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Elsewhere
'How do you know this is all real and happening? How can you be sure you haven't already died in the earthquake and are just living in the afterlife?'
In her highly anticipated English-language debut, Yan Ge explores isolation in nine iridescent, witty and wondrous tales. Both contemporary and ancient, real and surreal, the stories in Elsewhere range from China to Dublin to London and Stockholm.
From a group of writers lounging on the edge of a disaster zone to a mandarin ostracised from his old court trying to avoid assassination, and from a woman who inexplicably loses her voice to a couple who meet all too fleetingly at a cinema in Dublin, these are strange and beguiling stories of dispossession, longing and the diasporic experience.
In her highly anticipated English-language debut, Yan Ge explores isolation in nine iridescent, witty and wondrous tales. Both contemporary and ancient, real and surreal, the stories in Elsewhere range from China to Dublin to London and Stockholm.
From a group of writers lounging on the edge of a disaster zone to a mandarin ostracised from his old court trying to avoid assassination, and from a woman who inexplicably loses her voice to a couple who meet all too fleetingly at a cinema in Dublin, these are strange and beguiling stories of dispossession, longing and the diasporic experience.
322 pages, Paperback
First published May 30, 2023
83 people are currently reading
5234 people want to read
About the author
Yan Ge
54 books216 followersYan Ge (Chinese: 颜歌; born 1984) is the pen name of Chinese writer Dai Yuexing (戴月行).
Yan Ge was born Dai Yuexing in 1984 in Sichuan, China. She began publishing in 1994. She completed a PhD in comparative literature at Sichuan University and is the Chair of the China Young Writers Association. Her writing uses a lot of Sichuanese, rather than Standard Chinese (Mandarin).[1] People’s Literature (Renmin Wenxue 人民文学) magazine recently chose her – in a list reminiscent of The New Yorker's ‘20 under 40’ – as one of China's twenty future literary masters. In 2012 she was chosen as Best New Writer by the prestigious Chinese Literature Media Prize (华语文学传媒大奖 最佳新人奖).
Yan Ge was born Dai Yuexing in 1984 in Sichuan, China. She began publishing in 1994. She completed a PhD in comparative literature at Sichuan University and is the Chair of the China Young Writers Association. Her writing uses a lot of Sichuanese, rather than Standard Chinese (Mandarin).[1] People’s Literature (Renmin Wenxue 人民文学) magazine recently chose her – in a list reminiscent of The New Yorker's ‘20 under 40’ – as one of China's twenty future literary masters. In 2012 she was chosen as Best New Writer by the prestigious Chinese Literature Media Prize (华语文学传媒大奖 最佳新人奖).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 134 reviews
May 28, 2023
Elsewhere is a collection of short stories that hang loosely together. They range from the almost surreal Hai, a story about scholars of Confucius and the arguments, jealousies and rivalries that occur under any great leader to the oddly modern How I Fell in Love with the Well Documented Life of Alex Whelan, which explores the digital age through social media and how friendships are formed and broken these days.
My favourite story was When Travelling in Summer which is only one of the clever stories that seem to be about one thing then turn out to be about something else.
This is my first time reading Yan Ge but it won't be my last. I found the writing so delicate and beautiful. Even when she is describing such a heinous punishment as hai there is a gentility about her words. Definitely big fan of this book now and I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys short stories or exquisite writing.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.
My favourite story was When Travelling in Summer which is only one of the clever stories that seem to be about one thing then turn out to be about something else.
This is my first time reading Yan Ge but it won't be my last. I found the writing so delicate and beautiful. Even when she is describing such a heinous punishment as hai there is a gentility about her words. Definitely big fan of this book now and I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys short stories or exquisite writing.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.
May 16, 2023
An English-speaking woman at a Chengdu pub, a foreigner they call her, asks Pigeon how it feels to be a Chinese woman. She doesn’t answer but later tells her mother about the exchange, asking for her personal interpretation. The mother reflects a moment before saying that she supposes she never saw herself as a Chinese woman. She can only tell Pigeon how she feels about being a woman. This simple exchange encapsulates an important counterpoint of this short story collection, which highlights a pervasive tendency to stratification based on superficial cues of somethingness. Even Pigeon does this. She lashes out at a bartender for speaking in Chinese because, she says, it is her language not his.
When Pigeon’s mother reflects on the question, she is in bed dying, one month remaining before her sojourn on this planet ends. It gains more poignancy from that. The time when social fictions no longer hold meaning. We are reduced to humans in bodies of skin and bone and not some compartment in which our physical features or language place us.
Ge is a gift to the readers. Her voice has a unique feel for which I cannot find words to describe. I can only say that I didn’t want this reading experience to end.
When Pigeon’s mother reflects on the question, she is in bed dying, one month remaining before her sojourn on this planet ends. It gains more poignancy from that. The time when social fictions no longer hold meaning. We are reduced to humans in bodies of skin and bone and not some compartment in which our physical features or language place us.
Ge is a gift to the readers. Her voice has a unique feel for which I cannot find words to describe. I can only say that I didn’t want this reading experience to end.
July 10, 2023
86th book of 2023.
3.5. Just as frustrating as it always is to rate short story collections. I was impressed and thoroughly enjoyed some of Ge's stories, cared less for others. I particularly liked 'Stockholm' and 'Mother Tongue', the latter of which involves mention of my favourite Mishima novel, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. The longest and final story, 'Hai', never quite pulled me in despite my like for the idea (a Confucian scholar) and the setting of Imperial China. A nice mix of things, Rooney-espue protagonists, Murakami-like surrealism. A varied collection.
3.5. Just as frustrating as it always is to rate short story collections. I was impressed and thoroughly enjoyed some of Ge's stories, cared less for others. I particularly liked 'Stockholm' and 'Mother Tongue', the latter of which involves mention of my favourite Mishima novel, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. The longest and final story, 'Hai', never quite pulled me in despite my like for the idea (a Confucian scholar) and the setting of Imperial China. A nice mix of things, Rooney-espue protagonists, Murakami-like surrealism. A varied collection.
June 15, 2023
'Zilu chuckled. ‘It’s not goo. It’s hai, the Master’s favourite dish in fact.’ Zilu dipped his index finger in the sauce and wrote the character down on the ground – 醢. ‘Now, this character, “hai”, means minced meat. Originally, it referred to a barbaric method of execution, invented by the last emperor of Shang, King Ferocity of Shang. He murdered the crown prince of King Wisdom of Zhou by mincing him alive and then he forced King Wisdom to eat the meat balls made from his son’s flesh.”'
Devoured this so quickly . RTC later . Frankly idek how to review this properly - it's a mixed bag of treats - but all of them undeniably delicious.
December 25, 2023
An uneven short story collection, mixing very modern stories with classic historical fiction ones. There were quite a few I found terribly boring.
But the final story about the Confucian monk Zixia (100 pages long and making up a third of the book) was unexpectedly gripping. It is set in the 5th century BCE and describes the power struggle for the succession of Confucius. Very interesting!
Overall though, too much of this book couldn't hold my interest.
