Sour Sweet

by Timothy Mo

Book Overview

Shortlisted for the 1982 Booker Prize, this novel explores the clans and conflicts of Soho's Chinatown, where the Chen family arrive and want to succeed as restaurateurs in the 1960s. No family can... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 039473680X
• ISBN13: 9780394736808
• Release Date: March 1985
• Publisher: Vintage Books USA
• Length: 279 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Well Written Book, Wrap Up Superb!

I think that this book - Sour Sweet - by Timothy Mo was a great and enjoyable book to read. His writing on Chinese family adapting to the British and his ending on how the life ended was great literature, but sympathizing and as a Chinese, I have never heard of such stories. So when I first read it, it touched me through my heart, and I started giving sympathy to those who are in need of help, whoever they may be. I think I liked this book because of the sympathy that Timothy Mo has given me. I think I now know that many people are struggling out there to adapt, and I would like to stop being such a spoiled child after reading this magnificent novel. John Li

Wow!

I was able to get an out-of-print book from this seller that was in top-notch condition for the lowest price I've seen!

Entertaining first but certainly insightful as well

I recommend this novel without reservation. It is almost a shock to read a novel written in a classically disciplined style. Mo's writing doesn't take short cuts or skip on background. Conventional in the finest sense and bold in terms of story and character rather than style. I was swept up in the story of the Chen family and the London triad. Having lived in Taiwan for over a year, I also enjoyed all of the Chinese culture. This book made me much more sympathetic to the Chinese despite the fact that it pulls no punches in describing their peculiar ethos. Very enjoyable read.

The clash of civilisations?

Not quite... But I thoroughly enjoyed this sour sweet tale of Chinese immigrants in England: the sweetness is in the wonderful characters that come alive in all their diversity. The sour aftertaste has to do with the less likeable Hong Kong Triads, and it grows more powerful as you read. But all in all I enjoyed this book more than I can do justice to it. Moreover it struck a very personal chord; there's a sentence when the Chinese father, looking at his English-born son, reflects that the little one playing in the garden is born in a place where he can escape the constraints of tradition and history and live in freedom...

Great insight into the life of Asian immigrants in the West

Sour Sweet enlightens Americans and Europeans whose only idea of newly-arrive Asian immmigrants is one of super-students. A great look at how they view us, instead of the other way around. A definite must read for anyone interested in Asian culture in the West.