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September 2013: Qiu Xiaolong, Death of a Red Heroine

Lets start with a relatively simple question:

Is seeing justice done better than upholding the strict letter of the law?
 
Hmm, I think the end doesn't , at any time justify the means. However much the bad guys deserve what is going to happen to them.
 
Chief Inspector Chen could tell himself, of course, a number of convenient things-that things are complicated, that justice must be upheld, that the Party’s interest is above everything else, and that the end justifies the means.

But it was more than that, he realized: the end could not but be transformed by the use of certain means.

“Whoever fights monsters,”Nietzsche said,“should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.”
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What does the book reveal about the Chinese system of 'guanxi' for which the Western equivalent of 'contact' or 'networking' isn't exactly the same.

What do you think the book reveals about how things work in China?
 
I did once! :p

To answer you question about 'guanxi'. I think that it is a simple concept that is complicated, like how the governing system was described in one of the Chen books; with the power starting with the person that runs the house/block of flats and moving up to the person that runs the street/city block and so on until the top. Simple but not, you can see it in so many other things, like Chinese Calligraphy and art. The design itself is simple a lot of the time but what us behind it is not.
 
It's been a while since I read it. The enduring memory is of just how often Inspector Chen takes a break to eat. He's always eating! It's a wonder the case gets solved.
 
eclair said:
It's been a while since I read it. The enduring memory is of just how often Inspector Chen takes a break to eat. He's always eating! It's a wonder the case gets solved.
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Nothing gets done in China without food or friends :)
 
And be honest, if you could find a reason to eat some of the delicious sounding food in the books, wouldn't you stop and have a quick meal? :)
 
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