Please Don't Call Me Human

by Wang Shuo

Published in time for the 2000 Summer Games (Sydney, Australia), a brilliantlysatirical novel about the Olympics by "China's literary bad boy"--Newsweek

Stephen King called Playing for Thrills, Wang Shuo's stupendous debut novel, "perhaps the most brilliantly entertaining hardboiled novel of the '90s....Raymond Chandler crossed with Bruce Lee." Now Wang Shuo, easily China's coolest and most popular novelist, applies his genius for satire and cultural irreverence to one of the world's sacred rituals, the Olympic Games. In Please Don't Call Me Human, he imagines an Olympics where nations compete not on the basis of athletic prowess, but on their citizens' capacity for humiliation--and China is determined to win at any cost. The novel's anti-hero is a slacker pedicab driver from Beijing, a degenerate nihilist who rips off his own face in order to win the gold for China. Banned in China for its "rudeness" and "vulgarity", this astonishing, tripped-out novel is filled with the kind of word play and outlandish antics that have earned Wang Shuo his own genre, "hooligan literature."

Genres: China, Fiction, Chinese Literature, Asia, Literature, Novels

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Wang Shuo(王朔) is a Chinese author, director, actor, and cultural icon. He has written over 20 novels, television series and movies. His work has been translated into Japanese, French, English, Italian, and many other languages. He has enormous cultural status in China and has become a nationally celebrated author.

Reviews

[Andrew]

When you read the classics of Russian literature, both pre- and post-Russian Revolution, you realize that half of the reason the writing is so incendiary was that they had so much to push back against, and they entail a radical rejection of the state-sponsored elegiac tone. In the "Communist" China of today (do everything the opposite of what Marx prescribes, and have the gall to call it Marxist), I have always assumed there are radical writers who simply don't get read in the West, and Wang Shuo seems like he's a prime example. Simply put, he breathes fire.

This is also one of those translated works that makes me deeply regret I can't read the original language. I see bits and pieces of what are clearly allusions to things everywhere, and I almost guarantee that in the original Chinese, it's twice the novel it is in English.

[Huy · Rating 3 out of 5]

cuốn sách bát nháo một cách thú vị, lộn xộn một cách hài hước.

[Kadri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25?
Lisaks pean mainima, et New York Timesi raamatuarvustuses nimetati autorit "Hiina Kerouaciks" ja see on solvang Wang Shuole! @läänemaailma meedia, palun lõpetage poc-autorite võrldemine mitte isegi keskpäraste lääne autoritega, kes on mingil põhjusel kirjandusklassika hulka arvatud

[Del · Rating 2 out of 5]

What the fuck have I just read?

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wang Shuo's goal is to never write anything that he or others find necessary for society, particularly if it is uplifting. "The Propaganda Department has said my works are reactionary and that they ridicule politics. They say the taste and the language are vulgar. I do not deny this." from the Introduction

Giving face, losing face. In Chinese culture 'face' can be translated to mean honor, prestige, respect. To lose face is to lose that honor (I once in a heated moment intentionally made my client lose face in a room full of people by proving he was wrong... I got fired. That was my intention. My motto is "When you've got no face, you've got no face to lose").

Please Don't Call Me Human is about a rogue committee attempting to regain China's face in the sporting world by training a citizen to be a superhero, a national hero, an icon of the new China at any cost... and the cost is great.

The book was not a smooth read, very turbulent. I think Wang Shuo's style may have been lost in translation. There were some brilliant sections scattered throughout the book, some hilarious moments, but you had to kind of slog your way through to find them. And if you do decide to read this DO NOT read the blurb on the back cover. It gives away the shocking ending. No Exit Press screwed up on this one.

[Carlos · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I really liked Wang Chao's Playing for Thrills, I found Please Don't Call me Human mostly dull and difficult to get through. This may be just a case of it not really being intended for me. Human has a strong satirical element, especially as concerns China's loss of the 2000 Olympics, and I suspect if I had a deeper appreciation of Chinese culture and history, more of the humor would have rung true.