But the final story about the Confucian monk Zixia (100 pages long and making up a third of the book) was unexpectedly gripping. It is set in the 5th century BCE and describes the power struggle for the succession of Confucius. Very interesting!
Overall though, too much of this book couldn't hold my interest.
May 23, 2023
Elsewhere is Yan Ge's debut collection of beguiling, evocative and perceptive English-language short stories written using incisive and exacting prose, each with a thread leading back to China and its people. While these stories have the propensity to probe the quotidian and the banality of modern life, they still often feel, in direct contrast to this, ethereal; there's almost a transcendent feel to them, and the juxtaposition between these two aspects is what makes this anthology shine. The extraordinary versus the couldn't-be-more-ordinary. Not only do the chosen topics of the stories gleam with originality, but they also have candour; dark humour; and intelligence emanating from each page.
The Little House tells the story of a diverse group of inhabitants of a Chinese provincial town who come together to form an encampment in Ping'an Square after an earthquake leaves their former homes uninhabitable. During Shooting An Elephant, married couple Shanshan and Declan move into a new terraced cottage in Dublin. But after a traumatic incident occurred while on honeymoon in Burma/Myanmar, Shanshan wishes to return there to hopefully bring some closure to the issue; closure that seems to have been unattainable back at home. Another vignette, entitled Stockholm, unwinds the yarn of a novelist and new mother who is encouraged by friends to travel to Sodermalm, Sweden, to attend a literary retreat after recently giving birth to her newborn.
Made up of wild, exciting, disturbing stories about dispossession and ideas of home and identity, and set between contemporary Ireland and ancient China, Yan effortlessly takes you as the reader wherever she goes, between cultures and genres. I fell under Ge's spell pretty swiftly and didn't want the book to conclude, so I definitely see more of her writings in my reading future. The tales include a polyphony of voices, anti-dualistic propositions and characters whose identities are constantly in flux — this sense of perpetual displacement is what Ge explores and celebrates in her fiction. These are her people, wherever they now may be situated, and these are their stories.
The Little House tells the story of a diverse group of inhabitants of a Chinese provincial town who come together to form an encampment in Ping'an Square after an earthquake leaves their former homes uninhabitable. During Shooting An Elephant, married couple Shanshan and Declan move into a new terraced cottage in Dublin. But after a traumatic incident occurred while on honeymoon in Burma/Myanmar, Shanshan wishes to return there to hopefully bring some closure to the issue; closure that seems to have been unattainable back at home. Another vignette, entitled Stockholm, unwinds the yarn of a novelist and new mother who is encouraged by friends to travel to Sodermalm, Sweden, to attend a literary retreat after recently giving birth to her newborn.
Made up of wild, exciting, disturbing stories about dispossession and ideas of home and identity, and set between contemporary Ireland and ancient China, Yan effortlessly takes you as the reader wherever she goes, between cultures and genres. I fell under Ge's spell pretty swiftly and didn't want the book to conclude, so I definitely see more of her writings in my reading future. The tales include a polyphony of voices, anti-dualistic propositions and characters whose identities are constantly in flux — this sense of perpetual displacement is what Ge explores and celebrates in her fiction. These are her people, wherever they now may be situated, and these are their stories.
June 24, 2023
For people unfamiliar with contemporary Chinese history and culture, Yan’s prose might seem coded. Alluding to key dates and historical events that changed ordinary lives forever.
Most of her characters are always observing, passively soaking in people’s carelessness around them like a sponge. An outsider in the elsewhere, speaking a language that inevitably flattens them, always an object of desire, spectacle, or otherness.
But there’s also a defiance in Yan Ge’s unapologetic usage of Chinese characters, historic events, and phrases in Mandarin. As if to say: as a storyteller I have no responsibility to give you the footnotes; you do the homework yourself. Just like how English writers would not care to elaborate when they quote liberally from their canons.
When Yan Ge is not teasing with self-insertion, she recreates encounters between ancient Chinese intellectuals with a much more eerie and eccentric language to those who don’t read Chinese or know the context of traditional formal talk. Her translation is mostly literal, once again capturing the essence of Chinese hyperbole and metaphors without tweaking them for the comfort and convenience of English speaker readers. Yan Ge shows her range in this collection of historical reimaginations, surreal horrors, and modern-day obsession stories. You will find some bits of the book hard to read. Whether it’s the graphic description of gore and cruelty, or the matter-of-fact display of racially charged comments, you will wince.
Her ambitious writing and thick description sometimes create an enigma that requires more patience from the reader, especially the last and longest story in the book: A retelling of Confucius and his disciples that might seem blasphemous to Chinese nationals, reminiscent of Lu Xun’s Mad Man’s diary.
Overall this book came as a nice surprise to me. I recommend it and am curious about how a non-Chinese person would experience this book differently.
Most of her characters are always observing, passively soaking in people’s carelessness around them like a sponge. An outsider in the elsewhere, speaking a language that inevitably flattens them, always an object of desire, spectacle, or otherness.
But there’s also a defiance in Yan Ge’s unapologetic usage of Chinese characters, historic events, and phrases in Mandarin. As if to say: as a storyteller I have no responsibility to give you the footnotes; you do the homework yourself. Just like how English writers would not care to elaborate when they quote liberally from their canons.
When Yan Ge is not teasing with self-insertion, she recreates encounters between ancient Chinese intellectuals with a much more eerie and eccentric language to those who don’t read Chinese or know the context of traditional formal talk. Her translation is mostly literal, once again capturing the essence of Chinese hyperbole and metaphors without tweaking them for the comfort and convenience of English speaker readers. Yan Ge shows her range in this collection of historical reimaginations, surreal horrors, and modern-day obsession stories. You will find some bits of the book hard to read. Whether it’s the graphic description of gore and cruelty, or the matter-of-fact display of racially charged comments, you will wince.
Her ambitious writing and thick description sometimes create an enigma that requires more patience from the reader, especially the last and longest story in the book: A retelling of Confucius and his disciples that might seem blasphemous to Chinese nationals, reminiscent of Lu Xun’s Mad Man’s diary.
Overall this book came as a nice surprise to me. I recommend it and am curious about how a non-Chinese person would experience this book differently.
April 1, 2025
Ależ mi się te opowiadania podobały! Jest coś takiego w stylu i w ogóle autorskim uniwersum Yan Ge, co przyciągało mnie do tych historii i uwodziło literacko od pierwszych stron. Każde opowiadanie jest inne. Jest między nimi wiele zmiennych, a jednocześnie wszystkie mają to "coś". Szalenie podobało mi się zestawienie codzienności i banalności współczesnego życia z ponadludzkm, jakimś nadnaturalnym piętnem. Pięknie się blendował ten kontrast między realizmem a surrealizem.
Jak widzę "Gdzie indziej"? Jako opowiadania o przemieszczaniu. O ciągłym ruchu. Obcości. O poszukiwaniach - definicji, tożsamości, rozumienia, konceptów. O próbach odnalezienia się w mistycznym "gdzie indziej". No i w końcu - o relacji ze swoją chińskością.
