Book-The Girl Who Played Go

This book by Chinese born French author Shan Sa is a character study with the backdrop of the Japanese invasion of China prior to WW II.

The chapters alternate between two narrators, like a game of Go, each player taking their turn. The first narrator is a girl moving into womanhood in Manchuria. The second is a officer in the Japanese army, trying to take over her small city.

Her obsession is the game Go, played on the public square in this town. He comes to the square undercover to try to find the insurgents, but instead finds his obsession with the game he plays with her, and with the girl herself.

The writing is spare, but elegant and somewhat poetic. It is most interesting when each of the narrators describe the same scene from two differing perspectives.

The Girl Who Played Go is a different book, probably not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it, and will be seeking out more books from Shan Sa