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Shi Cheng
‘Everyone in the whole country knew this place was full of money, you only had to bend down and pick it up; everyone in the whole country also knew that opportunity here was like bird shit – while you weren’t looking it would spatter on your head and make you rich…'
To the West, China may appear an unstoppable economic unity, a single high-performing whole, but for the inhabitants of this vast, complex and contradictory nation, it is the cities that hold the secret to such economic success. From the affluent, Westernised Hong Kong to the ice-cold Harbin in the north, from the Islamic quarters of Xi’an to the manufacturing powerhouse of Guangzhou - China’s cities thrum with promise and aspiration, playing host to the myriad hopes, frustrations and tensions that define China today.
The stories in this anthology offer snapshots of ten such cities, taking in as many different types of inhabitant. Here we meet the lowly Beijing mechanic lovingly piecing together his first car from scrap metal, somnambulant commuters at a Nanjing bus-stop refusing to acknowledge the presence of a dead body just metres away, or Shenyang intellectuals conducting a letter-writing campaign on the moral welfare of their city. The challenges depicted in these stories are uniquely Chinese, but the energy and ingenuity with which their authors approach them is something readers everywhere can marvel at.
A young woman races across Chengdu one evening to stop her best friend from murdering her cheating husband...
A student staying with his friend's family in Harbin becomes obsessed with a girl at a train station who he doesn't even know...
A disillusioned newspaper columnist in Shanghai receives a disturbing phone call one night from a distressed housewife...
Early Press:
'These stories tell us how the lives of these cities and citizens, or peasants-turned-citizens, are being tempered. The stories seem to say that one has to go through the fires of hell to reach some different stage of existence.' - The Independent
'On balance, [the editors] perform a valuable service in making these rich, varied and rewarding stories known to a western audience, for all that the politics of cultural engagement remain fraught.' - Financial Times
To the West, China may appear an unstoppable economic unity, a single high-performing whole, but for the inhabitants of this vast, complex and contradictory nation, it is the cities that hold the secret to such economic success. From the affluent, Westernised Hong Kong to the ice-cold Harbin in the north, from the Islamic quarters of Xi’an to the manufacturing powerhouse of Guangzhou - China’s cities thrum with promise and aspiration, playing host to the myriad hopes, frustrations and tensions that define China today.
The stories in this anthology offer snapshots of ten such cities, taking in as many different types of inhabitant. Here we meet the lowly Beijing mechanic lovingly piecing together his first car from scrap metal, somnambulant commuters at a Nanjing bus-stop refusing to acknowledge the presence of a dead body just metres away, or Shenyang intellectuals conducting a letter-writing campaign on the moral welfare of their city. The challenges depicted in these stories are uniquely Chinese, but the energy and ingenuity with which their authors approach them is something readers everywhere can marvel at.
A young woman races across Chengdu one evening to stop her best friend from murdering her cheating husband...
A student staying with his friend's family in Harbin becomes obsessed with a girl at a train station who he doesn't even know...
A disillusioned newspaper columnist in Shanghai receives a disturbing phone call one night from a distressed housewife...
Early Press:
'These stories tell us how the lives of these cities and citizens, or peasants-turned-citizens, are being tempered. The stories seem to say that one has to go through the fires of hell to reach some different stage of existence.' - The Independent
'On balance, [the editors] perform a valuable service in making these rich, varied and rewarding stories known to a western audience, for all that the politics of cultural engagement remain fraught.' - Financial Times
172 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 4, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 2, 2016
One surprisingly regressive Guardian review complains that the short stories in this collection "deny us any of the themes we might expect from China; children are not an issue here, nor factory life, and only one story touches on social organisation." What tosh - I read books by foreign authors to discover their ideas and opinions, not to have my own stereotypes reinforced. As with any collection by a variety of authors, some of the stories I liked more than others, and overall I'm glad I picked the collection up.
