A long book, over 500 pages, that could have used some editing. It takes place in China during the 1920s and the time and place are interesting but the story gets lost within superfluous content. ( )

At 450 pages this is a meaty book and I was okay with that. However, I think there was a little too much meat and not enough bones. There were a few too many storylines and characters so it was hard to grasp everything that was going on.

The story of Klim and Nina is central to the book. Klim was a journalist who had worked around the world before returning to Russia before the First World War. He fell madly in love with Nina, a widow of a count but from humble beginnings. Nina was also passionately in love with Klim at first but after they fled to Vladivastok with the White Russian army she became tired of his lack of drive for material things. They were able to get on a ship going to Shanghai but China did not want to let the Russians get off the ship. Nina brokers a deal to sell the armaments on board the ship and as part of her commission she is allowed to leave but she takes another man, not Klim, with her. Klim takes a young orphan, Ada, under his wing when he does leave the ship and manages to get her a job as a taxi girl. A taxi girl dances with men who buy tickets but is not necessarily a prostitute. Nina does quite well for herself and Klim and Ada manage to survive.

Throughout the 1920s the Russian community in Shanghai has its ups and downs. Some wish to return to Russia and accept Communism. Some turn to fascism and some tread a fine line between the two. As Chiang Kai Shek and his rebels take more control of the country the good life that the non-Chinese have in Shanghai is threatened. Most of the Russians don't even have a passport so they can't leave the city for another country. Of course, there are ways of getting a fake passport if you have enough money. That is the driving force for most people.

I'm sure this book could have lost 80 to 100 pages without losing the story line. Too bad the editors didn't manage to whittle it down because it is a very interesting story. ( )

I tried three different times to get into this book. It was very tough to read. I just couldn't keep reading. I was having to go back and reread to try and remember what I read or reread to understand. Unfortunately, I finally gave up and put it down. I don't like to do that, but just couldn't keep on with this one. ( )

I found White Shanghai to be a disturbing book- disturbing in several ways. First it is too long and should have been divided into 2-3 books with the complex array of characters who pop into and out of the narrative at lightening speed. The story is of a motley group of people in China during the 1920s. Political and personal discord abound and the interplay of characters seems forced and out of focus. The story was hard to follow and without a clear plot line. Perhaps the translation from Russian left this novel with much to be desired. Russian led the ( )

The characters in this book are interesting, but I can't say that any of the stories are really compelling. I think I would have preferred more focus on a single character, with fewer tangents, which would've still been able to draw in almost the entire current cast--since everyone ends up connected by the middle of the book. My interest tended to wax and wane depending upon where the focus of the story was. Some of the characters are really unpleasant, but none of them deliciously so. ( )