Katherine

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Summary: Zebra as a Character in Katherine.
Review: After a period of a month I finished reading Katherine for an English class at Hofstra University. Katherine, a novel by Anchee Min, seemed interesting but I never heard of her before. The novel turned out to be an extremley powerful and inspirational experience. Katherine was narrated by a chinese woman named Zebra.Zebra's character was very dark and disturbed in the beggining of the novel. Zebra had suffered from her misfortune in China her entire life. Her saga is considered very tragic until she meets Katherine and finds the hope and inspiration she needs to be happy.I appreciated Zebra's character the most because I envied her strength and honor, as a person in a desperate situation. Zebra had contact with a few other characters besides katherine. There were sexual relations and verbal companionships but all this faded as the novel came to a conclusion. I feel as if Anchee Min was trying to support the idea that one's friends might not be friends at all. Perhaps on the outside they appear to be friends but a true friend has to earn the proper respect. Friendship and respect cannot be bought and definitley not demanded.It must be seen through action and a caring set of eyes. Katherine and zebra were special because they understood each others differences and learned from one another. Even though each came from a different society, they shared the same emotions at times. Through their interactions we can see how eastern and western civilizations contradict each other, and how strangers from these worlds unite as friends. When Zebra met Katherine her search for a relationship came to a hault. Even though Katherine is not a man, the love she possess toward Zebra is irreplaceable. Certain parts of the novel, such as descriptions of natuaral settings, are written perfectly by Anchee Min. Through Zebra's thoughts the reader can understand what China is like, and how the beauty of it's nature is contradicted by seemingly corrupt politics and government. "After a while I wouldn't hear a thing. The crowd would flow past my eyes like a silent film. Then I would flow with them feeling weightless, in a washed out light".(Katherine p.6) Zebra's character and this passage represent her as being insignificant in Shanghai, China. I accept her struggle for survival and against lonliness as being sad and tragic, which makes her more powerful and inspirational to me as a reader. Anchee min intended for a close relationship between the reader and Zebra. Min's work is crafted with a skill from the heart and it's evident through out the piece.

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Summary: The College Review
Review: After reading Anchee Min's novel Katherine, we found the novel to be quite interesting.This novel deals with the time period after the Cultural Revolution and how communism affected the lives of people in China.Katherine is about an American English teacher who travels to China and the impact she had on her students. She showed her students what emotion was, and talked to them about freedom and choice. Through the novel she helps the narrator, Zebra Wong, a lost soul who has risked everything for her family. Katherine helps Zebra get through rough times and teaches her to voice her opinion instead of restricting herself like she always had. Katherine gets involved with her students through personal relationships, some of which were not proper. The novel consists of many themes, which include love, friendship, power, and betrayal. We would recommend this novel for people on a mature level to read.

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Summary: Amazing. Chinese culture and Western ideas meet head on
Review: As a current student of Asian Studies in College, I decided to read Katherine after enjoying Anchee Min's memoir: Red Azalea. I started reading Katherine on a Saturday afternoon and finished it Sunday night. The book was simply amazing. Having taught English in China myself, the head on collision of Western ideas and post Cultural Revolution Chinese life in Katherine not only stirred up memories from my Beijing classroom but also produced a powerful and fascinating novel. Min artfully balances the personal rebirth of a Chinese woman with the struggles of a civilization still healing from the scars of the Cultural Revolution. Anyone interested in China and its interaction with western ideas and culture will most certainly love this book as much as I did. Although I read Katherine on my own and neglected to complete my assigned coursework to do so, my only wish after finishing the book was that the story didn¡¯t have to end.

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Summary: 2W3 Group B Review (Erica, Michelle, Jackie, Melissa, Mike)
Review: As college students, we feel Anche Mins novel Katherine is a suspenseful and powerful novel. It is an easy novel to read, because you can put yourself in the characters place. By reading the novel you will be able to get a better understanding of China and their Communist ways. The novel takes place in Shanghai, China 1982. Mao has died and the Cultural Revolution was declared over. Katherine deals with many different issues of life, such as betrayal, friendship, love, politics, and infatuation. Katherine, an American teacher, helps Zebra Wong on her path to self discovery, by showing her what friendship, love, and betrayal is. She helps her to rediscover her innocence and sensitivity that she lost as a result of being brought up as one of Mao's children. The complex relationsips and situtations that also unfold in this book is absolutly riviting. It keeps the reader on the edge of their seat not knowing what to expect next.

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Summary: An Overall Perspective of Katherine
Review: As students at the University of Hofstra, we read Katherine, written by Anchee Min. This novel was about an American teacher that came to China to teach English to Chinese students after the Cultural Revolution. Katherine brought her American ideology to China, where it was not accepted. This novel consisted of many themes; betrayal, friendship, romance and innocence. Lion Head represents the theme of betrayal, he has an affair with both Katherine and Zebra Wong and doesn't stay with either one of them, he just sleeps with them. This also fits under the category of Romance. Katherine and Zebra represented the theme of friendship. They relied on each other when times got rough. Little Rabbit, Katherine's adopted daughter represented innocence because she was mute and this is how the Chinese government wanted the people to be. We think Katherine is a good book to be read as college freshmen because its not a hard book to read and understand, and it is interesting. It also gives you an understanding on how life is in other places in the world. The only disappointment about the book was the ending, we though it could have been better by adding more about what happens after Zebra and Little Rabbit leave China.