September 10, 2017
The introduction to this collection had me really excited to get into it - three Chinese writers living in the UK had decided to create this book to showcase contemporary Chinese literature, with the idea of having 10 stories, each about (or at least set in) a different city in China. Writers supporting each other! Helping introduce writers to a new audience! Doesn't that sound awesome?
I really wanted to like these stories, but unfortunately this was an incredibly patchy collection. Most of the stories were pretty boring, didn't really go anywhere and I didn't really know what they were trying to say. As always is the case with translated stories, this could be the fault of the translation, but I don't think that is the reason. I enjoyed the stories set in Nanjing, Shanghai and Beijing a little bit more than the others, but they weren't all that memorable.
If you're interested in fiction set in China written by a Chinese author, I'd recommend trying out something by Ma Jian or Xiaolu Guo instead.
I really wanted to like these stories, but unfortunately this was an incredibly patchy collection. Most of the stories were pretty boring, didn't really go anywhere and I didn't really know what they were trying to say. As always is the case with translated stories, this could be the fault of the translation, but I don't think that is the reason. I enjoyed the stories set in Nanjing, Shanghai and Beijing a little bit more than the others, but they weren't all that memorable.
If you're interested in fiction set in China written by a Chinese author, I'd recommend trying out something by Ma Jian or Xiaolu Guo instead.
October 17, 2013
It was purely coincidental that just as I finished reading the last story in this collection, the government announced a relaxation of visa restrictions to Chinese nationals with the rejoinder that British attitudes towards the Chinese might be altered. Notwithstanding the human rights issues, I had never expected that those would characterize the national psyche. I have never visited China so had little knowledge. What struck me in reading these several stories was a sense of familiarity with the humour and irony of the authors.
This collection gives a rare flavour of China. However, the Introduction is just as important. The story of the circumstances in which the collection came about is fascinating and itself gives some insight into Chinese life. As the Introduction explained, each author in this collection is already highly rated in China if unknown in the UK. Each story comes from a different city in China, with its own climate and atmosphere. The characters range from those on the far fringe of respectability to those who have enjoyed an excellent education.
To do the book justice, each story really deserves to be reviewed individually, but I have compromised with my favourites.
Wittily, Jie Chen writes about a girl `rushing' to prevent a murder. Her sense of urgency is constantly hampered by her make-up, double-checking of door locks, street sales of passport/diary/dagger while simultaneously she mentally constructs scenarios for her friend's crisis. It is a very amusing 'literary chick-lit' in which we learn something of the inconveniences and hazards in Chengdu. Josh Sternberg needs congratulating for his translation: he captures ditziness in an way immediately recognizable in the UK.
He does an equally good job on Zhang Zhihua's story, a clever association between the agonizing wisdom tooth which should be removed and the state of the owner's marriage. Sternberg manages to make clear the play on a Chinese word which means either `childish' or `wisdom' without spoiling the narrative style of the tale.
Hang Dong's beautifully written story, `This Moron is Dead' is the ultimate in bleak irony, social comment and literary style. I loved his use of cherry blossom as a symbol on several levels. It only exists on one street in the city; it only blossoms very briefly - a reference to past Japanese intrusion?
The Chinese sense of humour is best shown by Diaou Dou's `Squatting', which had me laughing out loud - inappropriately, as I was in the dentist's waiting room. The earnest educated group aims to benefit their community by polite approaches to those in power. The description of their efforts and the authoritarian outcomes, although hilarious, gives a flavour of everyday life and difficulties in Shenyang. Perhaps all our wars could be solved by the use of ridicule. Diaou Dou's writing reminded me of Jonathan Swift.
In Xu Zechen's `Wheels are Round', the poverty and life-style of labourers on the fringe of Beijing is told with a hilarity just short of bitterness. The mechanics look towards the, for them, unattainable city where largesse falls from the sky and fortunes lie awaiting to be picked up from the pavement. With months of ingenuity the main character pieces together a car, the zenith of his ambition, using scrap from the garage where he works and is consistently defrauded. The car's fortune is shown with the irony that characterizes these writers.
