Red Is Not The Only Color: Contemporary Chinese Fiction On Love & Sex Between Women, Collected Stories

Rating:
Summary: Chen Xue: la creme de la creme
Review: Among the writers in the anthology, Chen Xue is the best. Yes, I am subjective. But I believe she is now the best lesbian writer in Taiwan. Her stories are often sad, but they always empower me. Please read her story in the anothlogy first! Her name is also poetic: Xue means "snow" in Chinese. (Chen, a common family name in Chinese) I adore Chen Xue!

Rating:
Summary: biographical info not accurate
Review: Fortunately I have seen one of the contributors in the anthology, CHEN XUE. She gave a talk at UCLA this spring. After getting lost and finding my way on the campus of UCLA, I finally arrived in Royce Hall, 10 minutes late. Chen Xue is neat. During her talk, she was energetic, articulate and passionate. I was especially surprised how young she looked. With her reputation in writing in Taiwan, she should have been older! But she is young. I have heard that the emergence of queer writing in Asia is exciting, and I am very interested to explore. As a second generation Chinese American lesbian, I would like to know more about the formation on the other side of the Pacific.

Rating:
Summary: I have seen.....
Review: Fortunately I have seen one of the contributors in the anthology, CHEN XUE. She gave a talk at UCLA this spring. After getting lost and finding my way on the campus of UCLA, I finally arrived in Royce Hall, 10 minutes late. Chen Xue is neat. During her talk, she was energetic, articulate and passionate. I was especially surprised how young she looked. With her reputation in writing in Taiwan, she should have been older! But she is young. I have heard that the emergence of queer writing in Asia is exciting, and I am very interested to explore. As a second generation Chinese American lesbian, I would like to know more about the formation on the other side of the Pacific.

Rating:
Summary: Chen Xue: la creme de la creme
Review: I am happy to know this book. The Chinese societies (Taiwan, Hong Kong and China) have many lesbian population, and have many good writers who write lesbian stories. It is exciting to know some of the good stories are translated in English. Therefore lesbian readers in other countries can read these stories and share the happiness and sadness in life with us. I have read most of the stories in the anthology in Chinese, and I believe they are great. I am very thankful to the editor and the publisher. They are so nice to make the lesbian stories from Chinese societies come out. I am very exciting. Among the stories, Huang Bi-yun's "She is a girl and I am also one" is always one of my favorite. It makes me think of my student days. Very touching. Chen Xue is also good, but she has some more exciting stories. I hope I can see more translations of Chen Xue and Huang Bi-yun. It is a pity that the most important lesbian writer in Chinese is not fully translated: Chio Miao-jin. Chio Miao-jin is so great and so powerful. I always feel moving when I read Chio Miao-jin. Chio's "Alligator's Notes" and "Monmarte Last Letters" are my favorites too. But I do not like Hong Ling's story in the anthology. In fact I do not like Hong Ling's writing. Too difficult. There are too many literature technics in her writing, and her writing looks like foreign language. Very boring. Always the same style. I am always boring when I read Hong Ling. But it is OK. I want to see more lesbian stories. Thank you the editor.

Rating:
Summary: biographical info not accurate
Review: I appreciate the efforts on the book, but I am surprised with the bio info toward the end of the book. Sure, the info is supposed to inform the readers. However, many details are wrong. I do not know where the editor collects the details, but many are wrong. The local people will know. For instance, it is obvious that the editor is confused with the several literal media in Taiwan, such as CHINATIMES, UNITAS, UNITED DAILY NEWS. These papers and/or journals are DIFFERENT, but from time to time the editor conflates them. Well, it has nothing to do with scholarship. But it shows that the editor is not a rigours person. Not careful enough.