The plot, what there is of it, involves a private group calling themselves the Mobilization Committee (MobCom) organized around redeeming China's international reputation by proving that China has the toughest fighter in the world. To that end, they recruit a young man, who happens to be the son of one of the members of the Boxer Rebellion, and put him through all sorts of routines and diets in order to make him the ultimate fighter.

Despite the interesting premise, it mostly felt like a lot of strange stuff happening with little reason, the characters are mostly caricatures, and there's never a sense of anything really being at stake. It did have its moments, but overall I think it was not really intended for a non-Chinese audience.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read some books set in Beijing before I went to China. Interesting and thought provoking.

[Susana · Rating 4 out of 5]

La traducción de Noblejas al español merece todos los premios.

[venezuela · Rating 4 out of 5]

i loved everybit of this book, was gripping. and hence i suppose a thriller. but a stern kind of thriller. his obedience was breathtaking. and hardly soldierly. you see and are tang yuanbao everyday. (i swim 22 meters in 54 seconds; so, the ratio of speeds per 50 meters--standard Olympic pool size--of Mr. Phelps {who regulars 35 seconds for each 50 m. length} to me is 0.285248; but the book has so much more to say about competition than that)

EXCERPT:

"Thank you Yuanbao, for bringing glory to China," someone shouted up to Yuanbao, who was still standing at the window. Hot tears filled Yuanbao's eyes. Choked with gratitude, he waved again to the crowd below.

The red-eyed boys and girls lowered their heads to dry their tears, then looked up again and gaped at their hero.

"Comrades, fellow countrymen." The crowd grew quiet. "I am a lucky man," Yuanbao said before choking up again. A groundswell of applause rose from the square; tears of emotion ran unchecked down every face.

"Give us something to realy cheer about!" the rifle-toting boys and girls shouted as one.

"Something to really cheer about?" Yuanbao wiped his runny nose and dried his tears. "My sons," he shouted, "my sons, ideals are not the exclusive property of old men. My sons, do not give way to the aged; my sons, my sons, why haven't you brought your hooked swords?"

"Something stronger!" the crowd roared.
"... Put me to death!" Yuanbao replied.

[Archer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Banned in China, I somehow found this book in Fondren library at Rice, in a bookshelf only about 4 feet wide in a corner of the fourth floor.
Unfortunately, this is needless build-up, since the book is not extraordinarily special. The book as I read it was rather clunky and raw. In terms of the language and style, this is probably the fault of the translation, but the story was bizzare and disjointing as well. The bad flow of the book detracts from the reading experience, but I think that perhaps it adds to the surreal plot. I had a hard time seeing the characters here as real, but I think it's meant to be as much uncomfortable political cartoon as novel. It's hard to see the view it gives on Chinese culture as veritable, but then again, the view we get from the official press has its share of distortion as well.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure whether I like this book. It's got someone interesting ideas, some LOL moments and some bizarre incidents, but I feel a lot of what is going on is lost in translation and the ending I felt was rather odd (like the author just thought: "**** IT!"). Maybe that was the point though.

[Adriana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cargado de humor e ironía.
Considero que es necesario un buen entendimiento de la situación Sociopolítica china para poder disfrutar realmente de este libro.
Bajo mi punto de vista personal, me resulta cargante el "exceso" paródico.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, it got good reviews and I liked it a bit. It's written by a Chinese man and it gives great insight into some aspects of the Chinese culture, along with an entertaining story line.

[๖ۣۜSαᴙαh ๖ۣۜMᴄĄłłiƨʈeʀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

By far the strangest book I have ever read--and I've read (and like) James Joyce's Ulysses.

[j p · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, even harrowing, satire, but a little rushed towards the end.

