Qiu Xiaolong
Author of Death of a Red Heroine
About the Author
Qiu Xiaolong teaches Chinese Literature at Washington University.
Image credit: Louisa Lim
Series
Works by Qiu Xiaolong
Treasury of Chinese Love Poems: In Chinese and English (Hippocrene Treasury of Love) (2003) 17 copies
The Inspector Chen Collection 1-3: Death of a Red Heroine, A Loyal Character Dancer, When Red is Black (2015) 3 copies, 1 review
Amour, meurtre et pandémie 2 copies
2005 1 copy
2004 1 copy
Il dossier di Wuhan 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Qiu Xiaolong
- Legal name
- 裘小龙
- Other names
- 裘小龙
- Birthdate
- 1953
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- China
- Birthplace
- Shanghai, China
- Places of residence
- Shanghai, China
St. Louis, Missouri, USA - Education
- Washington University (PhD - Comparative Literature)
- Occupations
- novelist
poet
translator
literary critic - Awards and honors
- Edgar Award nomination (best first novel)
- Short biography
- Qiu Xiaolong was born in Shanghai. The Cultural Revolution began in his last year of elementary school, and out of school, out of work, he studied English by himself in a local park. In 1977, he began his studies at East China Normal University in Shanghai, and then the Chinese Academy of Social Science in Beijing. In 1988, he came to Washington University in St. Louis as a Ford Foundation fellow to do a project on Eliot, but after the Tiananmen tragedy of 1989, he decided to stay on. He lives there still with his wife and daughter.
Members
Reviews
Death of a Red Heroine (Inspector Chen Cao #1) by Qiu Xiaolong
When a nude body is found in a canal near Shanghai, China, Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Special Case Squad, Homicide Division, Shanghai Police Bureau and his deputy, Detective Yu Guangming, take on the case. However, when it is discovered that she is Guan Hongying, a “national model worker” a role model for work and life, they are cautioned by their superiors to be extra sensitive in pursuing this case. Politics plays heavily in the whole plot and investigation. The politicians were portrayed with a sort of overreaching menace. This was an interesting look at China in the 90s, a country in transition. I definitely appreciate my own advantages after reading this. The developing relationship between Chen and Yu was most interesting, coming from such different backgrounds. There were some great secondary characters, but aside from Peiqin, Yu's wife most of the women in the story did not fare well. The murderer was not a big mystery, but weaving their way to justice was a well developed plot.… (more)
I enjoyed hearing the author read some of these poems at an event I attended. I may have to read the Inspector Chen mysteries for greater context, but helpfully, many of the poems here have a short explanation after the poem describing the circumstance that inspired Inspector Chen to write them.
Better than the first book in the series. Inspector/Poet Chen searches for a woman who has disappeared. Via the mystery, the author explores China's dive into capitalism and its attendant issues such as inequality, human trafficking, gangs, political corruption and the treatment of women. Really enjoyed the poetic interludes and the descriptions of the Shanghai geography and food. If you like Donna Leon's Brunetti series, you'll probably appreciate this one.
Bit heavy on the poetry, but it added to a fairly standard plot & characters with a nice Chinese flavor
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Statistics
- Works
- 35
- Also by
- 1
- Members
- 4,860
- Popularity
- #5,169
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 219
- ISBNs
- 292
- Languages
- 13
- Favorited
- 7