Altogether, it was the irony and irrepressible humour that gave me such a warm feeling of kindred spirit.
Most readers will surely enjoy these urban tales by masterful Chinese writers as much as I did. There aren't enough short story collections on the bookshelves of libraries and bookshops. Comma Press is benefiting the reading public by seeking to remedy this situation.
This collection gives a rare flavour of China. However, the Introduction is just as important. The story of the circumstances in which the collection came about is fascinating and itself gives some insight into Chinese life. As the Introduction explained, each author in this collection is already highly rated in China if unknown in the UK. Each story comes from a different city in China, with its own climate and atmosphere. The characters range from those on the far fringe of respectability to those who have enjoyed an excellent education.
To do the book justice, each story really deserves to be reviewed individually, but I have compromised with my favourites.
Wittily, Jie Chen writes about a girl `rushing' to prevent a murder. Her sense of urgency is constantly hampered by her make-up, double-checking of door locks, street sales of passport/diary/dagger while simultaneously she mentally constructs scenarios for her friend's crisis. It is a very amusing 'literary chick-lit' in which we learn something of the inconveniences and hazards in Chengdu. Josh Sternberg needs congratulating for his translation: he captures ditziness in an way immediately recognizable in the UK.
He does an equally good job on Zhang Zhihua's story, a clever association between the agonizing wisdom tooth which should be removed and the state of the owner's marriage. Sternberg manages to make clear the play on a Chinese word which means either `childish' or `wisdom' without spoiling the narrative style of the tale.
Hang Dong's beautifully written story, `This Moron is Dead' is the ultimate in bleak irony, social comment and literary style. I loved his use of cherry blossom as a symbol on several levels. It only exists on one street in the city; it only blossoms very briefly - a reference to past Japanese intrusion?
The Chinese sense of humour is best shown by Diaou Dou's `Squatting', which had me laughing out loud - inappropriately, as I was in the dentist's waiting room. The earnest educated group aims to benefit their community by polite approaches to those in power. The description of their efforts and the authoritarian outcomes, although hilarious, gives a flavour of everyday life and difficulties in Shenyang. Perhaps all our wars could be solved by the use of ridicule. Diaou Dou's writing reminded me of Jonathan Swift.
In Xu Zechen's `Wheels are Round', the poverty and life-style of labourers on the fringe of Beijing is told with a hilarity just short of bitterness. The mechanics look towards the, for them, unattainable city where largesse falls from the sky and fortunes lie awaiting to be picked up from the pavement. With months of ingenuity the main character pieces together a car, the zenith of his ambition, using scrap from the garage where he works and is consistently defrauded. The car's fortune is shown with the irony that characterizes these writers.
Altogether, it was the irony and irrepressible humour that gave me such a warm feeling of kindred spirit.
Most readers will surely enjoy these urban tales by masterful Chinese writers as much as I did. There aren't enough short story collections on the bookshelves of libraries and bookshops. Comma Press is benefiting the reading public by seeking to remedy this situation.
December 26, 2019
Contemporary short stories from ten different cities across China: What the writing lacks in polish is quite largely made up in the passion of the writers and the insights from beyond the "usual suspects" - so many China stories in English are based in Shanghai and written by foreigners. These are written by Chinese people about Chinese people and many of them set in mid-sized cities you may never have heard of.
People are blunt and direct in these stories. There is no single theme, rather an overall mood of dolefully confronting the ups and downs of modern city life, in the uniquely Chinese context of ultra-rapid systemic change.
It was great to read these stories while travelling in China.
People are blunt and direct in these stories. There is no single theme, rather an overall mood of dolefully confronting the ups and downs of modern city life, in the uniquely Chinese context of ultra-rapid systemic change.
It was great to read these stories while travelling in China.
December 25, 2017
Square Moon - 2 stars
Ends way too abruptly, nothing really happens, no reason to care about the characters.