[Yume · Rating 5 out of 5]

No entiendo cómo es posible que no tenga más estrellas esta auténtica obra de arte literaria. Este libro lo he tenido que leer para una asignatura en la universidad, pero sinceramente, creo que he sido la que más suerte he tenido con la adjudicación de libros. Hacía tiempo que me apetecía leer una obra de sátira auténtica donde se rieran del mundo y de las personas en general. Esta novela en pocas palabras es irrisoria, impresionante e informal.

A pesar de ser una obra escrita frase a frase con tonos de sarcasmo, humor y sin sentidos, los mensajes que deja son muy claros: critica el sistema político de china, el nacionalismo, la fama, y trata otros temas como la hipocresía, el género. . .Todo de verdad, envuelto en cosas ilógicas, divertidas y a veces incluso ciertamente tristes.

Me ha encantado, no puedo hacer más que recomendarlo. Quizá sin saber mucho de China algunas cosas pueden pasar desapercibidas y es difícil de entender pero incito al lector menos familiarizado a que se informe y haga rápidas búsquedas en google para enterarse de los fenómenos históricos de los que hablan y de los autores y obras que se mencionan.

Por último tengo que comentar que la traducción es increíble. Un trabajo de 10, se merece un premio de traducción, de verdad.

[Emilio Bazaldúa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delirante, ingenuo, cómico en sus mayores momentos, pero crítico en su totalidad.
El viaje de Yuanbao no tiene pérdida alguna: como recipiente se presta idóneamente para que cualquier grupo o nación dé pie a lo que desee formar, que siempre se reduce a no ser más que deshumanizaciones del pueblo y del espíritu.
En todo hay siempre una crítica apabullante: al arte, a la publicidad, a los medios, a la masculinidad, etc. La división en párrafos, que tiene cada capítulo, se presta a la división de estos temas, ¡ojo ahí al leerle!
El final es exquisito, pues no se asoma ni por tantito eso en lo que finaliza.

[J.C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always think I'm going to enjoy political and social satire, but I don't think I'm smart enough to appreciate the subtly in the humor. I guess that applies double when the subject is China. Totally bonkers story. It went to so many weird and unexpected places. The description of the book is misleading. Please translate more of his books for me to read.

[Tom Bensley]

I can't give this a rating because I just did not get it. I'm sure the satire is caustic, but I had no idea what was being satirized. I'm sure the writing is quick-witted and savage, but I didn't have any idea what he was on about. I'm sure the picture it paints of modern Chinese society is an essential one, but I couldn't see a goddamn thing. But I DID finish it, so there's that.

[Alice Wang · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moments of biting lucidity (especially near the end) but frankly a lot of incomprehensible slog, especially midway through. I get the feeling that a lot of this is due to translation, which always seemed elaborate only on less important details (like the continued explanation of 大). If I read Wang again I will attempt to do so in Chinese

[Song Ngu]

Đọc được 50%, truyện chán nên bỏ.

[Kirsty Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not understand this book at all, I'm sure it was funnier in its original language!

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

What the fuck did I just read...

Did a nuclear explosion just take place at the end..

[Teddy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably the most obscene book I have ever read.

[Haiiro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cảm nhận thực tế đúng như tác giả nói, không khác gì một đống càn xiên bát nháo. Đọc không hiểu gì cả, chả thấy hay, chả thấy thú vị, chả thấy hài hước gì sất. Tôi cũng từ chối hiểu luôn 🤷

[Marta Gomez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comienzo entretenido, con mucha ironía y sátira. El final se me hizo largo y tedioso. La ironía y sátira del comienzo ahora eran absurdeces rozando lo grotesco y desagradable

[Mandy Partridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wang Shuo's book helped me to understand a modern China which I have visited, but found difficult to come to terms with it's modern culture, so censored and seemingly bland. I knew there had to be an intellectual underground, a questioning of the one party system and state capitalist conformity. Here it is, full of punk, massochism and literal self-defacement.

[Lâm Lê · Rating 3 out of 5]

Đúng là một thứ bát nháo.

[Ryan Crampton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible