2018: Chinese fiction in translation
Our reviews of Chinese fiction—novels and short story collections—in translation this year.
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“The Book of Swindles: Selections from a Late Ming Collection” by Zhang Yingyu
Late Ming China didn’t have the “Nigerian advance-fee scam”, but if Zhang Yingyu’s contemporary The Book of Swindles is any indication, it had just about every other con ever tried. This collection of short cautionary tales is, according to translators Christopher Rea and Bruce Rusk, “said to be the first Chinese story collection focused explicitly…
“Recipe for Persuasion” by Sonali Dev
Loosely inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Sonali Dev’s new book is enriched with culinary allusions, replete with the aromas of tea and spice and based in a modern South Asian family (of royal lineage), as was her prior Austen revamp.
“Iron Gate Hutong” by Bao Dongni
On a sunny day, a young girl skips in the courtyard of her home in Iron Gate Hutong. She’s alone, but across the alley life is busy.
“Mother India” by Prayaag Akbar
Indian literature has tended to mythologize Delhi as a majestic and contentious land, filled with the rebellious fervor of Ahmed Ali’s Twilight in Delhi and the soul of Khushwant Singh’s Delhi. Prayaag Akbar’s newest novel, Mother India, revitalizes the city by placing it at the centre of contemporary issues, namely the growing use of social…
“Citizens of Beauty: Drawing Democratic Dreams in Republican China” by Louise Edwards
One of the sloppier—and disturbingly frequent—critical lapses on either end of the ideological spectrum is to confuse modernization with Westernization. Some 20 years ago, Leo Ou-fan Lee’s Shanghai Modern sweepingly linked Eileen Chang’s novels, Ruan Lingyu’s films, jazz music in the dance halls, and graphic design in advertising and popular magazines not as local knock-offs…
