Party and main dinspecteur it is nen question he has just been named as director of the Shanghai Law Reform Commission. A long title for work and snoring unclear One thing is certain, it will no longer ask, "snooping" with discretion and ask for its investigations and what he saw sassimile to a "shelved" legally.
"Come back in a few days to recover your business, there are no emergency. "They told him the day he is told his new position. He should beware
He decides to take a few days to soccuper the burial of his father, a good son that he is. Probably to take time to get used to what it will have to stand back and wait for instructions as well. His short trip to the cemetery will lead a meeting that will cause a lot of events that he does not will master.
Chen is an old lone wolf, serious, fussy, stubborn and wants the truth. He knows quen China, it is not always easy. His last gap is not without purpose, he understands that he has dug too far in recent cases before it turned busy. It remains quiet but is "having" and narrowly escaped a situation that could have been dramatic. With that, he will be wary, but it will be very difficult as the context is "twisted" maneuvers, corruption, manipulation, dindices disappearances, evidence of transformations
His superiors do not support and Chen needs all its friends, who must also act with discretion, obtaining the information needed to unravel the Gordian knot in which it is stuck.
In China, "which seems just a day proves false the next day." The path of Chen, in this novel, is like that phrase, while chiaroscuro, in nuances. We spend Fat Sub hypocrites with their mistresses, the "ERNAIS" which they use, abuse and thanked them Opera and poetry in a cozy atmosphere. The writing follows this particular rhythm: the nostalgia for delicacies, worms poetic traditions to a certain distaste for those, corrupt, who think Quà money, and pleasures are "forgetful" and disrespectful of the values of this country. Jai loved passages or lived events are compared to and analyzed will boost scenes with a look "artist" (Chen strategy is compared with "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".)
Omnipresent in this book, "the Party" which is a almost a character in itself. One can not doubt the good faith of the Party, we must do everything for the Party. it is there, enveloping everything and everyone in its tentacles, trying to shape the thoughts, imposing "red" songs, slipping everywhere to take the reins.
Jai enjoyed this novel for its atmosphere, its climate, its characters, but also for the discovery of this ambivalent China, divided, torn and where it is so difficult dexprimer his feelings, his emotions as we should be in the standard chosen by the Party . Chen is an endearing man, interesting in its own way dapprocher people, facts, but also for its analysis of the Chinese lived. I think Qiu Xiaolong uses this man for us to transmit love of his country but also his fear that it may be lost.