Świetny, świetny zbiór opowiadań, z którego moje ulubione to "Zabicie słonia" i "Sztokholm". No i "Jak zakochałam się w dobrze udokumentowanym życiu Alexandra Whelana", które znałam już z antologii "Niepoprawna mnogość". Chcę więcej Yan Ge!
Jak widzę "Gdzie indziej"? Jako opowiadania o przemieszczaniu. O ciągłym ruchu. Obcości. O poszukiwaniach - definicji, tożsamości, rozumienia, konceptów. O próbach odnalezienia się w mistycznym "gdzie indziej". No i w końcu - o relacji ze swoją chińskością.
Świetny, świetny zbiór opowiadań, z którego moje ulubione to "Zabicie słonia" i "Sztokholm". No i "Jak zakochałam się w dobrze udokumentowanym życiu Alexandra Whelana", które znałam już z antologii "Niepoprawna mnogość". Chcę więcej Yan Ge!
December 20, 2023
"All writing is political...To narrate is to make choices, to cut out the insubstantial and to inaugurate order. Essentially, those who are written onto the page and therefore dominate the narrative hold the power"
Elsewhere (Yan Ge's English debut) is a collection of 9 short stories, set in multiple countries (Dublin, London, Stockholm, New York, Chiang Mai, Burma) and centuries, where the main characters are Chinese, thereby amplifying the overarching theme of "Elsewhere". Premising on the notion of cosmopolitanism, Yan Ge explored not only the Chinese diasporic experience but also feminism, identity, language, art, dispossession, and the journey of rediscovery. As the recipient of the prestigious Mao Dun Literature Prize (Best Young Writer), Yan Ge has already established her status as a Chinese fiction writer. With Elsewhere, Yan Ge showcased both her command of English as well as her knowledge of Chinese culture and literature, by interweaving a subtly crafted English prose with references to Chinese literature. For instance, Li Bai's poems, Zhuangzi's Free and Easy Wandering (逍遥游), Lao Zi's Tao Te Ching (道德經), and Confucius's Confucianism were all interspersed with Yan Ge's occasional philosophical ideas/arguments. "Life is just a brief stop on our long, infinite journey. Our transformation into life is merely an accident and it is our ultimate destiny to be released back to nature by our death"; "We are all deeply manipulated, in each culture, language and society. The more marginalized we are from the centre, the less we are allowed to talk, write and think as ourselves. Even you would like to consider yourself an unbiased individual but you are perpetually negotiating with the coercions of collective identities".
My personal favorites would be "Stockholm" (about a writer and a new mother who attended a literary conference and who is afraid of losing her ability to write), “Free Wandering” (about a narrator visiting New York to meet his cousin but with a touch of magical realism and a shocking ending), "Shooting an Elephant" (about a woman and her husband who is settling in Ireland where the woman is recovering from a traumatic experience during their honeymoon), "Mother Tongue" (about a young woman who is grieving for the death of her mother due to cancer and her struggles with her mother tongue). Elsewhere is a promising collection of short stories, where underlying Yan Ge's creativity and beautiful prose, would be her erudite discussions and arguments. Elsewhere is a strong 4.5 star read for me, thanks to Times Read for sending this review copy to me!
Elsewhere (Yan Ge's English debut) is a collection of 9 short stories, set in multiple countries (Dublin, London, Stockholm, New York, Chiang Mai, Burma) and centuries, where the main characters are Chinese, thereby amplifying the overarching theme of "Elsewhere". Premising on the notion of cosmopolitanism, Yan Ge explored not only the Chinese diasporic experience but also feminism, identity, language, art, dispossession, and the journey of rediscovery. As the recipient of the prestigious Mao Dun Literature Prize (Best Young Writer), Yan Ge has already established her status as a Chinese fiction writer. With Elsewhere, Yan Ge showcased both her command of English as well as her knowledge of Chinese culture and literature, by interweaving a subtly crafted English prose with references to Chinese literature. For instance, Li Bai's poems, Zhuangzi's Free and Easy Wandering (逍遥游), Lao Zi's Tao Te Ching (道德經), and Confucius's Confucianism were all interspersed with Yan Ge's occasional philosophical ideas/arguments. "Life is just a brief stop on our long, infinite journey. Our transformation into life is merely an accident and it is our ultimate destiny to be released back to nature by our death"; "We are all deeply manipulated, in each culture, language and society. The more marginalized we are from the centre, the less we are allowed to talk, write and think as ourselves. Even you would like to consider yourself an unbiased individual but you are perpetually negotiating with the coercions of collective identities".
My personal favorites would be "Stockholm" (about a writer and a new mother who attended a literary conference and who is afraid of losing her ability to write), “Free Wandering” (about a narrator visiting New York to meet his cousin but with a touch of magical realism and a shocking ending), "Shooting an Elephant" (about a woman and her husband who is settling in Ireland where the woman is recovering from a traumatic experience during their honeymoon), "Mother Tongue" (about a young woman who is grieving for the death of her mother due to cancer and her struggles with her mother tongue). Elsewhere is a promising collection of short stories, where underlying Yan Ge's creativity and beautiful prose, would be her erudite discussions and arguments. Elsewhere is a strong 4.5 star read for me, thanks to Times Read for sending this review copy to me!
March 22, 2025
As Yan Ge said, each story in this collection is connected in some way, eventually flowing into the final novella, Hai, like tributaries converging into the sea. Hai might be the origin of all the preceding stories, a Confucian’s “Conclave.”
My personal favorite is Stockholm, a mother struggling with postpartum depression who embarks on a journey to Stockholm. It’s a true masterpiece, with an ending that left me utterly stunned.
On a more personal level, The Little House struck a deep chord with me. There are too few stories set against the backdrop of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, yet this disaster is an essential part of our collective memory. As Yan Ge noted, Sichuan people, even in the face of catastrophe, can still find a way to play mahjong while seeking shelter from the quake.
When Travelling in the Summer brings a touch of wuxia to the story of Shen Kuo, and its brilliance lies in a final twist that only Chinese readers would fully grasp.
So much looking forward her English debut novel.
My personal favorite is Stockholm, a mother struggling with postpartum depression who embarks on a journey to Stockholm. It’s a true masterpiece, with an ending that left me utterly stunned.
On a more personal level, The Little House struck a deep chord with me. There are too few stories set against the backdrop of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, yet this disaster is an essential part of our collective memory. As Yan Ge noted, Sichuan people, even in the face of catastrophe, can still find a way to play mahjong while seeking shelter from the quake.
When Travelling in the Summer brings a touch of wuxia to the story of Shen Kuo, and its brilliance lies in a final twist that only Chinese readers would fully grasp.
So much looking forward her English debut novel.
April 13, 2025
Większość tekstów ze zbioru „Gdzie indziej” chińskiej pisarki Yan Ge jest mocno osadzonych w codzienności, ale znajdziecie tu też surrealistyczne smaczki. Autorka podejmuje temat tożsamości i jej poszukiwania, bycia z pochodzenia Chinką, żyjącą na emigracji, poczucia, że zawsze jest się niedopasowanym, że zawsze powinno się być „gdzie indziej”. Yan Ge jest i ironiczna i oniryczna czy nawet eteryczna. Są fragmenty, przy których się uśmiechniecie, a są takie, które was poruszą. Opowiadania są zróżnicowane i pewnie każdy czy każda znajdzie w nich coś dla siebie. Moje ulubione to „Zabicie słonia”, „Sztokholm”, „Beztroska wycieczka”, „O braku czasu na pisanie”.
