Lust, Caution

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For the 2007 film by Ang Lee, see Lust, Caution (film).
 Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (August 2007)

Lust, Caution (Chinese: 色，戒; pinyin: Sè, Jiè) is a novella by the Chinese writer Eileen Chang, that was first published in 1979. It is set in Shanghai during World War II. Reportedly, the short story "took Chang more than two decades to complete."[1] It was adapted into a film of the same name in 2007 by director Ang Lee.


Contents

[edit] Original Story

Lust, Caution was based on Chang's English short story, The Spyring, which was finished in the 1950s but remained unpublished until March 2008 when it appeared in Muse Magazine. [2]

[edit] Characters

  • Wang, Jiazhi alias Mrs. Mak
  • Mr. Yee
  • Mrs. Yee
  • Mr. Mak
  • Kuang Yu Min
  • Old Wu
  • Lai Shu Jin

[edit] Plot summary

In China, during the Japanese occupation in WW II, young woman Mak is a member of a resistance group who plot to kill a Japanese collaborator, Yee. Mak starts a love affair with Yee for this purpose. However, she really falls in love with him, and just before her comrades try to kill him she warns him. He escapes and has the whole group executed, including Mak.

[edit] English translations

Lust, Caution was not published in English until 2007.

  1. Lust, Caution (色，戒) Translated by Julia Lovell. New York: Anchor Books, 2007. ISBN 978-0-307-38744-8
  2. Lust, Caution: The Story, The Screenplay, and the Making of the Film. Translated by Julia Lovell. New York: Pantheon Books, 2007. ISBN 978-0-375-42524-0

The original story in English, The Spyring, was published by Muse Magazine in March 2008.

[edit] References

  1. ^ the Spy Who Shagged Yee; Ang Lee's sexed-up thriller is neither sexy nor thrilling. Robert Wilonsky. OC Weekly (Orange County, California). October 11, 2007.
  2. ^ ESWN Culture Blog
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