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Doubled Shadows
The JINTIAN series of contemporary literature features new and innovative writing from mainland China and abroad. Titles in the series are edited by Bei Dao, Lydia H. Liu, and Christopher Mattison. A collaborative venture between Zephyr Press, the Jintian Literary Foundation, and The Chinese University Press, each bilingual title highlights the ever-changing literary culture of China while simultaneously expanding the English language with a wave of new voices in translation.
144 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 9, 2019
“Happiness is a low-blowing morning breeze:
To reach it, you must stoop.”
Folks know I don't believe in "reviewing" poetry. It does for poetry what the Jonestown Kool-Aid did for kids' drinks. However, I'm not smugly above recommending the shit out of fantastic poets to you, like Ouyang. He flawlessly combines a modern sensibility (without taking for granted all of the stupid shit we have at our beck and call that renders our sensibilities dull and morose and pained) with a almost surrealist bent, and the results are cloaked and sometimes wicked and sometimes soaring!
To reach it, you must stoop.”
Folks know I don't believe in "reviewing" poetry. It does for poetry what the Jonestown Kool-Aid did for kids' drinks. However, I'm not smugly above recommending the shit out of fantastic poets to you, like Ouyang. He flawlessly combines a modern sensibility (without taking for granted all of the stupid shit we have at our beck and call that renders our sensibilities dull and morose and pained) with a almost surrealist bent, and the results are cloaked and sometimes wicked and sometimes soaring!
January 1, 2019
There is more to say about this book of poetry then I can really give justice to you in a few sentences. This is the book I will come back to you again and again.
Ouyang Is writing about the recent history of China. A short period of time which saw market reforms that freed up the economic power of the country while the government cemented over the beginnings of a pro-democracy movement.
There is a repeated image of a leopard in here. More accurately, maybe it’s a leopard character that is both a legend, a symbol of animal hunger, and an image of the natural world. And because he’s writing about the way we view ourselves at this point in history, the leopard has gone a bit threadbare.
I think Ouyang is asking a question like, what is the strength of our animal instincts and our storytelling about human nature compared to the power of a globalized economy? Political leaders leverage that against us to maintain control and to determine the history of the next generation.
When I think of more that feels worth saying, I’ll add to this. I’d be happy to hear other perspectives on this book if you have something to share.
Ouyang Is writing about the recent history of China. A short period of time which saw market reforms that freed up the economic power of the country while the government cemented over the beginnings of a pro-democracy movement.
There is a repeated image of a leopard in here. More accurately, maybe it’s a leopard character that is both a legend, a symbol of animal hunger, and an image of the natural world. And because he’s writing about the way we view ourselves at this point in history, the leopard has gone a bit threadbare.
I think Ouyang is asking a question like, what is the strength of our animal instincts and our storytelling about human nature compared to the power of a globalized economy? Political leaders leverage that against us to maintain control and to determine the history of the next generation.
When I think of more that feels worth saying, I’ll add to this. I’d be happy to hear other perspectives on this book if you have something to share.
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September 11, 2013"Ouyang’s aesthetic musings, philosophical meditations, or social critiques are always thought-provoking and often amusing. Of all contemporary Chinese poets, he is perhaps the most widely allusive, with his natural range of influences running from China’s classical philosophy through the contemporary US." - Josh Stenberg, Nanjing Normal University
This book was reviewed in the September 2013 issue of World Literature Today. Read the full review by visiting our website: http://bit.ly/1aAQg7A
This book was reviewed in the September 2013 issue of World Literature Today. Read the full review by visiting our website: http://bit.ly/1aAQg7A
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews