She was one of my mother's favorite writers. Looking forward to the English editions of her work. Reading them will be a way to celebrate the remembrance of my mother. Thank you, NYT.
12
I still have a collection of her books, thin little pamphlets printed on poor quality paper in China in the late 80s. I was one of the young girls who admired her, for her sense of humor, the neuroses, and the window she opened onto the world for us. My love for traveling started around that time, in large part from reading her work. The melodrama and her frequent self righteousness are less appealing now, but it's wonderful seeing her getting the overdue international recognition.
8
Well written obit - I look forward to her book. However, in today's world, she would have been jailed for statutory rape for a relationship with a 16 year old when she was 24.
Sharlene Téo, the Singaporean writer living in Britain, whose comment mentioned in the article has prompted a trip down memory lane for me, a woman who came of age in the 70s Taipei, a time and place very different from Singapore or Britain in the 2000s.
I remember the colors, vigor and passions woven into the stories told by someone who has ventured outside and is now sharing her thoughts with us in a language that was simple, elegant and playful.
Back then travel writing was almost exclusively the domaine of mature authors, recounting the sight seeing paired with some official visit to foreign countries, with emphasis on famous monuments in a formal tone.
Sanmao’s was a youthful voice talking about endless anecdotes in her life abroad, people she met and most of the time had grown to love. All just in words and a picture here and there. Mostly left to the imagination of the readers.
This is a world lost in the age of selfi-infused Instagram, for good.
5
I didn't know who she was, but now I do. Thank you.
16