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Summary: How Students can relate to this book
Review: Being college students and having read Anchee Min's Katherine was a great experience because we all related to the novel. The novel takes place in Shangai China after the Mao-revolution. Katherine, an American teacher comes to China to research its communist government for a book she hopes to write in the near future. She uses the time she spends in China to open up the narrow minds of her Chinese students. Katherine develops a close relationship with one of her students, Zebra Wong. Once she enlightens Zebra with her "free spirit," Zebra undergoes a series of changes, and develops a strong infatuation with Katherine. We love the way the book approaches the relationship between Katherine and Zebra because it is not 100 percent pure. Everyone can relate to the fact that sometimes friendships and relationships have their ups and downs. However, it all depends on how we deal with the situation. In this novel, Zebra and Katherine show us how through betrayals and lies, a true friendship can overcome its hardship and two people show how they really need and depend on one another. The prose is easy for college students to understand and to relate to. It made it easy to follow the characters lives as well as learn about historical facts in China. Students today can most definitely relate to the social relationships and love triangles in this novel. They can also relate to feelings at times of low self-esteem and embarrassment.

Rating:
Summary: How Students can relate to this book
Review: Being college students and having read Anchee Min's Katherine was a great experience because we all related to the novel. The novel takes place in Shangai China after the Mao-revolution. Katherine, an American teacher comes to China to research its communist government for a book she hopes to write in the near future. She uses the time she spends in China to open up the narrow minds of her Chinese students. Katherine develops a close relationship with one of her students, Zebra Wong. Once she enlightens Zebra with her "free spirit," Zebra undergoes a series of changes, and develops a strong infatuation with Katherine. We love the way the book approaches the relationship between Katherine and Zebra because it is not 100 percent pure. Everyone can relate to the fact that sometimes friendships and relationships have their ups and downs. However, it all depends on how we deal with the situation. In this novel, Zebra and Katherine show us how through betrayals and lies, a true friendship can overcome its hardship and two people show how they really need and depend on one another. The prose is easy for college students to understand and to relate to. It made it easy to follow the characters lives as well as learn about historical facts in China. Students today can most definitely relate to the social relationships and love triangles in this novel. They can also relate to feelings at times of low self-esteem and embarrassment.

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Summary: a rare work of literary art
Review: Breathtaking. When I was reading Katherine, there were times when I totally forgot where I was or what I was doing. The imagery and emotions are so alive that when I went to sleep at night, I would be Zebra, her sweat was my sweat, her fantasies were my fantasies, and we would watch Katherine dance through the hearts and minds of those around her with the same eyes.

This book is so eloquently written, that it seems rude to stop in mid-story, you just keep reading and reading, aching for more when the last page ends. Few books enrapture me as Katherine did and I hope Anchee Min comes out with more soon.

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Summary: Stirring and Disturbing
Review: Having read Red Azalea by Anchee Min, I was eager to read more of her work. However I found that Katherine was listed as Out of Print in Australia. To my delight, I was able to track down a copy through Amazon and it was well worth the effort. I am so glad to see that Katherine is to be reprinted and made readily available once more, for Katherine is a book which one begun, can't be put down.

Anchee Min has a fascinating writing style. Her language is both raw and shocking, passionate and disturbing, and yet at times delicate and almost gentle to the touch. By the time I got to the last page I was completely absorbed and felt that Zebra and Katherine were in fact real people, and even more than that, I felt they were people that I knew. I wanted to see photos of them, just as one would look for photos in a biography. The characters are rich and evoked all kinds of emotions ... from the vile Jasmine to the cowardly Lion Head, the fascinating and sensuous Katherine to the noble and self sacrificing Zebra... all are rich characters that one comes to love or hate.

I have read many books about China during the years of the Cultural Revolution, so it was intriguing to read one that deals with the post Mao era. My closest friend is from China and as she has tried to explain Chinese thinking to me, I could see it also identified throughout this novel. The naive Katherine saw China through American eyes. While she laughed at Zebra's fears, Zebra could smell the evil in the air. The ever positive Katherine always anticipated victory. Zebra alone saw the vicious beam in the eye of the enemy.

The one thing that frustrated me with this book was the ending. I wanted more. I wanted to know what lay beyond the final words. Anchee Min did the same thing to me in Red Azalea. Both books left me in the air, and while I appreciate that this was for dramatic affect, nevertheless, I felt teased. I have to keep reminding myself that it is only a story and quell the desire to enquire further as to the fate of Zebra.

Should the author read this review, thank you Anchee Min for your wonderful books and for painting with words such rich and vibrant characters.

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Summary: Simple Beauty
Review: I received this novel in a batch of books that a friend of a friend wanted me to sell for her. "Katherine" caught my eye and I flipped through the first few pages. I was completely taken offguard by what I read. Anchee Min's prose gives one the impression of reading the literary equivalent of a Chinese painting, the words simple and delicate. Her fragile sentences provide a stark contrast for the harsh world of which she writes. "Katherine" is a slight breeze with the force of gail winds.