Loud Sparrows: Contemporary Chinese Short-Shorts

by Aili Mu (Translator), Julie Chiu (Translator), Howard Goldblatt (Translator)

Extremely short stories-known as short-shorts-have become a global phenomenon, but nowhere have they been embraced as enthusiastically as in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The form's artistic and aesthetic freedoms allow authors to capture the tone, texture, and chaos of their rapidly changing societies in infinitely inventive ways. Fragments and contingencies reveal unofficial histories, undocumented memories, and the trials of everyday individuals, and the genre's lean format is a welcome antidote to a culture characterized by rampant excess.

"Loud Sparrows" is a spirited collection of ninety-one short-shorts written by Chinese authors over the past three decades. Presenting diverse voices and perspectives by writers both well known and new to the art, the stories are culled from newspapers, magazines, literary journals, and personal collections. Their subjects range from the mundane to the sublime and illuminate everything from humanist ideals to traditional virtues to the material benefits of a commercialized society. The anthology is organized into thematic categories such as Change, Creatures, (In)fidelities, Grooming, Governance, Nourishment, and Weirdness, and includes notes to better understand the genre. Each section is introduced by an original piece of flash fiction written by Howard Goldblatt.

The short-short, to borrow a Chinese saying, is "small as a sparrow but has all the vital organs" of a good story. "Loud Sparrows" offers a comprehensive introduction to a unique literary genre that has revolutionized world literature.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, China

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eclectic collection of stories, each under 1000 words: Loud Sparrows invites readers into Chinese lives with tales that feel as carefully selected and ordered as the well-chosen words that form them. Sometimes there’s a feeling that something was lost in translation, but for the most part, these stories recreate lives both familiar and strange, and situations that are frequently achingly real. Some tales are snippets, like seeds waiting to grow in the reader’s imagination. Others fit so much into their small frame you wonder what magic made it possible.

Each section starts with a very short, very gripping snippet –my favorite might be the choice of write-in candidates for election, which introduces the stories headed “Choices.” Section headings alone provide food for thought – “Controversy” leading to “Anticipation” to “Creatures” and more. And the story selection somehow makes the section transitions natural as well, no small achievement.

Short shorts are ideal for readers with short times to read. Make the coffee and meet a written stranger; catch a bus and smile at someone you’ll never see. Sometimes the tales keep you well in your own world of coffee and transport, and sometimes they transport you to another place of soldiers and bamboo poles. If one tale doesn’t grab you, it’s short enough to ignore. If another does, you’ll surely have to finish before putting down the book.

Fascinating, different, and an excellent read as this is: reader beware – reading one short short doesn’t take long. Reading a feast of them takes far longer than reading a novel.

Disclosure: I borrowed this from a friend.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sparrows are tiny but fully formed (and some are loud), thus the allusion to this collection of contemporary Chinese short-shorts of less than 1000 words. These stories could easily fit into the category of American flash fiction, although the contributors to this anthology state that the Chinese short-shorts have definite elements of poetry, as well as prose. In English translation, I didn't think the poetic elements are obvious, although the stories are mostly literary, polished, and use elements of poetic language, such as metaphors, sensory images, etc. Some of the 91 stories, though well-written, are anecdotal. Some resemble character sketches. The 60 writers are from Taiwan, Mainland China, and Hong Kong.

Chinese short-shorts are suitable to the modern passions for speed, easy consumption, and quick gratification. There is also the discipline of self-restraint where saying something in 1000 words is more challenging to write, but easier to read than 10,000 words.

These stories shine flashlight beams on Chinese culture and traditions. The English reader gets a taste of Chinese life, its complexity and sensibilities. The topics of these stories are varied and somewhat unusual. For instance, a story about ear cleaning, the smell of mothballs on a lover, homemade shoes, the serving of tea, death in a deep well, bed-wetting. And there are stories more in sync with western experience: adventures on bus rides, cats and other pets, love and disfavor, workplace stresses. A couple of the stories I would classify as magic realism.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Writing a full length novel is like playing a chef who, all by himself, prepares a big meal that is the equivalent of a state banquet . . . . Writing a very short story, however, is like cutting out fruit slices and turning them into a joyous platter of colorful display."
--Zhong Ling

Short Shorts remind me of bento boxes. Somewhere sometime I saw a really cool blog - or flicker page - chronicling daily creations of beauty in a lunch box.


Update: "Confessions of a Photographer" has been adapted into a short-short film.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of this book has two origins. The first is based on the events of 1958 in Beijing, China. At the urging of Mao Zedong, the residents engaged in a campaign against sparrows. For three days and nights the residents did everything they could to create a massive amount of noise that disoriented the sparrows. Unable to land and rest, over four hundred thousand died. Then, the predictable happened. With no sparrows to eat the insects, the population exploded, and the grain harvest was lost, leading to famine. The second point of origin is the Chinese description of a good short-short story, “small as a sparrow, but has all the vital organs.”
Following that criteria, these sparrows are indeed loud in the literary sense. The situations depicted in the stories cover a wide swath of real and imaginary human situations. Supposed marital infidelity to having a two-way conversation with a horse to food and drink scenarios to traveling situations are just some of the topics covered. In nearly all cases, the quick reading of the story leaves some mental residue. Sometimes you ponder a potential deeper meaning, most of the time the response is to mentally nod your mind in agreement.
Many authors have stated that the short story is the hardest to write, for every word has to be exactly right. Following that criteria, the authors labored hard and long to fill this book.

[Katsuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection with some very good stories, some decent one and some dull ones. My favorite writer overall was Wang Meng, but "What's Up, Lao Cao?" by Chen Shixu is the best one.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of Chinese short short fiction, together with thoughts from Chinese writers about what short shorts are and why they are important. Like with any anthology, some of these bite-sized stories meant nothing to me and some were pure gold.
My favorites:
"Wrong Number" by Liu Yichang
"Learning to Talk" by Wang Meng
"The Beat" by Liu Xinwu
"My One Comment Too Many" by Yi Ming
"Accidental Confidante" by Bai Xiaoyi
"Sea Turtle" by Zhang Kangkang
"Division" by Zhou Rui
"Black Umbrella" by Yi Ruofen
"Good Wine" by Chen Hui
"Chimney Smoke" by Ah Cheng
"Going Home" by Ai Ya
They are all favorites for different reasons. Some because of their sweetness, some their irony, some their emotional poignancy, some their social commentary. My very favorite (probably) is "Going Home" because of how it expresses something I have felt but never thought before.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Also a great read for Mr. Wood anthology teens. This is a good fit for the Asian Author category, and has the bibliographic information they need as well.

All of the poems in this anthology are short, so it's perfect for the procrastinator.

[Derek W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tiny vignettes - fiction that is perfect for the commute.