Uwaga: ostatnie opowiadanie „Hai” to totalnie nie mój klimat i niestety tylko go przekartkowałam :(
Niemniej całościowo bardzo wam ten zbiór polecam
„Co tak ważnego ma w sobie czynność pisania? Skąd ta wszechobecna nieustająca żądza zapisywania rzeczy, jakby chodziło o jakiś obrzęd? Wróćmy do idei przypadkowości i beznadziejnej walki, którą toczy z nią nasz gatunek. Przypadkowość to fundamentalne prawo wszechświata. Zmusza nas do zapominania. Zapominanie leży w naszej naturze, tak samo jak opór przed nim. A pisanie jest przeciwieństwem zapominania. To najwyższa manifestacja pamiętania. Konkretyzujemy pamiętanie za pomocą języka, utrwalamy w kamieniu, zamykamy w książkach, aby przekazać je dalej i zapewnić mu wieczność”.
Uwaga: ostatnie opowiadanie „Hai” to totalnie nie mój klimat i niestety tylko go przekartkowałam :(
Niemniej całościowo bardzo wam ten zbiór polecam
„Co tak ważnego ma w sobie czynność pisania? Skąd ta wszechobecna nieustająca żądza zapisywania rzeczy, jakby chodziło o jakiś obrzęd? Wróćmy do idei przypadkowości i beznadziejnej walki, którą toczy z nią nasz gatunek. Przypadkowość to fundamentalne prawo wszechświata. Zmusza nas do zapominania. Zapominanie leży w naszej naturze, tak samo jak opór przed nim. A pisanie jest przeciwieństwem zapominania. To najwyższa manifestacja pamiętania. Konkretyzujemy pamiętanie za pomocą języka, utrwalamy w kamieniu, zamykamy w książkach, aby przekazać je dalej i zapewnić mu wieczność”.
March 7, 2024
This is the first short story collection in English by the Chinese bilingual author Yan Ge. I love quite a few of the stories. I keep thinking some of them must be, to some degree, autobiographical, such as Shooting an Elephant and Stockholm. My favorite is How I Fell in Love with the Well-Documented Life of Alex Whelan, which I’ve read elsewhere but am glad to read again. Another favorite is Stockholm. It is about a fluid, short moment in a new mother and a woman writer’s life, richly textured. There are plenty of stories about motherhood, but one seldom finds a good story about breastfeeding.
September 6, 2023
TITLE: ELSEWHERE
AUTHOR: Yan Ge
PUB DATE: 07.18.2023 Now Available
A New Yorker BEST BOOK of 2023 | MOST ANTICIPATED by Nylon • Rolling Stone • The Millions
From multi-award-winning author Yan Ge, a shimmering, genre-bending English-language debut that announces the next phase in a major literary career.
A young woman bonds with an encampment of poets after a devastating earthquake. Against her better judgment, a college student begins to fall for an acquaintance who might be dead. And a Confucian disciple returns to the Master bearing a jar full of grisly remains. Weaving between reality and dreamy surreality, these nine stories wend toward elsewhere, a comforting, frustrating, just-out-of-reach place familiar to anyone who has ever experienced longing. Through it all Yan Ge’s protagonists peer thoughtfully at their own feelings of displacement—physical or emotional, the result of travel, emigration, or exile. Brilliant and irresistibly readable, Elsewhere explores the utility (or not) of art in the face of lonesomeness, quotidian, and spectacular.
THOUGHTS:
I loved this short story collection - there are some favorites for sure like Stockholm and The Little House, but each story in this anthology is unique and ethereal in quality - Yan Ge describes scenes from ordinary life and always the story of the Chinese people wherever in the world they may be. I found the writing darkly humorous, poignant, bewildered, but always back to the innate humanity. Themes of displacement, Chinese history, cruelty, and some horrors, told unapologetically and surreal at times, I just enjoyed every every word of this anthology.
AUTHOR: Yan Ge
PUB DATE: 07.18.2023 Now Available
A New Yorker BEST BOOK of 2023 | MOST ANTICIPATED by Nylon • Rolling Stone • The Millions
From multi-award-winning author Yan Ge, a shimmering, genre-bending English-language debut that announces the next phase in a major literary career.
A young woman bonds with an encampment of poets after a devastating earthquake. Against her better judgment, a college student begins to fall for an acquaintance who might be dead. And a Confucian disciple returns to the Master bearing a jar full of grisly remains. Weaving between reality and dreamy surreality, these nine stories wend toward elsewhere, a comforting, frustrating, just-out-of-reach place familiar to anyone who has ever experienced longing. Through it all Yan Ge’s protagonists peer thoughtfully at their own feelings of displacement—physical or emotional, the result of travel, emigration, or exile. Brilliant and irresistibly readable, Elsewhere explores the utility (or not) of art in the face of lonesomeness, quotidian, and spectacular.
THOUGHTS:
I loved this short story collection - there are some favorites for sure like Stockholm and The Little House, but each story in this anthology is unique and ethereal in quality - Yan Ge describes scenes from ordinary life and always the story of the Chinese people wherever in the world they may be. I found the writing darkly humorous, poignant, bewildered, but always back to the innate humanity. Themes of displacement, Chinese history, cruelty, and some horrors, told unapologetically and surreal at times, I just enjoyed every every word of this anthology.
October 8, 2023
I rarely read short stories and was so thrilled for this book. Elsewhere is a collection of short stories covering various topics and eras. There are nine stories in this book, and the stories have in common that the protagonist is of Chinese origin.
It wasn't easy to rate short story collections since not every collection gave me the same feeling. Each story had such a varied impact on me, and I was impressed with the differences in each story. However, I found several of the stories difficult to get through and quite dull, making me not engaged most of the time.
My favourite short story was How I Fell in Love with the Well-Documented Life of Alex Whelan. It felt good to have at least one favourite story in this book. It is a story of a woman living in Ireland and being obsessed with a young man she met briefly before he died. I like the story that shows how we can curate one's image that develops due to social media. I felt exceptionally connected to the protagonist and understood why she acted like that.
I wanted to like this book, but it didn't work for me. I don't know whom to recommend this book, but if it is on your list, please read it. It might be a gem for you.
Thank you , Times Reads, for sending me the review copy ✨
It wasn't easy to rate short story collections since not every collection gave me the same feeling. Each story had such a varied impact on me, and I was impressed with the differences in each story. However, I found several of the stories difficult to get through and quite dull, making me not engaged most of the time.
My favourite short story was How I Fell in Love with the Well-Documented Life of Alex Whelan. It felt good to have at least one favourite story in this book. It is a story of a woman living in Ireland and being obsessed with a young man she met briefly before he died. I like the story that shows how we can curate one's image that develops due to social media. I felt exceptionally connected to the protagonist and understood why she acted like that.
