FREE THE MAO CASE PDF Qiu Xiaolong | 304 pages | 23 Jul 2009 | Hodder & Stoughton General Division | 9780340978597 | English | London, United Kingdom Mabo v Queensland (No 2) - Wikipedia Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police The Mao Case is the head of the Special Case group and is often put in charge of those cases that are considered politically "sensitive" since, as a rising party cadre, he's regarded by many The Mao Case reliable. But Inspector Chen, though a poet by inclination and avocation, takes his job as a policeman very seriously, despite the pres Chief Inspector Chen Cao The Mao Case the Shanghai Police Department is the head of the Special Case group and is often put in charge of those cases that are considered politically "sensitive" since, as a rising party cadre, he's regarded by many as reliable. But Inspector Chen, though a poet by inclination and avocation, takes his job as a policeman very seriously, despite the pressures put upon him from within The Mao Case without, and is unwilling to compromise his principles as a policeman in favor of political expedience. The party, increasingly leery of international embarrassment, is unhappy about two recent books that place Mao in a bad light. Even though there is no evidence that such even exists, Chen has been charged to infiltrate her social circle, determine if the feared material exists and, if it does, retrieve it quietly. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. Published March 3rd by Minotaur The Mao Case first published More Details Original Title. The Mao Case Chen Cao 6. Shanghai China. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Mao Caseplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Warning: possible spoilers ahead As a whodunit, the sixth Inspector Chen novel is a vast improvement on the first book. The first book already has elements that elevate it above the usual police procedural vivid, at times noir-ish portrait of Shanghai and other Chinese locales; intimate, occasionally gritty observation of the daily lives of Chinese people from all walks of life; commentaries on the oppresive, self- censoring political climate under the Party but the mystery plot felt ten Warning: possible spoilers ahead As a whodunit, the sixth Inspector Chen novel is a vast improvement on the first book. The first book already has elements that elevate it above the usual police procedural vivid, at times noir-ish portrait of Shanghai and other Chinese locales; intimate, occasionally gritty The Mao Case of the daily lives of Chinese people from The Mao Case walks of life; commentaries on the oppresive, self-censoring political climate under the Party but the mystery plot felt tentative, and ultimately rather unsatisfactory. In this one, Qiu Xiaolong has finally succeeded The Mao Case integrating those elements with a page-turning mystery plot. A common The Mao Case that runs through the two novels is the hunt The Mao Case objects or people who might embarrass the Party or its titular god, Mao Zedong. In this novel, the hunt soon becomes an exploration of Mao's personality through the poems that he wrote. Being a poet himself, Inspector Chen is uniquely suited The Mao Case such an investigation, and the result reveals that the Great Helmsman was not only as full of hubris as Cao Cao, but also a monster who discarded his women like used-up tissues and betrayed his comrades for the pettiest of reasons. With T. Eliot, the personal went into a poem, into the manuscript of The Waste Land, but with Mao, the personal became a disaster for the whole nation. Both have left deep scars in the psyche of the nation, symbolized by the antagonist's pathological Mao obsession. In the end, the possibly incriminating objects remain elusive, but it doesn't matter: everybody already concluded The Mao Case Mao was a monster anyway. Where there is nothing, there is everything. View 2 comments. Cultural Revolution, Red guards, Triads, jaded film stars and crumbling mansions, backstreets, noodle shops, old ramshackle streets contrasting with the new Shanghai. A society that, on the surface, appears to be undergoing great changes, an apparent liberation. People relax and The Mao Case in their illusions - the yellow brick road leads to tanks on Tianaman Square and to the gulag. Now, I may be overdressing the cake a bit too much but I cannot help the thoughts this book inspired. It is full of peopl Cultural Revolution, Red guards, Triads, jaded film stars and crumbling mansions, backstreets, noodle shops, old ramshackle streets contrasting The Mao Case the new Shanghai. It is full of people going about their lives in what looks like a degree of freedom and normality but the truth is that their stomachs are clenched in anxiety as they dance round each other. A society full of fear, caution, of looking over your The Mao Case, talking in whispers in the dark. A society where one bit of information gleaned from The Mao Case sources can still lead to your destruction. And then you have to think about the hero, the policeman who has to carry out his The Mao Case, his investigation, trapped between Charybdis and Scylla; what is permitted and what is necessary. There are suspicions that the girl may be in possession of something that could be compromising to his reputation and hence harmful to the State. The investigation turns up a The Mao Case group of characters; there is a sense of alienation, decadence and artificiality in their relationships as if they are suspended in honey. About halfway through there is a murder And how strange a culture, so unlike our own. Almost all conversations have multiple meanings as if the characters are talking in code - or rather could be talking in code. Literary quotations are used to punctuate the conversations so that it is hardly surprising that other meanings are sought in the most banal discussion. It is all very considered - there seems to be no spontaneity at all. In a The Mao Case where once every move, every word could be interpreted in a way that would have grave ramifications for you and your family, perhaps this considered game-playing is a sound defensive tactic. I know the feeling to some extent because I had a job once that was full of internal political battles, with its spies and levels of correct behaviour that just had to be followed - to the letter! And now the thought strikes me how strange it is that the aliens are actually here amongst us, sharing our planet. Is it really like this? The Mao Case alienates itself from the rest of humanity through its culture. The strength of this book lies in the windows it opens onto this alien world, enabling us to glimpse it in little snatches. It is like some dysfunctional dream If The Mao Case is all there is then some people have so much to answer for - and never will. The long shadow of Chairman Mao haunts each life, having touched and tainted all involved. View The Mao Case comment. This feels like the heftiest of the Chen novels so far - the one with the greatest direct criticisms to make of China's history sinceand the most complex examination of who was being taken care of, and The Mao Case was being left behind, in the upheaval of the s. There was a lot here to feast on - the reminiscences of s Shanghai; the details of how different groups were treated during the Cultural Revolution; the fortunes of those who rode high with Mao; the effects of his policies on Chin This feels like the heftiest of the Chen novels so far - the one with the greatest direct criticisms to make of China's history sinceand the most complex examination of who was being taken care of, and who was being The Mao Case behind, in the upheaval of the s. There was a lot here to feast on - the reminiscences of s Shanghai; the details of how different groups were treated during the Cultural Revolution; the fortunes of those who rode high with Mao; the effects of his policies on China today. The Mao Case, as ever, Chen's quotation of classical Chinese literature contrasted sharply with Mao's attempts to wipe away all that had come before him. Still, I disliked the murders of young women again - especially murders with explicit sexualized components. I especially disliked that one, in particular, could have been prevented. In concert, I wish Chen would fully break down or fully recover - this in- between state he's existed in for the last couple of books is deeply perplexing. Perhaps that's as much because I don't know how the Chinese would process problems of mental illness, or handle stress within a familiar cultural paradigm. Chen's previously talked about how there's no therapy in China. But therapy aside - there are surely traditional practices to restore balance? And is that the point - that as a modern Chinese man who doesn't believe in Buddhism or Confucionism or much else, to tell the truth, he has no means to negotiate his modern life? Feb 17, Ram Kaushik rated it really liked it Shelves: mystery.