A diva of the Peking Opera House, more notably the star of the "Moon Opera," attacks a rival, and in the fallout, she subsequently retreats to just teaching. Twenty years later a very wealthy factory manager offers to underwrite a new production of the same opera, but only if that specific diva will return and take the lead role. Xiao Yanqiu, our volatile diva, now married and with a child, accepts the position, and thus our dramatic (somewhat crazy) story begins.

It took me a chapter or two to settle into this story, and get to know our diva, Yanqui, who is a diva by both definitions of the word: "a famous female singer of the the opera" and "a self-important person who is temperamental and difficult to please" (let the games begin!)

A relatively quick read at 177 small pages; but an entertaining introduction to Chinese opera… with all it’s drama. ( )

"Little gem" is the phrase I use to describe short or small novels possessed of outsized power and impact. The Moon Opera is a Chinese novella so exquisitely constructed as to be a tragic opera in its own right. The author, Bi Feiyu (this is his debut as a novelist), is also a screenwriter, and I confess, this story would translate beautifully into film.

It is a dramatic tale that builds into a crescendo about a diva, Xiao Yanqiu, age 40, of the Beijing Opera. Determined but conflicted, she attempts to recreate her role from 20 years ago in the classic Chinese opera, Flying To the Moon, as the quintessential female, Ching'e, acting in an art form that is fading from the cultural patina of the Chinese people at an unspecified time in the late 20th C. The essence of the character Ching'e is so powerful that the very beings of her most famous portrayors are subsumed into the role. Xiao is no exception.

Bi interjects the reader into the backstage life of the Peking (Beijing) Opera as Xiao's life is taken over by her ambition to triumph in a last hurrah. But Fate rules Chinese myths and the operas based on them. Ruthless Fate also rules the life of Xiao who yearns to recapture both her mystique in the heroine's role and her own youth.

If you enjoyed the great Chinese film, Farewell My Concubine about the Peking Opera during the early part of the 20th C., you will be easily seduced by this story about classic Chinese opera set in post-Mao China. Apart from the artistic pleasure the reader will receive from this book, great detail into the preparation of a role in this opera form and the elements of performance that are required to meet its demands are an added bonus! ( )

Perhaps the story went this way. Once upon a time, back when myths were true and the gods walked and stalked on the face of the earth, a woman named Chang’e or perhaps it was Heng’e (the sources differ on this matter) felt a great longing for immortality. Or perhaps she had once been immortal and wished to return to that state (again the sources differ). In the grip of this longing she turned to her husband the great archer and hero Yi, who may have been tyrant instead of a hero or Chang’e’s husband (once more the sources differ) and begged him to bring her the elixir of immortality, or perhaps it was a pill, (and yes no agreement exists about this detail either). So the great archer hero/tyrant Yi went to Queen Mother of the West, a goddess (her deity being undisputed by any of the sources) and begged of her the elixir or pill of immortality, which she granted him. Perhaps she told him to divide the substance in half or perhaps not (oh how those source differ). At any rate, he returned home with the whatever it was of immortality safely stowed in a box, which he gave to Chang’e for safe-keeping . . .

Read the rest of the review at Club Balzac. ( )

Before anything can be said about the story, it must first be remembered that this is first and foremost a translation. This one fact makes it almost difficult to properly review the book, because so much is lost in translation. What may be very flowing verse and storyline in Chinese comes out a little clunky in English, but as the book is short, and fairly straight forward, it does not take away from the story. One thing that I did enjoy were the very Chinese sayings/maxims/whatever one wants to call them. Like little mini haiku's interspersed throughout the otherwise slightly awkward translation, it was refreshing, and reminded me of what the rest of the writing would most likely be like in its original.
The story itself, once you get past the preliminary set up, is sad, and as full of yearning as can be expressed. It is the story of an Opera singer, who, after passing her prime, has been called back to her starring role. After months of doubt, trying to prepare herself and make herself into the young woman she once was, she realizes that the only time she is herself, is when becoming lead in the infamous "Moon Opera." But when this is taken from her at the end, what can she do? ( )

Although this book was a bit difficult for me to get into at the start, I think it was worthwhile. I thought it was actually a little bit heartbreaking - the story was about Xiao Yanqiu, an actress who is well past her prime, and is self-destructively trying to cling to her past glory. I suppose I was a little put off by the prose in the beginning; I was very conscious of the fact I was reading a translation. Nevertheless, the book is worth the time it takes to read it, especially since it's so short (123 pages). ( )