I wanted to like this book, but it didn't work for me. I don't know whom to recommend this book, but if it is on your list, please read it. It might be a gem for you.
Thank you , Times Reads, for sending me the review copy ✨
July 31, 2023
When I first read Yan Ge’s ‘Strange Beasts of China’, I liked it, but I had no idea just how much it would really continue to grow on me. To this day, it grows larger and larger in my memory still and remains one of my favourite books I’ve read in recent years, so I always knew I’d buy Yan Ge’s next book, no questions asked. While there were some real stand outs in this very varied short story collection, I was undeniably a little disappointed with it, though predictably, not with Yan Ge’s writing itself, which is more wonderful here than ever before.
This was definitely a bit of a jumble of a collection, and certainly not particularly cohesive. Not to say that this is always strictly a sin, but here it was maybe a bit more all over the place than I’d personally have liked. This is definitely true in terms of settings and premises, but also in the divide between those stories that felt like they were really trying to be “literary”, for lack of a better term, and those that followed a more traditional story path.
The story ‘Stockholm’ is the perfect example of those more literary stories. Stories where nothing much really happens, stories that feel a little too meta, where characters have pseudo-meaningful, fleeting interactions and where I often fail to see the point of what the author is trying to achieve. They feel like stories that writers think that writers should be writing. The only thing of interest in the story lay in the last few paragraphs and it felt a shame to me that this seemed like an afterthought of the story rather than a whole premise which would have been genuinely interesting to explore. I felt similarly about ‘No Time to Write’, and ‘Shooting an Elephant’ to an extent too. Though my biggest qualm with it, and ‘The Little House’ (and therefore ‘Mother Tongue’) was that I simply didn’t find them to be interesting in concept or character and they just felt a little too meandering.
I was a little more impressed with ‘Free Wandering’ and ‘How I Fell in Love with the Well-Documented Life of Alex Wheelan’ in that I appreciated what both were trying to do a lot more. ‘Free Wandering’ had some clarity issues, but was a much more interesting story and the strange, distant characters went well with Yan Ge’s sparse and slightly odd style. ‘[…] Alex Wheelan’ was an interesting idea but was a tough one to execute, given its thoroughly modern subject matter, and it veered a little too much into the cringe for it to be entirely successful for me.
‘When Travelling in the Summer’ was the first of the stories I really liked. It had a good premise and an interesting cast of characters that all related to each other in interesting ways. Not only this, but it came to a satisfying but not overwrought conclusion. It was definitely more of a traditional story structurally than the others, and I think this is also why it stood out to me. It knew what it wanted to do, then executed it well. My favourite of the collection was definitely the final story, ‘Hai’. Really, for the same reasons as for above, but doubly so. Everything ‘When Travelling in the Summer’ did well, ‘Hai’ did even better, and spent more time doing it. The writing here was also the best of among all the stories (and it had been very good throughout), with some fantastic dialogue especially. I’ll be honest, if Yan Ge hadn’t put out this as a collection of short stories, but had instead put this out as a novella alone, I would have been just as happy.
I really, really like Yan Ge’s writing, and some of the stories in ‘Elsewhere’ were genuinely very, very good, but it’s hard not to consider this a bit of an underwhelming collection from someone I consider to be an exceedingly capable author. Too many of the stories, while not entirely unmemorable, were too uninteresting for me, and Yan Ge’s skill with prose was doing the entirety of the heavy lifting for a lot of these stories. I remember having some issues with the writing in ‘Strange Beasts of China’ and it’s nice to see that this was likely due to the translation element. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that she wrote ‘Elsewhere’ in English herself, and in it, her writing feels more polished than ever before, while still retaining its natural awkwardness and oddity that makes it so unique.
So I didn’t love this collection, but I love Yan Ge. If overly literary is where she wants to go with her writing, who am I to argue, but I personally hope whatever she puts out next is as weird and wonderful as ‘Strange Beasts of China’ and as beautifully written as some of the stories here. Nothing would make me happier.
This was definitely a bit of a jumble of a collection, and certainly not particularly cohesive. Not to say that this is always strictly a sin, but here it was maybe a bit more all over the place than I’d personally have liked. This is definitely true in terms of settings and premises, but also in the divide between those stories that felt like they were really trying to be “literary”, for lack of a better term, and those that followed a more traditional story path.
The story ‘Stockholm’ is the perfect example of those more literary stories. Stories where nothing much really happens, stories that feel a little too meta, where characters have pseudo-meaningful, fleeting interactions and where I often fail to see the point of what the author is trying to achieve. They feel like stories that writers think that writers should be writing. The only thing of interest in the story lay in the last few paragraphs and it felt a shame to me that this seemed like an afterthought of the story rather than a whole premise which would have been genuinely interesting to explore. I felt similarly about ‘No Time to Write’, and ‘Shooting an Elephant’ to an extent too. Though my biggest qualm with it, and ‘The Little House’ (and therefore ‘Mother Tongue’) was that I simply didn’t find them to be interesting in concept or character and they just felt a little too meandering.
I was a little more impressed with ‘Free Wandering’ and ‘How I Fell in Love with the Well-Documented Life of Alex Wheelan’ in that I appreciated what both were trying to do a lot more. ‘Free Wandering’ had some clarity issues, but was a much more interesting story and the strange, distant characters went well with Yan Ge’s sparse and slightly odd style. ‘[…] Alex Wheelan’ was an interesting idea but was a tough one to execute, given its thoroughly modern subject matter, and it veered a little too much into the cringe for it to be entirely successful for me.
‘When Travelling in the Summer’ was the first of the stories I really liked. It had a good premise and an interesting cast of characters that all related to each other in interesting ways. Not only this, but it came to a satisfying but not overwrought conclusion. It was definitely more of a traditional story structurally than the others, and I think this is also why it stood out to me. It knew what it wanted to do, then executed it well. My favourite of the collection was definitely the final story, ‘Hai’. Really, for the same reasons as for above, but doubly so. Everything ‘When Travelling in the Summer’ did well, ‘Hai’ did even better, and spent more time doing it. The writing here was also the best of among all the stories (and it had been very good throughout), with some fantastic dialogue especially. I’ll be honest, if Yan Ge hadn’t put out this as a collection of short stories, but had instead put this out as a novella alone, I would have been just as happy.
I really, really like Yan Ge’s writing, and some of the stories in ‘Elsewhere’ were genuinely very, very good, but it’s hard not to consider this a bit of an underwhelming collection from someone I consider to be an exceedingly capable author. Too many of the stories, while not entirely unmemorable, were too uninteresting for me, and Yan Ge’s skill with prose was doing the entirety of the heavy lifting for a lot of these stories. I remember having some issues with the writing in ‘Strange Beasts of China’ and it’s nice to see that this was likely due to the translation element. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that she wrote ‘Elsewhere’ in English herself, and in it, her writing feels more polished than ever before, while still retaining its natural awkwardness and oddity that makes it so unique.
