This book was like some Pride and Prejudice shit from the Orient land.  My apologies for incorrectly labeling the lands of Asia.  I won't lie.  I almost gave up on Eileen Chang's Love in a Fallen City.  The first story wasn't anything special, but the second and final story really delivered.  I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but both those stories were told from the male perspective.  My initial feeling is that these two stories are better translated.  The stories seemed simpler and there seemed to be less characters.  Many of the other stories seemed like a mash of females fighting for men to marrying them and I couldn't remember who was who.  As for those wondering why I even bothered reading this, it was another NYRB.  This book was finished while waiting in a hair salon.