5:15 | One More to Go Session ends, folks are rising and chatting, getting ready to head downstairs for the last event of the festival.

5:11 | Popular Culture So far, while some of the audience members are very well versed in the works of these two authors (more so than audiences in other sessions), questions have tended to flow more towards Lee and the issue of Chang's Lust, Caution. We guess it's a strong reflection of how popular culture and controversy shapes people's interests. Those who found Ang Lee's sex scenes lewd and those who balk at the prospect of blocking a film (over images of an activity that many of us engage in on a regular--maybe--basis), are caught up in the dialogue of censorship.

5:05 | The Lust, Caution Controversy What do the censorship issues surrounding the latest film mean for Chinese politics? "Well, you know I'm against censorship of any kind. But this is a more complex case," says Lee. "Well, if Ang Lee had been a Chinese rather than a foreign director, he wouldn't have been able to make this film." But, later, obviously, the focus became not on the history but on the three bedroom scenes. "The real issue is more than censorship. The real issue is why the Chinese cannot confront their dark past as the Germans or the Italians have. It's a very sensitive spot. I think the time has come, now we're in the 20th centure, for us to face our past. And besides, the Chinese are very clever. The more you censor it, the more they can get a hold of it."

4:58 | A Note Both authors being discussed, for those unaware, were American Chinese authors who, while successful in the U.S., both maintained a strong love of their roots and continued to write about China, later earning them followings in the U.S. and parts of China as well.

4:54 | Old Shanghai on the Out "I think Old Shanghai is dying out," says Lee in response to an audience question. "It's making way for the new Shanghai." He says there are still a few writers who write about Old Shanghai. He addresses the crowd, "I'd be interested to talk to those of you who've been here for a long time and see whether or not you think the new Shanghai would make a good setting for your novels. I have yet to find a modern, sophisticated novel set in urban Shanghai that can compare with [Chang]."

4:48 | Why the Hype? Asks Melvin, "You're both very passionate about these writers. Why? What drew you to these particular authors?" Answers Liu, "It was embarassment." His Chinese friends and relatives in the U.S. kept asking him what he thought of Buck's works and he hadn't read any of them. Later when he began to work at a university, he realized that no one seemed to know who Buck was and that her works had been lost. For Liu, part of the drive is "promoting greater understanding between China and America," with Pearl Buck, an American Chinese writer, as a driving force. "I think it was also a bit embarassment for me too," says Lee. He relates a similar story of being unfamiliar with Chang's works when his friends and family seemed to know her writing. "If there were one other Chinese author that is worthy of recognition, I think it's Chang."

4:47 | Banned Pearl Buck apparently spent years trying to return to China but was never able to return to the country. Liu says that when Buck died, she had only Chinese characters on her tombstone, something he feels is very touching.

4:37 | Rise to Fame From obscurity to infamy, Lee says that Ang Lee exhibited great taste by choosing this particular novel by Chang. It was one of her more obscure works, but now, as we all know, has been elevated to fame. Continues Lee, the movie is not allowed to be publicized and the actress who portrayed the lead character has been blacklisted and forbidden to act in Mainland China. "Because of the sex," says Melvin. "Not, not the sex," says Lee. He feels that it was the role itself, the portrayal of a character who turned her back on her duty at the end because she falls in love with the enemy, which led to her being blacklisted. Somehow, we find it hard to believe that it was this, rather than the "explicit" sex scenes. Frankly, without the sex, wouldn't it be a Romeo & Juliet style tragedy? Given the Shanghainese love of romance, pop culture and princess stories, we think this would have been received very differently if the sex scenes were not an issue.

4:33 | Prolific Pearl Buck wrote literally at least one hundred works, many in English which she wrote specifically for an English readership. But, in terms of Westernization, "what Pearl Buck said about Chinese tradition, she warned that all nations need modernity in order to develop, but modernity did not necessarily mean Westernization and that China should find modernity from Chinese tradition," says Liu.

4:27 | From the Silver Screen Chang's writing was strongly influenced by the comedies and films of 1930s Hollywood. We wonder, why does sophistication tie directly with Western influence? Lee thinks that this influence enabled her to develop her sophisticated style, incorporating clever commentary and wit within her stories--a narrative style that was new in Chinese literature. For those who don't know, Aileen Chang is the author of Lust, Caution. Lee says he thinks he's one of the few who really liked Ang Lee's film version.

4:20 | Summarization Sheila Melvin sums up the last two thoughts, saying that with Buck it's much more her characters and the sociology within that while with Chang it's much more about her style of writing.

4:17 | On Pearl Buck Liu introduces another female author he feels has been very influential--Pearl Buck, author of The Good Earth. Some people like her, some people hate her. "What about the American audience?" asks Melvin. "She won the Nobel prize and yet she was criticized." Replies Liu, "I think that before the Nobel prize she was very well received in America in mainstream literature." Seems that, according to Liu, after she won the Nobel prize, people felt like anyone could. For Liu, it's Buck's characters which are the highlight of her work.

4:11 | On Eileen Chang "A narrator is someone who is either high above the characters or amidst them," says Lee. "It's not your sort of stream of consciousness. There's no writer like her, for me," he praises Eileen Chang. "She very seldom spoke about Western literature but yet her writing was very sophisticated. She became a legend right away in Taiwan." He continues, "Young writers, women writers, tried to follow her style. A richness of imagery combined with cutting remarks, etc. etc. but no one can really master that art. In a way, the more she becomes obscure in her whereabouts, the more of a legend she becomes." Lee seems to feel that Chang is a very unique author.

4:09 Beginnings Author Sheila Melvin moderates this session.