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Chinese Opera
Little Frank, a 120-year-old gangster who traded his imagination for a secure and long life, is the protagonist in this dark and dazzling novel set in an all-too-plausible near future. As the leader of a notorious gang, Little Frank is trapped in a luxurious life of mindless routine when he is suddenly jolted awake in the year 2090 to the bizarre facts of his current existence. Little Frank must now race to rebuild his memory and make sense of his new reality in this rich and complex work of science fiction.
254 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2009
About the author
Ian Wedde
53 books7 followersNew Zealand poet, fiction writer, critic, and art curator.
Ian Wedde is the author of eight novels, fifteen collections of poetry, two collections of essays, and a number of anthologies and art monographs. His most recent novel is The Reed Warbler (2020), and The Little Ache – a German notebook, written while he was in Berlin to research The Reed Warbler, was published in July 2021. His memoir, The Grass Catcher: A Digression About Home, was published in 2014, and his Selected Poems in 2017. Decentred: Selected Essays 2004–2020 will be published in late 2022.
Ian is the recipient of numerous awards, fellowships and grants. Among the most recent are the Meridian Energy Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship at Menton in France (2005), a Fulbright New Zealand Travel Award to the USA (2006), an Arts Foundation Laureate Award (2006), a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Auckland (2007), an ONZM (2010), and the Landfall Essay Prize (2010). In 2011–13 Wedde was New Zealand’s poet laureate. He was awarded the Creative New Zealand Writers’ Residency in Berlin 2013–14, and in 2014 the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement (poetry). He lives in Auckland.
Ian Wedde is the author of eight novels, fifteen collections of poetry, two collections of essays, and a number of anthologies and art monographs. His most recent novel is The Reed Warbler (2020), and The Little Ache – a German notebook, written while he was in Berlin to research The Reed Warbler, was published in July 2021. His memoir, The Grass Catcher: A Digression About Home, was published in 2014, and his Selected Poems in 2017. Decentred: Selected Essays 2004–2020 will be published in late 2022.
Ian is the recipient of numerous awards, fellowships and grants. Among the most recent are the Meridian Energy Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship at Menton in France (2005), a Fulbright New Zealand Travel Award to the USA (2006), an Arts Foundation Laureate Award (2006), a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Auckland (2007), an ONZM (2010), and the Landfall Essay Prize (2010). In 2011–13 Wedde was New Zealand’s poet laureate. He was awarded the Creative New Zealand Writers’ Residency in Berlin 2013–14, and in 2014 the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement (poetry). He lives in Auckland.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 27, 2024
How can a book get both five stars and one star? Well, the only way I know is to give it three stars and explain my reasons.
Five stars for something so original, so startlingly Dystopian. Imagine a futuristic (but completely possible in the now) Wellington, New Zealand. Imagine that you can get a 'longer now' at the price of your memories. Imagine gangsters and tyranny. Imagine that the world has had pandemics where the pharmaceutical companies have made zillions of dollars from making you take things that may or may not help you in the long term. Wait? Say what? This book was published in New Zealand in 2008! Yep, 2008, not 2020. Five stars for that.
One star because it is SO hard to handle the way the character's brain works and what is going on. There is very little explanation and much repetition like his 120 year old brain. That's hard work.
This book gets three stars though it was extremely thought provoking but hard reading. I wished for a better ending but alas, this was the best that could happen. Heck, I'm still imagining Wellington Harbour and beyond as a dazzling, light-flashing China town come 2090. That would do my head in! Thanks for really making my brain work Mr Wedde. Your writing is exquisite!
Five stars for something so original, so startlingly Dystopian. Imagine a futuristic (but completely possible in the now) Wellington, New Zealand. Imagine that you can get a 'longer now' at the price of your memories. Imagine gangsters and tyranny. Imagine that the world has had pandemics where the pharmaceutical companies have made zillions of dollars from making you take things that may or may not help you in the long term. Wait? Say what? This book was published in New Zealand in 2008! Yep, 2008, not 2020. Five stars for that.
One star because it is SO hard to handle the way the character's brain works and what is going on. There is very little explanation and much repetition like his 120 year old brain. That's hard work.
This book gets three stars though it was extremely thought provoking but hard reading. I wished for a better ending but alas, this was the best that could happen. Heck, I'm still imagining Wellington Harbour and beyond as a dazzling, light-flashing China town come 2090. That would do my head in! Thanks for really making my brain work Mr Wedde. Your writing is exquisite!
Displaying 1 of 1 review