Les Chroniques de Zhalie

by Yan Lianke

Zhalie est née du mariage entre une prostituée et un voleur qu’un rêve a réunis : celui de faire de ce village pauvre et déshérité une grandiose Babylone semblable aux immenses métropoles du monde. Chroniques d’une conquête, d’une ambition et d’une folie, c’est aussi l’histoire en accéléré de la construction d’une ville planétaire – parabole d’une Chine moderne tournée en dérision.
Un monde bouleversé par les puissances conjuguées du pouvoir et de l’argent. Et, comme si la nature se mettait au diapason de l’extravagance humaine, voici que les arbres reverdissent et que le temps est bouleversé.
Il fallait cet humour magique et l’écriture flamboyante de Yan Lianke pour nous donner à lire cette épopée poétique née du mensonge et du vice.

Genres: China, Fiction, Asia, Magical Realism, Chinese Literature, Literary Fiction, Novels

515 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

Yan Lianke (simplified Chinese: 阎连科; traditional Chinese: 閻連科; pinyin: Yán Liánkē; Wade–Giles: Yen Lien-k'e, born 1958) is a Chinese writer of novels and short stories based in Beijing. His work is highly satirical, which has resulted in some of his most renowned works being banned.

He started writing in 1978 and his works include: Xia Riluo (夏日落), Serve the People (为人民服务), Enjoyment (受活), and Dream of Ding Village (丁庄梦). He has also published more than ten volumes of short stories. Enjoyment, which was published in 2004, received wide acclaim in China. His literature has been published in various nations, and some of his works have been banned in China.

(Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Gorkem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giriş: Yan Lianke

Yan Lianke, Çin'de kitapları en fazla sansürlenen yazarlardan birisi. Duruşu itibariyle Çin'de diğer yazarlardan farklı bir yerde duran Lianke bir çok önemli uluslararası eleştirmen açısından en net ve korkusuz yazarlardan biri olarak kabul ediliyor. 2014 Kafka Ödüllerini kazanan ve 2016 The Man Booker finalisti olan Patlama Kayıtların'da da benzer korkusuzluğu ve netliği okura yapılan bir itiraf eşliğinde kitaba giriş yapıyoruz.

Patlama Kayıtları Hakkında Her Şey:

a. Mythorealism:

Patlama Kayıtlarını konu ve biçimsel olarak incelemeden önce Lianke'nin terimselleştirdiği anlaşılmasındaki en önemli yapısı olan "mythorealism ( mito-realizm diye çevrilebilir sanırım)" kavramını incelemek gerekiyor. Lianke'ye göre günümüz Çin'in gerçekleri kurgusal gerçeklik içine girmesinde yetersiz görmesi yatmaktadır. Bu nedenle de Çin'deki yazarların acilen büyüsel gerçekçiliğin gölgesinden kurtulması gerektiğini belirtiyor :

... "Gerçekçilik dediğimiz bir dizi mantıksal olayın nedensel korelasyon içinde titizlikle uyum sağlayarak saçma olabilecek tüm her şeyi devredışı bırakır. Büyüsel gerçekçilik ise gerçeğin altında yatan olaylar her ne kadar hayattaki gerçeklik algımızı yansıtmasa da yeniden keşfeder. Fakat Çin toplumu açısından baktığımızda, gerçeklik saçmalığın, kaosun, düzensizliğin ve mantıksız olabilecek her şeyin yer alabildiği bir toplum haline gelmesinden dolayı literaturde var olan gerçeklik kavramının kurgusal gerçeklik kavramıyla bağdaşamaz hale gelmesi mytho-realism kavramının doğusunu zorunlu kılar

b. Konu-Kurgu-Anlatım :

Patlama Kayıtları yazarın aşağıda yer alan ve gerçek olay bir derlemenin ürünü olarak, Çin'in tarihsel kayıtları içinde Mao sonrası bir zamanda adı Patlama olan bir köyün Çin ekonomisinin hızlıca büyümesini 2013'lere kadar iki düşman aile olan ağırlıklı Kong ve Zhu ( çok etkisi olmasa da Cheng ailesini de) üzerinden macbethvari bir şekilde anlatmaktadır:

" ..Patlama Kayıtları romanını derlemek ve yazmak için bu aralar üzerinde çalıştığım romanımı bir kenara bıraktım, bu teklifi kabul etmemin nedenlerinden biri, o topraklarda büyümüş olmamdır, ama Patlama şehrinin bana rüyamda görsem bile inanamayacağım kadar büyük miktarda maddi olanak sağlamasının verdiği dürtünün ya da gizli güdünün de etkisi olduğunu itiraf etmek zorundayım."sf.9

Kitap, yukarda da belirtildiği üzere bu kitabın nasıl ortaya çıktığını ve aynı zamanda bir itiraf veya günah çıkarmasını da olan yazarın önsözüyle başlayıp arkadasında romana geçmektedir.Kurgusal yapı çok katmanlı olarak aynı zamanda belgesel ya da bir nevi gazete haberi etkisini taşıyarak, köyün tarihsel yapısını anlatıp kademeli olarak Patlama'nın bu gelişimin ailelerin tarihsel yapısı ışığında yani ana karakter olan Kong Mingliang ve 3 erkek kardeşlerinin doğuşunu ve Zhu ailesinin kızının öyküsünü son derece epik bir anlatımla ve hatta varoluş destanı edasında anlatmaya başlamaktadır:

....Yeri göğü oynatan bu hanedan değişiminden ötürü Patlama köyü sakinleri o gece uyurken aynı rüyayı gördüklerini iddia ettiler... İlk karşılaştıkları şeyi bir alamet olarak görüp bundan sonraki hayatlarını ona göre şekillendireceklermiş."sf.25

Anlatım açısından yukarda bahsettiğimzi mito-realizm bize eşlik ediyor. Sarhoş ve sigara tiryakisi olan ağaçlar, ay ışığından yapılan evler, tükürük yağmurunda boğulan biri, bir anda açan veya solan çicekler, ülkeye yatırım yapmak isteyen yatırımcılara sadece yaranmak için Vietnam savaşının aniden canlandırılması,3 günde yapılan havalimanı kısacası Lianke'nin inanılmaz anlatımı söz konusu.


Sonuç :

Patlama Kayıtları,karakterler üzerinden derinlemesine psikolojik çıkarımların yapıldığı bir kitap değil. Tamamen Mao sonra kapitalizm sürecine geçen Çin'in panaromasını sunuyor. Bu nedenle aşırı yoğun tahliller ortaya koymuyor ve karakterlerin ayrıntısı bazen yetersiz kalabiliyor. Sanırım biraz bunda 4 kardeşin ve hayatlarının anlatımının dağıtımını Lianke'nin eşit dağıtmak istemesi olabilir diye düşünüyorum.İkincisi, romanın aşırı katmanlılı olarak iskelete oturulması bazen okurun takibini zorluyor ya da sıkabiliyor.

Patlama Kayıtları Lianke'nin vasat denebilecek kitaplarından biri olarak kabul ediliyor. Benim açımdan son zamanlarda elimde süründürsem de ve çok sıkıldığım atlamak istediğim yerler olsa da Patlama Kayıtlarını kitapta sevdiğim ve unutamayacağım çok sahne kaldı ve kalacak aklımda.

Kitabın ilk yarısındaki kurgulama beni cidden hayranlık içinde bıraktı ve elimden bırakmak istemedim. İkinci yarısında iki bölüm hariç aynı şeyi söylemeyeceğim. Sürekli olarak şehirleşme, büyüme vurgusu ard arda yapılınca başlarım Patlamanın sıkıntısına diyip elimden cidden fırlatıp atmak geldi elimden. İkinci yarının bitimine yaklaştığım tek bir yer kitaba tekrardan bağlanmamı sağladı. Eğer ikinci yarı benim açımdan bu hisle devam etseydi 3 yıldıza hatta 2'ye kadar düşebilecek gibiydi. Fakat kitap bittiğinde sevdiğim çok fazla yerin olduğunu fark etmem dört yıldıza geri çıkardı

Özetle, her okur sever mi bilmiyorum ama ciddi anlamda modern bir politik taşlama örneği sunan Patlama Kayıtları ilginç şekilde kendisi gibi olan birçok çoğrafya da ayna tutuyor. Bunun yanında bence uzun zamandır okuduğum en özgün anlatılardan biriydi. Çeviri açısından Erdem Kurtuldu bir kez daha rüştünü ispatlamış gerçekten. Fakat, her Kurtuldu çevirisi okuduğumda keşke Çince telafuzların okunuşu giriş kısmında belirtilse ne güzel olurdu demeden edemiyorum.

Yılın bence ülkemiz adına en önemli edebiyat kazanımlarından birisi Patlama Kayıtları. Darısı bekleyen diğer güzel kitaplara.

İyi okumalar
10/7,5

[Nehirin~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Güzeldi ama yine de favorim Mo Yan :)

[Leah Bayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This is a very difficult book to review. I think it did exactly what it set out to: this is a satire of modern China with heavy magical realism elements that add to the farcical and absurd nature of the society portrayed. I am particularly grateful for both the translator's and author's notes, which add a ton of really important context both culturally and linguistically. It would have been a very different experience going into this blind.

It will come as a surprise to no one that the magical realism (or mythorealism as they're called here) elements were my favorite aspect of the novel. Much of them are nature based, with plants and animals reacting to the emotions/actions of the characters. If someone cries, flowers might bloom as their tears fall, or the grass beneath them might wilt away. It's interesting to have the environment quite literally reflect the plot. But mythorealism is used in a lot of ways: there are moments of absolute hilarity (like when the entire city is transformed into Vietnam during the war to make the visiting American soldier comfortable), but others are beautiful and moving (for example, when the city is covered in literal shards of moonlight).

The story focuses on four brothers in the city of Explosion, who each have a part in raising the city from a provincial town to a megalopolis. The ideas of family values, tradition, and ethics breaking down in the face of rampant capitalist corruption take center stage: none of the brothers seem able to resist the allures of money, except for the youngest (who, surprisingly, also seems least important to the plot). The city's rise to fame starts with stealing from passing trains, and it's pretty much downhill from there. As the city's star rises, the townspeople seem to forget everything that they used to value. It could be a heavy-handed message, but the satirical tone and constant bizarre magical elements keep it from seeming that way.