So I didn’t love this collection, but I love Yan Ge. If overly literary is where she wants to go with her writing, who am I to argue, but I personally hope whatever she puts out next is as weird and wonderful as ‘Strange Beasts of China’ and as beautifully written as some of the stories here. Nothing would make me happier.
January 14, 2025
ok u cannot find these stories elsewhere???????
rounding this up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. issa colelction of short stories, each exploring the themes of identity, belonging, and the complexity of human relationships. i would say its quite a rojak collection??? a bit all over the place, but in a way that works.
its raw, unfiltered, and so deeply reflective of the emotional and physical landscapes that the characters navigate—places where they struggle to find a sense of home, or where they’re constantly reinventing themselves in search of something truer, something more real.
its honestly unlike anything i have read before which makes it both unique & refreshing. but as yall might already know about me, im not really a short stories gurlie to begin with, so while i can appreciate the artistry here, it didn’t fully capture me in the way a longer, more immersive novel might. 🥲 also there were some stories that i dont rlly quite understand lmao
still, if you’re into stories that make you think and arent afraid of a little mess, its definitely worth checking out.
this is apparently yan ge's first book written in english even tho shes been a seasoned novelist in china for over 20 years. looking forward to see & read more of her works!!
rounding this up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. issa colelction of short stories, each exploring the themes of identity, belonging, and the complexity of human relationships. i would say its quite a rojak collection??? a bit all over the place, but in a way that works.
its raw, unfiltered, and so deeply reflective of the emotional and physical landscapes that the characters navigate—places where they struggle to find a sense of home, or where they’re constantly reinventing themselves in search of something truer, something more real.
its honestly unlike anything i have read before which makes it both unique & refreshing. but as yall might already know about me, im not really a short stories gurlie to begin with, so while i can appreciate the artistry here, it didn’t fully capture me in the way a longer, more immersive novel might. 🥲 also there were some stories that i dont rlly quite understand lmao
still, if you’re into stories that make you think and arent afraid of a little mess, its definitely worth checking out.
this is apparently yan ge's first book written in english even tho shes been a seasoned novelist in china for over 20 years. looking forward to see & read more of her works!!
April 3, 2025
The Little House - 4.5 stars, really hit home for me after going through a hurricane—particularly the part where the poets are talking about taking supplies that were designated for victims of natural disaster and then realize that they are the victims
Shooting an Elephant - 4 stars, really visceral depiction of isolation and exoticization (new word?) as an immigrant
When Travelling in Summer - 3.5 stars, Ge just writes so beautifully but this story was not particularly memorable to me
Stockholm - 4 stars, interesting story about balancing writing and motherhood and translation and relationships
Free Wandering - 3 stars, I wasn’t prepared for the less grounded feeling in this story compared to the others and felt a bit lost as to what was going on
No Time to Write - 3.5 stars, a little too much meta commentary on writing and time but I enjoyed the messy character at the center
How I Fell in Love with the Well Documented Life of Alex Whelan - 3.5 stars, maybe not exactly what I’d want out of a Facebook rabbit hole story but still well done
Mother Tongue - Forgot to rate this or write a note to myself about it but I think I liked it
Hai - 4 stars, that shit was crazy!
Shooting an Elephant - 4 stars, really visceral depiction of isolation and exoticization (new word?) as an immigrant
When Travelling in Summer - 3.5 stars, Ge just writes so beautifully but this story was not particularly memorable to me
Stockholm - 4 stars, interesting story about balancing writing and motherhood and translation and relationships
Free Wandering - 3 stars, I wasn’t prepared for the less grounded feeling in this story compared to the others and felt a bit lost as to what was going on
No Time to Write - 3.5 stars, a little too much meta commentary on writing and time but I enjoyed the messy character at the center
How I Fell in Love with the Well Documented Life of Alex Whelan - 3.5 stars, maybe not exactly what I’d want out of a Facebook rabbit hole story but still well done
Mother Tongue - Forgot to rate this or write a note to myself about it but I think I liked it
Hai - 4 stars, that shit was crazy!
January 7, 2024
After dealing with some seriously sloggy books, this was a delight. There isn't a single bad story in here, and Yan Ge is incredibly skilled at weaving topics that feel really disparate into what ultimately feels like a very cohesive and well structured set of stories.
My only qualms were that some of the stories leave you feeling like you'd had a great ride, but weren't exactly sure what they were actually trying to say. Overall, this didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the book - I was very happy to float through its various narrative landscapes and just let it all wash over me, and would happily recommend.
My only qualms were that some of the stories leave you feeling like you'd had a great ride, but weren't exactly sure what they were actually trying to say. Overall, this didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the book - I was very happy to float through its various narrative landscapes and just let it all wash over me, and would happily recommend.
January 18, 2024
It probably will get a much higher star rating from others -- this is a case of the book not being for me. I adored the author's "Strange Beasts of China" and was hoping for more like that. Whereas that was a fascinating and mysterious speculative fiction pieces, these stories are much more on the literary spectrum.
July 24, 2023
I almost fell out of my chair on the Tube when reading the twist in "When Travelling in Summer", and the final story in the collection, "Hai", is literally a work of art. Incredible.
October 27, 2025
3.5
Opowiadanie „jak zakochałam się się w dobrze udokumentowanym życiu Alexandra Whelana” to moja topka tego zbioru
Opowiadanie „jak zakochałam się się w dobrze udokumentowanym życiu Alexandra Whelana” to moja topka tego zbioru
Read
March 20, 2023stockholm still one of my favorite short stories ever
May 30, 2023
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.
The book is a collection of stories, covering various topics and eras. The connecting thread can perhaps be summarised as loneliness and dejection, especially that experienced by people crossing between cultures (as, presumably, the author herself had).
The first story, "A Little House", is about a group of Chinese 20 somethings (probably?), who interact and live in the aftermath of the 2008 earthquake in China. Not super clear what happened, or what the point of the story is. A heady mix of despondence (from the narrator) and blasé attitude (from many of her friends). A story, perhaps, of what modern 20-somethings in China think and feel, and how absolutely the same it is as anywhere else in the world.
The second story, "Shooting an Elephant", is about a Chinese-born young woman's life as a newly wed in Ireland, dealing with the consequences of a recent miscarriage and trying to find herself in the predominantly white environment. An interesting glimpse into the emotional struggles she is subject to, and a revealing study of modern dejection, with the main character not dissimilar to those found in Sally Rooney or Naoise Dolan's works.
The third story, "When Travelling in the Summer", is set in Imperial China and tells the story of a retired mandarin and his family, as the Emperor decrees his death. Rather nice and subtle narrative, with a very simple and straightforward premise at its core. The interesting thing is the setting, and the relationship between the characters. The story itself is as old as time.
The fourth story, "Stockholm", is about a China-born young author residing in England, who travels to Stockholm to a work trip. As she meets people she explores her post natal depression, her frustrations with herself and her professional achievements. There is a lot to unpack in the story - it is a revealing and intimate tale of womanhood and motherhood in contemporary times. The ending is lovely!
