Red Poppies - Book Review

Kliatt, Sept, 2002 by Carol Kellerman

Alai. Trans. by Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-Chun Lin. 2002. Read by Ping Wu. Abridged. 6 tapes. 10 hrs. HighBridge Audio. 1-56511-527-9. $34.95. Cardboard, plastic; plot, reader, author notes. SA

This is the story of a wealthy Tibetan family, beginning in the 1930s. It is narrated by the chieftain's 13-year-old second son, considered to be an "idiot" by his parents and even by himself because this is what he's been told. When a feud breaks out with a neighbor, the head of this family receives aid from an emissary of the Chinese Nationalists. In exchange the family plants fields of poppies to support the Nationalist-backed heroin trade.

Stage and television actor Ping Wu has a slight Asian accent, which adds to the ambiance in this excellent reading. He does such an outstanding job voicing the female characters that one can almost believe that there are two readers. The tale ends when the family surrenders to the Chinese in the 1950s. The narration is an unusual portrait, by an ethnic Tibetan, of Tibetan life and customs among the wealthy during this important historical period: their treatment of women, servants and slaves, sexual customs, and religious superstitions, as well as the vicious treatment of prisoners, enemies and traitors. There are brief interludes of music between scenes. There are many sex scenes woven into the story as the young teenage chieftain comes of age, mainly as an indication of the role and status of women within the society. None of the scenes is very explicit. Carol Kellerman, retired Lib/Media Spec., Santa Fe, NM