My main problem was with the tone. It's very stiff and formal, and the reader is deliberately kept at arm's length. And the characters are exceptionally one-sided. I think both of these choices are conscious decisions, but they did not make for the most enjoyable read. Usually the language is lush in a book with so much mythorealism, but here it seems almost... stilted. I do not think it is bad writing, but it's simply not my preference. I do appreciate what Lianke accomplished here, even if not every element was to my taste.

[Paul Fulcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yan Lianke's The Four Books, originally published in 2009, was, in its English translation,long- and ultimately short-listed for the 2016 Man Booker International prize. I had read it before the prize list and although I saw its merits and was pleased to see it on the longboat, it wouldn't have made by personal shortlist.

In particular the narrative device of the story, apparently told from excerpts from four different books was innovative but the author didn't quite bring it off. And the fantastical nature of the story for me rather diminished the terrible impact of the real-life events underlying the story. See my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Now this novel, originally published in 2014, and translated into English again by Carlos Rojas, as The Explosion Chronicles, has made the longlist for the 2017 Man Booker International.

Whereas The Four Books focused on The Great Leap Forward, and the resulting famine, this focuses on a more contemporary topic, China's 21st century explosive economic growth.

The same techniques are used. In this case the narrative form is modelled on the Chinese form of "local gazetteers, regional histories compiled by officials and local gentry" (from the translators helpful introduction), themselves based on the twenty-four official dynastic histories that began in the first century BCE with Sima Qian's Records of the Historian.

And the story, as with The Four Books, is told in a manner that blends the realistic with the fantastic and exaggerated, history with allegory, logic with illogicality.

In an illuminating afterword, the author explains his technique. He highlights two key variations in literary history on the realist novel, absurdity, which he attributes to Kafka (who makes no attempt to explain how Gregor Samsa turned into an insect) and magic realism, pioneered by Gabriela Garcia Marquez (where effects have causes but not necessarily realistic ones) but he argues that the exceptional situation of modern China demands a new third type of literature which he labels Mythorealism.

"While realism rigorously accords with a set of logical causal correlations, absurdity discards this causality, and magical realism rediscovers reality's underlying causality - though this is not precisely the same causality we find in real life. Mythorealism, meanwhile, captures a hidden internal logic contained within China's reality. It explodes reality, such that contemporary China's absurdity, chaos and disorder - together with non-realism and illogicality - all become easily comprehensible. In the cohoes of today's China, once novels succeed in grasping the wild roots growing under the soil of reality, the significance of reality itself pales in comparison."

The Explosion Chronicles tells the story of the rapid transformation over just ten years of the small (a few hundred people) and insignificant Explosion Village into a 20+ million population megalopolis to rival Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo or New York. And the story of the three main clans in the original village, the four sons of Kong Dongde, in particular his second son Kong Mingliang who leads the transformation, Zhu Yong daughter of the village chief he deposed, who marries Kong Mingliang but plots revenge for her father, and Cheng Qing, daughter of the Cheng family, who becomes Kong Mingliang's right hand woman and lover and Zhu Yong's bitter rival.

The economic activity on which the villagers initially achieve their wealth is entirely parasitic. Kong Mingliang encourages them to first simply steal and resell items from the goods trains that travel through the area, while, under Zhu Yong's rival, and equally successful, plan the girls of the town go to work as prostitutes in the neighbouring city, before becoming themselves in charge of "women's vocational training."

Later as the village is first redesignated merely as a town, one of the more successful businesses is a "newspaper processing plant" which simply copies stories from newspapers in the north of China, slightly rewrites them and submits them to newspapers in the south, and vice versa. And the very pollution caused by the rapid economic development itself fuels more growth:

In the end everyone in Explosion stopped farming, though no one was left idle. The various industries and factories made this new own bustle like a pot of boiling water. Every day, the sky was filled with black smoke from the factories' smokestacks, producing a burning stench that you could smell in the air and taste in the water. But everyone in Explosion quickly grew accustomed to this door, so much so that when it was washed away by a rainstorm, the fresh air would leave everyone with a cold. As a result, the hospitals became extremely busy, having more sick patients than the schools had students. With this sudden increase in patients, the town needed its own pharmaceutical factories and medicinal packaging plants, and with this increase in packaging plants there also developed an increased need for tax collection and sanitation services. With the rise in tax collection, the town was even busier than before, and virtually every day there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of a new industry. Later, when Kong Mingliang recalled the initial period of Explosion's growth and development, he told me:

'Those were good times, when you could open a newspaper processing plant with nothing more than some glue and a pair of scissors. I'm afraid China will never see times like those again.'

And indeed as Explosion's size and Kong Mingliang's ambitions grow, the hurdles become higher, the achievements more fantastical, and the sacrifices demanded of the people and of the environment greater. And the line between the history of the area and the present, the real and the fake, becomes blurred:

The entirety of Explosion's past consisted of reality, history, and people's memories.

On account of this tension between history and reality, Explosion's old streets and the new city became divided into two distinct worlds.
[...]
The real pigeons were just like fake ones, and the fake ones were just like real ones, but he found this mixing of reality and imitation to be completely unremarkable.

Ultimately this worked better for me than The Four Books. The framing device was more successful and less interfering (albeit perhaps, the opposite, too understated), and I appreciated more here what Lianke was doing with his Mythorealism, which also seemed more suited to the subject matter (albeit I am not convinced that this is a new development in literature to rank alongside the innovations of Kafka and Garcia Marquez). And the story of the rivalry between the four brothers and the three clans successfully maintains the narrative tension of the story to the end.

For me on the cusp of 3 to 4 stars, and on the cusp of being shortlist worthy - but ultimately not quite making either.

One signature motif in the novel is how nature mirrors the economic developments and moods of the characters, with flowers spontaneously blooming or dying, and fruit trees producing crops in record time. And the novel ends:

Meanwhile, along the bloody path that the Kong family had left behind on their way to the cemetery, there were not only flowers but also all different kinds of trees.

[Katia N · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my 3rd attempt to read a book written by a contemporary Chinese author and, again, I feel underwhelmed. It is probably just me - I do not know the literary tradition of the country or its canon. Maybe because of that I did connect with the way how this story is told. It is the chronicle of life in an imaginary village in China and how it has been transformed into a mega-police over the course of decade. And it happened mainly through greed, thirst for power and the lack of moral standing, those weaknesses to which people (not only Chinese) succumb during the time of drastic and uncertain transitions. It is supposed to be a hyperbolic way of telling the story. But I've seen the similar transition in my teens when the Soviet Union has fallen apart; and, sadly, I could definitely believe such events taken place for real with the minimal hyperbola or symbolism. It took me around 200 pages to figure out the dynamics and what I could take from this story. And after that it has become too predictable to enjoy reading it.

There is certainly a point in this book, but it felt a bit repetitive and dry.

2.5 but rounded upwards as I still keep hope to find a Chinese author I enjoy.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tarzından dolayı bana bir kaç farklı kitabı hatırlatsa da çok beğendim ben. Yolda yürür bir yere varır gibi geçti kitap, yazar insanların ya da durumların ruh halini doğayı kullanarak çok iyi anlatmış. Asker abinin deli olduğunu ben ilk başta anlamıştım. Bir de dizginlenmemiş hırs ne kötü şey ya, başına ne geldiyse iktidar sevdasından geldi. Ben kitabı genel olarak beğendim arkadaşlar. Çok beğendim ya.

[Kamil · Rating 4 out of 5]

My video review: https://youtu.be/rydm6ubojOY

[İpek Dadakçı · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yan Lianke ile pek çok okur gibi Günler Aylar Yıllar novellasıyla tanışmıştım. Bu kitabının aksine Patlama Kayıtları nedense pek okunduğuna denk gelmediğim ve fakat muhteşem bir roman! Patlama Kayıtları’nı okuduğunuzda yazarın tahayyülleri zorlayan hayal gücünü nasıl etkileyici bir hicivle bir araya getirip muhteşem bir anlatımla sunabildiğini görüyorsunuz. Lianke, kendine has ‘mito-gerçekçilik’ denen büyülü gerçekçilikle Çin’de bir köyün masalsı, destansı hikâyesini anlatırken muazzam bir siyasi hiciv çıkarmış ortaya.

Roman, yazarın Çin’de Patlama isimli bir köyün hikâyesini yazmaya başlayan bir karakter olarak karşımıza çıkmasıyla açılıyor, ki bu açılışla da Lianke kendi hayal alemine ilk adımı attığımızı hissettiriyor adeta. Sonrasında bu köyün hanedanlar döneminin kısa bir özetiyle asıl hikayeye giriş yapıyor ve köyün önde gelen ailelerinden dört erkek kardeşin hikayesi ekseninde Mao dönemi ve sonrasında köyün tarihini bir masal tadında anlatıyor. Ama ne anlatmak! Aniden her yerden fışkırarak tomucuklanan çiçekler, tükürüklerde boğulan insanlar, kesik parmak ve iskeletlerden bir günde inşa edilen havalimanları, sigara tiryakisi olan ağaçlar ve aklınıza hayalinize gelmeyecek büyülü gerçekçi unsurlarla bambaşka bir dünyadan bir masal okuyorsunuz sanki. Fakat masal deyince tozpembe bir hikaye de asla değil Lianke’nin anlattığı; aksine lafını hiç esirgemeyen, oldukça sert bir siyasi hiciv. Mao döneminden başlayıp, 1940’lardan 2010’lu yıllara değin Çin’in siyasi tarihini hicvediyor oldukça acımasız ve çekincesiz bir şekilde Lianke. Mao sosyalizmi, Kolektifleştirme, Büyük Atılım, Kültür Devrimi yıllarından başlıyor reform ve dışa açılma politikası döneminden günümüz Çin’ine uzanıyor. Ahlaki yozlaşma, yok olan doğal yaşam ve doğaya verilen tahribattan militarizme her şeyiyle kapitalist düzenin kanıksadığımız ama özünde son derece absürt ve aykırı çarklarını yerden yere vuruyor. Mao dönemi de bu eleştirilerden payını almış elbette ama asıl kapitalist düzenin insanın tabiatına nasıl aykırı olduğunu muhteşem vurguluyor; insanın nasıl açgözlü, doymak bilmeyen, iktidar ve güç hırsıyla gözü dönen ve tüm değerlerini yitiren bir canavara bu sistemde dönüştüğü daha güzel nasıl anlatılabilirdi, bilmiyorum. Karakterle beraber bitmek bilmeyen bir hırs girdabına kapılıp gitmeyi de iliklerinize kadar hissettiriyor okurken ve bir kez daha görüyoruz ki bunun sonu gerçekten yok. Satın alınan seçimler, rüşvet, torpil, içi her anlamda boşaltılan kamu kurumları, yolsuzluklar nasıl masal gibi anlatılır, sistem nasıl tiye alınır onu göstermiş Lianke. Son çeyrekte dış politika ve militarizmi de öyle çılgın ele almış ki (bana Kurt Vonnegut’ı anımsattı) bence etkilenmemek elde değil.