The fifth, "Free Wandering", is about a young Chinese man arriving at what appears to be New York to meet his cousin. The man is overwhelmed by the enormity of the city, the chaos of its inhabitants, and the attitude of people towards him. As the story progresses, the man gets increasingly flustered, culminating in a surprising ending. A rather good description of what it means to be lost in a completely new setting, and what impact it might have on one's psyche.
The sixth, "No Time To Write", is a story of an Irish woman who grew up, among other places, in Shanghai, and has had a complicated relationship with her parents and herself. Lots of self pity and victimhood here. The whole story feels like a rant by an infantile young adult.
The seventh, "How I Fell In Love With...", is a story of a 27yo Chinese-born woman living in Ireland, struggling to reconcile her life with herself, and starting to obsess with a young man she met briefly, just before he passes away. The story could he interesting, as far as it touches upon the issues of what is a person and how much of it can one learn from social media. However, the overlay of self wallowing victimhood expressed by the protagonist just leaves a bad aftertaste, making the story difficult to like.
The eighth, "Mother Tongue", goes back to the characters of "A Little House", and the protagonist's journey from China to London. The story continues to exist in the same atmosphere of despondence as the previous one. The sense of senselessness continues to prevail, and nihilism is incredibly prominent.
The ninth story, "Hai", is also set in Imperial China, and is perhaps the main event in this collection (for me at least). It tells the story of a Confucian scholar (in the times of Confucius, and just after), who, coming from a very poor background, struggles to adapt to the vagaries of high politics and power struggles. It's well paced, with well articulated characters, and great setting. The story crescendoes very nicely, and the twist, while rather visible from afar, is still riveting. This story alone is what makes the whole book worth reading.
Overall, I found the book to be an easy and enjoyable read. The best stories were perhaps the third and the ninth. The rest were somewhat tedious, mostly due to the nihilistic and dejected nature of the characters and the plot. They feel more like rants than stories, and are too self involved. The quality of storytelling is also bumpy, with some stories executed ok-ishly, while other suffering from a barebones approach that leaves too much out. I struggle to recommend this book other to diehard fans of the author, or of Sally Rooney and Naoise Dolan.
The book is a collection of stories, covering various topics and eras. The connecting thread can perhaps be summarised as loneliness and dejection, especially that experienced by people crossing between cultures (as, presumably, the author herself had).
The first story, "A Little House", is about a group of Chinese 20 somethings (probably?), who interact and live in the aftermath of the 2008 earthquake in China. Not super clear what happened, or what the point of the story is. A heady mix of despondence (from the narrator) and blasé attitude (from many of her friends). A story, perhaps, of what modern 20-somethings in China think and feel, and how absolutely the same it is as anywhere else in the world.
The second story, "Shooting an Elephant", is about a Chinese-born young woman's life as a newly wed in Ireland, dealing with the consequences of a recent miscarriage and trying to find herself in the predominantly white environment. An interesting glimpse into the emotional struggles she is subject to, and a revealing study of modern dejection, with the main character not dissimilar to those found in Sally Rooney or Naoise Dolan's works.
The third story, "When Travelling in the Summer", is set in Imperial China and tells the story of a retired mandarin and his family, as the Emperor decrees his death. Rather nice and subtle narrative, with a very simple and straightforward premise at its core. The interesting thing is the setting, and the relationship between the characters. The story itself is as old as time.
The fourth story, "Stockholm", is about a China-born young author residing in England, who travels to Stockholm to a work trip. As she meets people she explores her post natal depression, her frustrations with herself and her professional achievements. There is a lot to unpack in the story - it is a revealing and intimate tale of womanhood and motherhood in contemporary times. The ending is lovely!
The fifth, "Free Wandering", is about a young Chinese man arriving at what appears to be New York to meet his cousin. The man is overwhelmed by the enormity of the city, the chaos of its inhabitants, and the attitude of people towards him. As the story progresses, the man gets increasingly flustered, culminating in a surprising ending. A rather good description of what it means to be lost in a completely new setting, and what impact it might have on one's psyche.
The sixth, "No Time To Write", is a story of an Irish woman who grew up, among other places, in Shanghai, and has had a complicated relationship with her parents and herself. Lots of self pity and victimhood here. The whole story feels like a rant by an infantile young adult.
The seventh, "How I Fell In Love With...", is a story of a 27yo Chinese-born woman living in Ireland, struggling to reconcile her life with herself, and starting to obsess with a young man she met briefly, just before he passes away. The story could he interesting, as far as it touches upon the issues of what is a person and how much of it can one learn from social media. However, the overlay of self wallowing victimhood expressed by the protagonist just leaves a bad aftertaste, making the story difficult to like.
The eighth, "Mother Tongue", goes back to the characters of "A Little House", and the protagonist's journey from China to London. The story continues to exist in the same atmosphere of despondence as the previous one. The sense of senselessness continues to prevail, and nihilism is incredibly prominent.
The ninth story, "Hai", is also set in Imperial China, and is perhaps the main event in this collection (for me at least). It tells the story of a Confucian scholar (in the times of Confucius, and just after), who, coming from a very poor background, struggles to adapt to the vagaries of high politics and power struggles. It's well paced, with well articulated characters, and great setting. The story crescendoes very nicely, and the twist, while rather visible from afar, is still riveting. This story alone is what makes the whole book worth reading.
Overall, I found the book to be an easy and enjoyable read. The best stories were perhaps the third and the ninth. The rest were somewhat tedious, mostly due to the nihilistic and dejected nature of the characters and the plot. They feel more like rants than stories, and are too self involved. The quality of storytelling is also bumpy, with some stories executed ok-ishly, while other suffering from a barebones approach that leaves too much out. I struggle to recommend this book other to diehard fans of the author, or of Sally Rooney and Naoise Dolan.
February 29, 2024
[ comment coming post- book club as i want to know what discussion crops up ]
post- book club kate: i *loved* some of these stories and think they will stay with me. others felt a bit bland. this is the nature of short stories! i wanted them all to be like the ones that felt relatable to me - as those were the ones that felt especially effective. maybe that's an obvious thing to say. but going between real and surreal was really fun until i tried to reflect on this as a whole. stockholm, shooting an elephant, alexander whelan... would 100% reread. will think about alexander whelan maybe forever.
also, i didn't understand hai and i wish i did.
post- book club kate: i *loved* some of these stories and think they will stay with me. others felt a bit bland. this is the nature of short stories! i wanted them all to be like the ones that felt relatable to me - as those were the ones that felt especially effective. maybe that's an obvious thing to say. but going between real and surreal was really fun until i tried to reflect on this as a whole. stockholm, shooting an elephant, alexander whelan... would 100% reread. will think about alexander whelan maybe forever.
also, i didn't understand hai and i wish i did.
March 16, 2025
Yan Ge w ciekawy sposób łączy kulturę chińską i europejską, w przystępny i błyskotliwy sposób wplata etyczne i filozoficzne rozważania. Właściwie wszystkie opowiadania mi się podobały oprócz „Jak zakochałam się w…” które było tak painfully milennial
April 29, 2024
Yan Ge is a unique, excellent, and important writer! The intentional, reoccurring themes/subjects in these stories include empire, writing, and even the weird relationship or experience of consuming something. The last short story is the longest, Hai, and it had the exciting setting of the Rostrum during the time of Confucius. Maybe don’t read this if you would be bothered by some grossness, but for me, it was just right.
