In , the Chinese in California lived in the shadows. Their alien customs, traditions, and language hid what they valued from their neighbors . and left them.
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- In the Shadow of the Cypress - Thomas Steinbeck - Google Книги
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- In the Shadow of the Cypress
This striking debut novel by a masterful writer weaves together two fascinating eras into one remarkable tale.
In the Shadow of the Cypress - Thomas Steinbeck - Google Книги
In the Shadow of the Cypress depicts California in all its multicultural variety, with a suspense that draws the reader inexorably on until the very last word. Read more Read less. Customers who viewed this item also viewed. Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1. Down to a Soundless Sea: Stories Ballantine Reader's Circle. In Search of the Dark Watchers: Landscapes and Lore of Big Sur. What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?
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About the Author Thomas Steinbeck began his career on the s as a motion picture cinematographer and photojournalist in Vietnam. Brilliance Audio; Unabridged edition August 11, Language: Related Video Shorts 0 Upload your video. Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features: Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. There was a problem filtering reviews right now.
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Please try again later. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. For those who have enjoyed John Steinbeck's works, I can assure you, this lives up to the Steinbeck name, which I can't believe I'm saying, because I have always felt that John is the greatest American novelist that I have read. I can not wait to start my next Thomas Steinbeck novel!! One person found this helpful. When he speaks of landing at the Watsonville airport I smiled ear to ear. So fun to read a book from my area of the world and to read something of value.
I find stories of the Chinese life in America to be very compelling. How they relied on each other and succeeded despite such fierce racism is wowing. I had heard an interview, given obviously prior to his death, and became interested in the subject matter covered in this book The Chinese, who have gained an intimate knowledge of earthquakes over the centuries, have been manufacturing unique earthquake prediction and measuring devices for over eight hundred years, and simple versions of these devices were often kept in local temples, and watched over by monks or priests.
If one made their livelihood from, and or lived near the sea, common knowledge dictated that a strong earthquake was usually followed by dramatically unusual, and lethally dangerous, tides and waves. To be caught between land and sea at such a time is akin to being placed between millstones. Chinese fishermen often chose the lesser of two evils, gathered up their families, and put to sea if there was time, it was hoped that this precious interval might be supplied by the quake prediction devices.
At a reasonable distance from shore, a tsunami is little more than a series of very large swells traveling outwards like pond ripples. But to check off the question, it was reported that a great many crowded sampans were afloat on Monterey Bay the morning the famous quake struck. Without better information for or against the reasons, I simply extrapolated their purpose and presence from existing sources concerning known Chinese folk technologies. The Chinese also paid very close attention to the conduct of their domesticated animals for hints of impending earthquakes and monsoons. You appear to have a rich knowledge of Tong culture and complex Chinese rituals.
How much of this knowledge comes from research and how much from experience? How do you balance research and creativity in your writing? I would hardly say that I have a rich knowledge of anything in particular, but I do seem to be burdened with an unseemly appetite for intellectual and artistic erudition, which, for the sake of balance, I keep well harnessed to a reliable sense of the absurd.
I just followed the obvious historical implications and allow my readers to make up their own minds. After all, they have every right to expect me to do my half of the job, while I expect them to do theirs. And when it comes to balancing such mutually paradoxical elements as history as written by the winners , and social research as compiled by academics , literary license must take a supporting role when highlighting the interface.
To that degree, I believe the creative element and the historical perspective merge and become the same creature for the purposes of the story. However, I have never done anything in the accepted manner. One way or the other, errors will be corrected by better minds than mine before the work goes to print. But that instinct is often tempered by circumstances that influence individual experience and background.
For an illiterate Ukrainian or Irish peasant farmer, born into centuries of serfdom and unending toil, and lacking all sense of history beyond a few passages recited from the Bible and possibly the names of his grandparents, becoming an American and belonging to the greater wealth of potential was a true blessing sent from heaven, and as such, it was to be wholly embraced without question, if not complaint.
Belonging brought benefits unknown to their ancestors, notwithstanding the fact that life in America was often a very difficult, brutal, and dangerous business for each new wave of immigrants. On the other hand, if a wealthy, multi-lingual Ukrainian noble, handsomely educated in Paris and widely traveled, were to come to America, the gentleman would find his standing and importance much reduced, only his wealth would make him acceptable. Comparisons with life on his estates, under the care of fawning servants, would soon dull any enthusiasm for the American experience.
But Doctor Lao-Hung is of a different stripe altogether. Though born and well educated in America, his patrician family has hardly stinted on his Chinese education. He is more than aware that he comes from a culture that was, in all manner of human endeavor, manifestly superior to the West a thousand years before the birth of Christ. His place of residence is all but irrelevant, whether California or Timbuktu, Dr.
Lao-Hung will forever be Chinese first and everything else second. Any desire to belong to some greater mechanism has been amply satisfied by that one fact alone. The doctor may speak perfect English, and dress like a wealthy Harvard don, but at his core there remains a soul that perceives the world through a lens of Chinese sensibilities that are only marginally influenced, or buttressed by western philosophical thought. It is the standard that all wide-eyed, young scientists salute, and a topic that rich scientists debate with their bankers.
I, for one, believe that mixing myth and science makes for great fiction now and then; i.
And the one remarkable thing about scientific truth is that it exists free of mythological interpretation, and requires no public consensus to maintain its viability. Whether people really wish to know the truth or not is another thorny question. Admiral Zheng He and his early voyage to the Americas is the constant center of the novel. What research has been done so far on this encounter and how much of the novel is based on this evidence? A simple computer search will highlight all relative sources. Luke emerges as a brilliant, head-strong and thoughtful character.
In the Shadow of the Cypress
Will we be seeing any more of him in the future? Gilbert infers that some dangerous impasse must have taken place between the Irishman and the Chinese, who are organized into social halls tong by way of triad system, regarding the secret discovery. Lao-Hong, who embraces values of east and west, is to balance conflicting claims over the artifacts that would respect the local people and town where the treasures are discovered, the local halls and the clan, and the interests of motherland.
As much as Dr. Which brings to the most intriguing part of the book. About a century later, after anyone who might know the whereabouts of the treasures has deceased, a young scholar stumbles upon Dr. Charles Lucas enlists the help of a Chinese linguist to decipher the meanings of the inscriptions. As the pair undertakes research for the truth with cutting edge technology, the intrigue multiplies. Steinbeck weaves an intriguing tale with the mystery of 15th century artifacts and offers a sympathetic look at a hidden culture. American Literature , Books , Literature Tagged: I love any story that uses modern technology to uncover secrets of the past.
Sandy, the last part of the novel, which takes place in the present, describes the use of layered radars and electronic apparatus to locate those mysterious artifacts. Given that his father is a favorite of mine I would love to read this and see how their styles compare. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email.
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