07-05-2009, 04:04 PM
Found this in the library, was hoping I'd found an interesting new detective series. Not so much. Middle aged woman in Beijing, recently quit being a "cop" for the Ministry of Public Security and sets herself up as an "information consultant" because PI's are illegal. Sounds interesting, right? Not so much -- turns out the mystery in the story is all a red-herring; the only thing she's finding out about is her past, what Mom really did during the Cultural Revolution, why the ex-boyfriend betrayed her and emigrated to Canada, yada, yada, yada. Mostly it's descriptions of life and complaints about limitations in Beijing. Which was interesting for the first 100 pages or so, but I kept waiting for story. And then it just frickin' ended -- no resolution. I know, that's just too Western of me, expecting an actual destination instead of being content with the journey, right?
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.