Yazarın kendine has büyülü gerçekçiliğiyle mest olurken harika bir siyasi hiciv okumanın tatminini yaşattı bana Patlama Kayıtları. Çok ama çok sevdim.

[Tubi(Sera McFly) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5. İktidar peşindeki politikacıların yozlaşmış hareketlerini, bir o kadar yozlaşmış ilişkileri, modernleşme ve gelişme adı altındaki yüzeyselliği, aşırı maddiyatçılığı, militarizmi çok iyi hicvetmiş Yan Lianke. Hicvin büyülü gerçekçilikle birleştiği anlar keyifli bir okuma vaat ediyor. Romanın ikinci yarısındaysa biraz dağıldım. Bir noktadan sonra kendini tekrar ediyor. Karakterler, özellikle kadınlar, tek boyutlu kalmış. Mo Yan'ın epik romanlarını da andıran bir ailenin çöküş hikayesi.

[Sidharth Vardhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much more readable than 'Four Books' and reading I further helped by Yan Lianke's afterward whose style of prose despite what he says is a bit like Rushdi and Marquez who often used the absurd reality which letting your own world view be designed entirely by reading of newspapers will let you have. Absurd magical events do happen here as much as in Four Books that have their inspiration in newspapers as Lianke points out. Both books are satire on China and its economic development. Both are written in a kind of social history way.

Explosion Chronicles though is less adventurous, more grounded on reality and easier to read. It follows events of development of what started as a small village called Explosion with what are mostly unethical ways of making money.

[Shawn Mooney (Shawn Breathes Books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read much modern Chinese fiction, but perhaps enough to appreciate the wonderfully weird way it swells, twists, shrinks, and warps. In The Explosion Chronicles, Lianke amps up such gyrations to present a sweeping tale of modernizing China, centered on the town of Explosion and its two warring families, the Kongs and the Zhus.

The Kong patriarch had been locked up on some trumped-up charge by the Zhu patriarch during the Cultural Revolution. In the early days of the post-Cultural-Revolution era, Elder Zhu is then publicly 'executed' when Elder Kong rouses the entire village to spit on him until he drowns. From there, the feud between the Zhus and the Kongs determines the future of Explosion.

Conventional literary terms—magical realism, satire, allegory, etc.—go some way to describing what Lianke’s up to, but ultimately prove inadequate in describing the zany, provocative flurry of this novel. He has his own term for it: 'mythorealism,' a non-realistic style characterized by fantastical, fairytale-like, even spectral elements. He says it's the only way to narrate the “absurdity, disorder, chaos, and incomprehensibility” of modern China.

So, as he chronicles the growth of Explosion from tiny village to megapolis, you've got weather ordered up by human characters. You've got flora flowering and fauna fauning, or at least showing up in the unlikeliest of places, then later most of it wilts, disappears, dies off, depending on what happens in the story. Entire airports get built from scratch in a matter of hours, literally on the blood and fingers of citizens.

I was transfixed and discombobulated for the most part. I do also admit that at around the 80% mark I was growing tired of the absurdity. Then by around the 83.5% mark some new weird thing happened and I was back to being transfixed. I don't like satire as a general rule, and like with any satire, I didn't have any emotional connection to these characters, yet I found the novel strangely and all but completely engrossing.

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

The village of Explosion gets its name from a volcanic eruption, but, in this story, its name takes on a different meaning as the village becomes a town, becomes a city becomes a county becomes a megalopolis.

All this happens under the leadership of the four Kong brothers and the influence of two women (Zhu Ying and Chen Qing). The leadership style is a bit dodgy to say the least. Beginning with theft from passing trains and encompassing re-branding of news stories for sale to other newspapers through to prostitution, it seems that no moral standard is too low to be broken in the pursuit of wealth and power.

It's a satire of the explosive growth of China, particularly in the modern era.

I found it to be just an OK read. All the way through, I was accompanied by the feeling that everything that happened was an allegory of something in China's history and that I don't know enough about the history of China to understand that allegory. I'm sure not everything in the book is a direct allegory or parody of Chinese history, but I couldn't shake the feeling that the author wasn't making up a story as much as he was forcing a tale through a series of bizarre parallels with the real history of his country. I think this feeling is exacerbated by the use of "mythorealism" (for example, an entire airport built within a week through the use of severed limbs, or plants that mysteriously flower when documents are waved at them etc.) - all these kinds of things made me feel a heightened sense of allegory.

I am sure that a Chinese person aware of their country's history would read this in an entirely different way to me and would see a lot more in the detail and the imagery used. I suspect you almost have to be Chinese to "get" it.

[Martin Mostek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ironický, satirický, magický a brutální příběh. Autor čaruje s popisy, kouzlí s dějem a obojí proplétá lidovou a vulgární mluvou a životním příběhem venkovských zlodějských vidláků, kteří se postupně stanou pány a veliteli obrovské metropole. V menší zemi se ambiciozní ničemové derou vzhůru tak, že ze zapadlých koutů po zbojnicku a pak po zbohatlicku berou šturmem metropole. V lidové Číně si takoví ničemové tu metropoli ze své zapadlé vsi, jak se zdá, dokáží vybudovat. Rozpukov jke pozoruhodné čtení, které zejména v počátcích a jádru budovatelského úsilí přijde i českému čtenáři až překvapivě povědomé. Za zmínku stojí, že knížka je i výtečně přeložená, nebo alespoň čtenář, který o čínské kultuře a jazyku nemá ponětí si počte výborně provedený český literární převod, což jak víme není v současnosti ani při překladech z bližších kultur a jazyků ani zdaleka pravidlem.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars.
Explosion is a village, then a town, then a city, then a metropolis. This novel charts this evolution from the post-civil war period up to, well, now, mirroring China's emergence from the Cultural Revolution period, the travails and perversions that capitalism and greed hath wrought. The central quintet are the four Kong brothers and the wily Zhu Ying, wife of Second Brother. In varying ways, these five, but especially Second Brother and Ying, affect and effect the monstrous mutation of Explosion. There are a lot of genuinely funny, touching, and outright disturbing moments, and the novel carries much more of what Yan calls "mythorealism" but what we might call "magical realism" than the other novel I read by him.
I do prefer Dream of Ding Village over this one, largely as a matter of structure. Explosion is written as a humorous historical work and thus you rarely get a sense of characters' moods or feelings or even motivations. These often come to the fore explicitly by their actions, but you never really feel like you know anyone as intimately as in his other work.
That aside, I can easily recommend Yan's stuff, it is certainly unique!

[City ReadersMag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Balou Dağları yakınındaki ‘’Patlama‘’ olarak adlandırılan bir köyün, kırsaldan metropole dönüşümünün destansı hikayesi. Üç ailenin - Kong, Zhu ve Cheng - birbirlerine karışan kaderleri hem bu ailelerin hem de Patlama’nın kaderini belirler.

Patlama Kayıtları, hırslar ve arzular üzerine kurulmuştur. Muhtarlıktan başlayarak valiliğe giden siyasi yolda insanlar arasındaki yozlaşma ve açgözlülüğü büyülü gerçekçi bir dille anlatır. Olaylar akarken arka planda neler olmaz ki? Üçkağıtçılık, yüzsüzlük, yalan-dolan, hırsızlık, görevi kötüye kullanma, adam kayırma…

Sevgili Lianke, abartı sanatını çok guzel kullanarak bize güzel bir masal anlatıyor. Kullandığı metoda Mito-realizim deniyor. Gerçek ile gerçek üstünün birbirine karıştığından yazılanların ne kadarının uydurma ne kadarının gerçek olduğunu kestirmek gerçekten oldukça zor. Örneğin: binlerce ölü domuzun yirmi altı milyon kişiye içme suyu sağlayan büyük bir nehirde ortaya çıkması ve yaşlı insanların ölü yakma yasası yürürlüğe girmeden önce geleneksel olarak gömülmek için kendilerini öldürmeleri kitapta yer alan acı gerçekler. Bu olaylar yakın Çin tarihinde yaşanmış. Patlama Kayıtları’nda kurgu ile gerçek o kadar güzel harmanlamış ki okurken bazı yerlerde yüzünüzden gülümse eksik olmazken zaman zaman da düşüncelere dalıyorsunuz.

Peki sizce, Patlama’daki gibi başarıya giden her yol mübah mıdır?

https://www.instagram.com/cityreaders...

[Simona · Rating 4 out of 5]

The basic story is simple - we read the chronicle about the village with the name Explosion where the villagers (with the theft from the passing trains) take the first steps in the development from village into the city. When villagers taste the power of money, the development starts to rotate at high speed.

The driving force behind the story is the greed for money and desire for power. The origin of the money is not important, just as it does not matter what / who is sacrificed to achieve the goal. At the beginning has the main role in the story prosperity which turns into greed. In the foreground are two families - Kong and Zhu, drivers of development in the village, through which we monitor events / decisions and consequences thereof. The dynamics between family members Kong is an excellent representation of the dynamics of today's economically driven society.
The story is a satirical portrait and social commentary / critique of modern China, which highlight important topics such as morality / ethics, respect for the traditions / customs, broken families, pollution, corruption at all lavels, humility / servility to foreigners ... themes that can be transferred to any country.
The story itself is subordinated to the ideas that the author wants to highlight and protagonists are merely a tool used to achieve/express this ideas.
Economic development of the state take place with incomprehensible speed, on the basis of incomprehensible / doubtful decisions without being aware of the price that must be paid. Incomprehensibility / absurdity of the actions is shown with magical realism, or as the author says with mythorealism.

Probably I did not understand all the symbolism / myths, but I enjoyed in the reading, especially in mythorealism, which is involved in the story with very natural and unobtrusive touch.
My advice - be sure to read the translator's introduction in which he explains the structure of the story and the author's notes on mythorealism, before you read the story.

Complicated story, written in a satirical style, with mythorealism elements, story about the progress of society and what we are willing / forced to sacrifice for prosperity. It isn't fun or enjoyable read, the story is absurd, bizarre (even cruel), but it is important and thought provoking.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.75/5 stars
___
My second Yan Lianke novel since the controversial《为人民服务》 (𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦), which I finished in a few sittings in 2018, turned out to be a much racy and vulgar one. Well, perhaps that’s the whole point of it. 《炸裂志》 (𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴), chronicling the transformation of the eponymous community called 炸裂 (Explosion) from a small village to a megapolis, features a cast of mostly unlikeable characters mainly from the two well-known families in the community, i.e. the Kongs and the Zhus. In fact, the feud between both families is responsible for originating such a rapid, unending transformation. As they negotiate with the vendetta and their complicated feelings, the city grows at the cost of traditions and morality, which disruption entails corruption, abuse of power, manipulation, deception, exploitation, ultra-nationalism (which the author alludes to the hostile relations between China and the US, explicitly), forced labour, and above all human ignorance towards the environment. All this explains the absurd and/or hilarious happenings in the book that are against the natural order of things. For instance, trees that bloom different flowers, or one that feeds on wine and sweets. In the name of urban development, they do whatever they desire to mother nature (which appears to be exploitable all the time), without feeling ashamed or guilty. Such lack of conscience, which is a general phenomenon in the post-Mao era where China has been in the race of replacing the US as the superpower of the world, in Yan’s opinion, could only be explained by the theory of mythorealism.

“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 “𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞” 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐝. 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐝; 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞-𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬.”

“𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝐈𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐦𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.”
(“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴”, 𝐩. 𝟒𝟓𝟔-𝟓𝟕, 𝐘𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐣𝐚𝐬)

In essence, mythorealism espouses the uncovering of reality beneath the unbelievable characterised by hysteria, insanity, and pandemonium. It refers to the reality that reflects the unfathomable quality of the absurdly rapid development of China and one that is experienced by Chinese people. It is a form of reality in which craziness and humanity degradation is becoming commonplace, and no one has any means to digest and understand it. To do so is certainly out of the question for, at the core of such overwhelming, rampant unfathomability is the sinister ideological state apparatus. Therefore, mythorealism as a socio-cultural and historical-based theorem seeks not only to make sense of the reality Chinese people live in but also to serve as a stepping stone to exposing the roles of state propaganda and censorship in distorting the facts. In the story, Yan’s inserting himself into the narrative as the author of the chronicle does nothing but heighten the convincibility of his words, suggesting his determination and confidence in challenging state censorship.

It’s been almost a week since I finished the book, and I’m still thinking about the representation of women and their bodies. The female characters, in my understanding, are often objectified and subjugated to demeaning roles, such as madams and sex workers. Female bodies, as shown in the story, appear to be at men’s disposal. In other words, these women are merely sexual objects subjected to the male gaze and functioned as tools to satiate men’s egos. Yet, that’s not all about it. The latter chapters suggest the power of female corporeality in resisting male dominance rooted in Confucianism. Their bodies prove to be their only commodity and weapon in the patriarchy that continuously exploits them.

[Parker]

Interesting...I will have to think on this one a little

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sprawling family / community novels are hard to write at the best of times (IMO), and whilst I liked the idea of Yan using the historic model of local chronicles, in reality I don't think it really worked. I don't have a problem with unlikeable characters (as they all are), but characters seeming to have no motivation behind their actions means that their horrible actions aren't even remotely understandable. The magical realism seems to at times be standing in for a simple explanation of what may be going on in a character's head, but it didn't work for me.

I don't this my disconnection with this book is entirely the book's fault - not having read any of Yan's earlier work I perhaps didn't have the background that would've helped me to enjoy it. Perhaps something I'll revisit in the future.

Thanks to net galley for the chance to read and honestly review this.

[Graham Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I interviewed the translator about this book, here: http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/tra...

This was really, really good - I'm surprised how low its rating is here. I think it's interesting how, based on his author's note, he set out to write China's magical realism. I hate how everything alien gets compared to Hundred Years but in this case I think the connection is direct, strong, and the author himself draws a comparison in the author's note.

The dialogue is a little weird - lots of repetition and unusual line breaks and ellipses. Looking forward to asking the translator about this.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book ok - the story was difficult for me to follow as a Westerner. I really wanted to understand it, being the parent to two children from China. The book is written as a history of a town in China in a Mythorealism style. I believe that if I had read of Chinese writers and the history that I might have enjoyed the book a bit more. I hope to go back after reading more on China and the Chinese and read again.

[Ke · Rating 4 out of 5]

California Zephyr 上读完的第一本书。被安利了阎连科，推荐了这本炸裂志，中国版百年孤独。在读完这本书两个月以后写下了这个review。
一开始就很惊艳于这本书完完全全是按照“志”来写，完整的记录之外，世界观很强，包括了一开始的主笔说和编纂委员会名单，以及结尾的主笔导言。我没读过百年孤独，被传说中的复杂人物关系和相同的名字拦在门外。但这本书情节依然魔幻，背景放在了中国也让我感觉十分亲切，更容易接受和理解。
前半部分确实刺激，会推荐！

[Louise]

read about half - some interesting ideas, I can see the scope - but it's due at the library and there are other books I'm more interested in reading...

[Khai Jian (KJ) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Contemporary China is currently hurtling past a series of economic and development milestones that took Europe over two centuries to achieve, but in the process, all the usual rules and regulations have been displaced by their corresponding objectives. Shortcuts and unscrupulous methods have become a path to success and prosperity, while power and money have colluded to steal people's souls. This result has been a string of terrifying incidents, wherein beauty and ugliness, good and evil, substance and emptiness, value and meaninglessness, all become inextricably jumbled together".

With the abovementioned premise (which was explained in the Author's Notes), Yan Lianke created an extremely "absurd" story based on a small town called the Explosion, which was led by Kong Mingliang and strived to convert Explosion from a rural village to a town, from a town to a country, from a country to a city, and from a city to a provincial-level metropolis, to reflect the aftermath of China's 21st-century explosive economic growth. The Explosion Chronicles was told in an innovative gazetteer and historical compilation format whereby the historical, urbanization, and modernization of Explosion was recorded by Yan Lianke (as instructed by Kong Mingliang, fictionally). In the midst of such urbanization, the conflicts between the Kong clan and the Zhu clan, Kong Mingliang and his brothers (i.e. KongMingguang, Kong Mingyao, and Kong Minghui), Kong Mingliang and his wife, Zhu Ying, were all depicted in an absurd manner together with elements of magical realism. This is to reflect Yan Lianke's satirical views towards communism, capitalism, democracy, patriarchy, and most importantly, the ugly truth and the facade behind China's explosive economic growth in which shortcuts and an ample of corrupt and illegal activities were conducted in order to achieve such growth.

Yan Lianke termed this form of literature as "mythorealism", whereby he seeks out invisible regions (i.e. regions beneath perceivable reality) in order to explode reality's facade (as explained in the Author's Notes). Yan Lianke is indeed a master of satire and wit as he perceives "China's history and contemporary reality to contain an invisible internal truth, and this truth is grounded on one or more "internal casualties". These internal casualties dictate the most absurd reality, history, and humanity". The Explosion Chronicles has no proper character or plot development. The chapters are chunky and snappy. It is absurd with such extremity that you may find it weird and unacceptable. But the notion of absurdity is constantly linked with China's history and social development. Take the COVID-19 outbreak as an example, the cause of the same and its first outbreak in Wuhan, China definitely shocks the world. Yet, with such absurd events roaming around, the whole world is flabbergasted by the Chinese authorities' attempts to suppress the spread of such events. The infamous cancel culture in China is also reflected in the last chapter of the book whereby Kong Mingliang decided to ban the book written by Yan Lianke (a reflection of what truly happened in real life whereby Yan Lianke's books were banned by the Chinese authorities). Yan Lianke's response is definitely impactful: "Thank you, Mayor Kong. You are the book's first reader, and your response reassures me that I have written a pretty good work". When Yan Lianke left Explosion, he "learned that there was the largest thunderstorm Beijing had experienced in the past six hundred years. Thirty-seven people drowned, and countless houses and lives were inundated. With this, the capital's prosperity became blunted". A warning aptly described in shattering the facade created by China behind its explosive growth. A true literary masterpiece with a 4.8/5 star rating from me!

[Merve K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitap Patlama adında bir köyün kısa bir tarihçesiyle başlıyor. Daha sonra Patlama köyünün başına gelenleri büyülü gerçekçilik türünde okuyoruz. Hırslı Kong Mingliang ve eşi Zhu'nun Patlamayı basit bir köyden bir metropole nasıl dönüştürdüğünü muhteşem bir şekilde okuyoruz. Tüm karakterler çok iyi hiç birini okurken sıkılmadım çünkü hepsi Çin kültüründe ve tarihinde başka bir şeyi temsil ediyordu. En çok da yazarın aslında hiç öyle bir derdi yokmuşcasına Çin tarihi dersi vermesine bayıldım. Evet biz bu kitapta bir köyün ve karakterlerin başına gelenleri okuyoruz ama aslında Çin tarihini de okuyoruz.
Kesinlikle çok sevdim bu kitabı. Büyülü gerçekçilik seven hiç durmasın hemen başlasın.

[María González-Albo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impresionante relato del cambio de una pequeña aldea china a una megápolis, la historia de Explotia mezcla tradiciones chinas con realismo mágico y unos personajes muy bien desarrollados.
Leeré más libros de Yan Lianke! 😉

[Iza Cupial · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wspaniała powieść, która oderwała mnie od szarej PL. Bodaj najlepsza powieść Lianke so far.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is microcosmic, magically realistic, and hyperbolic to an extreme. The author really managed to sum up how he felt about China's urban development by writing about a village-turned-city and a family, meant to represent those who would become China's upper crust.

[Cherise Wolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A completely fascinating and ironic mock history that documents the wild and extraordinary development of a village in Henan Province, China.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Explosion Chronicles has definitely shown Yan Lianke's mythorealistic style. The story is rich in metaphor and bizarreness which revealed the social and moral consequences in the characters' tunnel-visioned pursuit of prosperity. I also can't help but read this as a social commentary on modern China and its rapid rise in the world, which inevitably also left casualties in its wake.