June 11, 2024
Weird in a good way? Weird in a bad way? I can’t decide. Objectifies female bodies in a strange and obsessive way as though it was written by an old white man - no thanks
September 3, 2023
An eclectic, diverse collection of short stories with themes of dispossession, loneliness, dejection, cultural differences, womanhood and betrayal as the backbone of this collection. Elsewhere by Yan Ge was a mixed bag of stories to me personally ranging from a really great ones that I particularly enjoyed to one that left me a bit bored. However, its a pretty solid read considering the author's first English language debut make me more curious about her other works. Yan Ge explored the themes of self identity, the disposession of one's own identity in different place, the struggles of being racially displaced by others in a foreign country, and so many more. Well written, direct tone of narrative, historically coded at times with a couple of stories, the collection proved to be an interesting experience into understanding the mind of others. This collection reminded me a little of Yiyun Li.
In this collection, "A Little House" opened up with a group of people coming together at an evacuation center after an earthquake destroyed their homes, a woman and her husband settling down in their new place in Ireland recovering from a traumatic honeymoon in "Shooting the Elephant", a sort of historical folklore with a nobleman was decreed a death punishment by the higher authority in "When travelling in the summer", a young woman become obsessed in finding any details on the man she added as her facebook friend in "Alex Whelan", Hai is the longest and the most well plotted with Confucian scholars in power struggle to the top with a twisted ending. I personally like "Mother Tongue" as this followed the characters from the first story, showed the young woman grieving for the impending death of her mother to cancer & how she struggled with her own mother tongue refusing to speak in Chinese with the foreign bartender & dissonance she felt with her friends, I wanted more from these characters as I read it and fell under the spell of the story.
With proses as direct as this & Chinese characters spread across the stories, the threads tied back to the Chinese people themselves & their cultures. There is dark humor, twisted nature with relishing evocative imagery that profoundly make the stories expressive particularly in "Free Wandering" as the protagonist strangeness in a new city far from home & the ending left on a magical realism note. Ge phenomenally wrote about her people & their stories expanded into the fictional piece that is disquieting in nature yet deep with messages.
Thank you Times Reads for the review copy
In this collection, "A Little House" opened up with a group of people coming together at an evacuation center after an earthquake destroyed their homes, a woman and her husband settling down in their new place in Ireland recovering from a traumatic honeymoon in "Shooting the Elephant", a sort of historical folklore with a nobleman was decreed a death punishment by the higher authority in "When travelling in the summer", a young woman become obsessed in finding any details on the man she added as her facebook friend in "Alex Whelan", Hai is the longest and the most well plotted with Confucian scholars in power struggle to the top with a twisted ending. I personally like "Mother Tongue" as this followed the characters from the first story, showed the young woman grieving for the impending death of her mother to cancer & how she struggled with her own mother tongue refusing to speak in Chinese with the foreign bartender & dissonance she felt with her friends, I wanted more from these characters as I read it and fell under the spell of the story.
With proses as direct as this & Chinese characters spread across the stories, the threads tied back to the Chinese people themselves & their cultures. There is dark humor, twisted nature with relishing evocative imagery that profoundly make the stories expressive particularly in "Free Wandering" as the protagonist strangeness in a new city far from home & the ending left on a magical realism note. Ge phenomenally wrote about her people & their stories expanded into the fictional piece that is disquieting in nature yet deep with messages.
Thank you Times Reads for the review copy
May 8, 2023
ELSEWHERE |
Thank you @scribnerbooks for my gifted copy. This is out 7/11!
"In this case, if we examine the text closely, we'll understand that the essence of disaster and fortune is the same, namely the change of order. The ones who are lost in such change experience it as disaster, while those who employ the change thrive with good fortune."
In these 9 stories, there's a definite blurring between reality and fantasy, being awake vs being lost in reverie, different time periods, and complicated mixed emotions.
In The Little House, our characters are dealing with the fallout of a massive earthquake, still dealing with the reverberations, unsettled, questioning what's a dream and what's real with a reference to Zhuangzi's Butterfly Dream.
In Shooting an Elephant and even the last story, Hai, even though the time periods could not be more different - modern day Ireland and thousands of years ago, there's a hidden mystery that we're unwinding with the MC. In Shooting an Elephant, we see our MC's blending of associative memories, thinking of this harkens that pain and the grief is all new again. Slowly the MC lets us in. With Hai, we're following along with a Confucian disciple to find out who murdered his mentor.
My favorites were Stockholm and How I Fell In Love with the Well-Documented Life of Alex Whelan. In Stockholm, a new mother is in Stockholm for a literary event, possibly suffering from post-partum depression, and partly trying to seek release. And In How I Fell In Love is about a short encounter with a man in the subway that our MC finds out then committed suicide right after.
I marvel at Ge's ability to keep us transfixed in such a range of time periods, places and characters, all of whom are very much alone and in a blurred reality where the ground may be moving under them but they're leaning into the distorted reality.
"The way Zhuangzi saw it, we don't really live our lives. Instead, life is just a brief stop on our long, infinite journey. Our transformation into life is merely an accident and it is our ultimate destiny to be released back to nature by our death."
4.25
Thank you @scribnerbooks for my gifted copy. This is out 7/11!
"In this case, if we examine the text closely, we'll understand that the essence of disaster and fortune is the same, namely the change of order. The ones who are lost in such change experience it as disaster, while those who employ the change thrive with good fortune."
In these 9 stories, there's a definite blurring between reality and fantasy, being awake vs being lost in reverie, different time periods, and complicated mixed emotions.
In The Little House, our characters are dealing with the fallout of a massive earthquake, still dealing with the reverberations, unsettled, questioning what's a dream and what's real with a reference to Zhuangzi's Butterfly Dream.
In Shooting an Elephant and even the last story, Hai, even though the time periods could not be more different - modern day Ireland and thousands of years ago, there's a hidden mystery that we're unwinding with the MC. In Shooting an Elephant, we see our MC's blending of associative memories, thinking of this harkens that pain and the grief is all new again. Slowly the MC lets us in. With Hai, we're following along with a Confucian disciple to find out who murdered his mentor.
My favorites were Stockholm and How I Fell In Love with the Well-Documented Life of Alex Whelan. In Stockholm, a new mother is in Stockholm for a literary event, possibly suffering from post-partum depression, and partly trying to seek release. And In How I Fell In Love is about a short encounter with a man in the subway that our MC finds out then committed suicide right after.
I marvel at Ge's ability to keep us transfixed in such a range of time periods, places and characters, all of whom are very much alone and in a blurred reality where the ground may be moving under them but they're leaning into the distorted reality.
"The way Zhuangzi saw it, we don't really live our lives. Instead, life is just a brief stop on our long, infinite journey. Our transformation into life is merely an accident and it is our ultimate destiny to be released back to nature by our death."
4.25
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