But What About the Red Indians? - 2 stars
Same as Square Moon pretty much.
Kangkang's Going to Kill That F***ker Zhao Yilu - 3.5 stars
Much better, does the "abrupt end" better than the previous two stories
Rendezvous at the Castle Hotel - 3 stars
The plot is sort of okay in this one, good writing saves it, although there is a short vignette at the end which I felt didn't really add anything
Dear Wisdom Tooth - 3 stars
Husband and wife have an argument about how the husband didn't remove his wisdom teeth when he had the opportunity to and are near-divorce. That's pretty much it.
This Moron is Dead - 4 stars
Guy observes how other people react to a corpse on a train platform. Witty writing here.
Family Secrets - 3.5 stars
Advice/gossip columnist hears a tale from a woman tired of her marriage. I anticipated the twist ending but the protagonist's thoughts and descriptions of what people say to her (and what she makes up) are pretty fun to read.
Wheels are Round - 4.5 stars
My favorite story in this collection. Description of a man's life as he builds his own car from scrap metal and other junk in his workplace.
Squatting - 4.5 stars
This story is also my favorite. This is more of a comedy, and the premise is a bunch of people writing letters to their city to reduce the crime rate, and then continuing to write letters when the city's anti-crime solution goes wrong.
How to Look at Women - 3 stars
Coming from Wheels are Round and Squatting this one is a letdown. Also takes a turn from the plot about the main character and his trip to Harbin to a description of a side character's life, but I found it interesting anyway.
TLDR The short stories at the end are vastly superior to the ones at the beginning
Ends way too abruptly, nothing really happens, no reason to care about the characters.
But What About the Red Indians? - 2 stars
Same as Square Moon pretty much.
Kangkang's Going to Kill That F***ker Zhao Yilu - 3.5 stars
Much better, does the "abrupt end" better than the previous two stories
Rendezvous at the Castle Hotel - 3 stars
The plot is sort of okay in this one, good writing saves it, although there is a short vignette at the end which I felt didn't really add anything
Dear Wisdom Tooth - 3 stars
Husband and wife have an argument about how the husband didn't remove his wisdom teeth when he had the opportunity to and are near-divorce. That's pretty much it.
This Moron is Dead - 4 stars
Guy observes how other people react to a corpse on a train platform. Witty writing here.
Family Secrets - 3.5 stars
Advice/gossip columnist hears a tale from a woman tired of her marriage. I anticipated the twist ending but the protagonist's thoughts and descriptions of what people say to her (and what she makes up) are pretty fun to read.
Wheels are Round - 4.5 stars
My favorite story in this collection. Description of a man's life as he builds his own car from scrap metal and other junk in his workplace.
Squatting - 4.5 stars
This story is also my favorite. This is more of a comedy, and the premise is a bunch of people writing letters to their city to reduce the crime rate, and then continuing to write letters when the city's anti-crime solution goes wrong.
How to Look at Women - 3 stars
Coming from Wheels are Round and Squatting this one is a letdown. Also takes a turn from the plot about the main character and his trip to Harbin to a description of a side character's life, but I found it interesting anyway.
TLDR The short stories at the end are vastly superior to the ones at the beginning
January 20, 2019
Uneven collection
The further up north, the better the stories get. Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shanghai the weakest, the first two of them quite poorly translated (my impression, some sentences felt stiff and illogical). The best stories: Nanjing (the health care scare and cherry blossoms where the massacre was), Beijing and Harbin.
The further up north, the better the stories get. Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shanghai the weakest, the first two of them quite poorly translated (my impression, some sentences felt stiff and illogical). The best stories: Nanjing (the health care scare and cherry blossoms where the massacre was), Beijing and Harbin.
March 28, 2017
A very nice little collection of stories. Some great, some not, but all of them good. My personal favorites were Jie Chen's story "Kangkang's Gonna Kill That Fucker Zhao Yilu" and Ding Liying's story "Family Secrets."
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews