From Publishers Weekly
Partly to avoid condemnation by the Chinese government and partly in reaction to the social realism of Mao Zedong's regime, Can Xue (Dialogues in Paradise ) has fashioned two stubbornly obscure novellas about contemporary China that veil political and social commentary in symbolic, psychotic grotesquerie. But these overlong anti-narratives will test the limits of readers' patience. In ``Yellow Mud Street,'' Can Xue follows the lives of the inhabitants of an otherworldly neighborhood where black ash ``pours down from the sky like garbage'' and excrement spills from dilapidated latrines; people's bodies stink of sweat, they are in constant fear of government censure and they work at the ``S'' factory producing steel balls for no ostensible purpose. Their one hope is the coming of Wang Zi-guang, a spirit who possibly possesses the truth that will set free their wretched lives. The characters in the title novella live in similarly repulsive circumstances, yet Can Xue concentrates more on warped relationships: parents and children harbor murderous feelings for each other, in-laws butt in where they are not welcome and everyone is always spying on everyone else.
Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The two novellas translated here, "Yellow Mud Street" and "Old Floating Cloud," showcase the surreal style of Can Xue, one of China's experimentors in "exploratory fiction." The first, written in 1983, depicts the nightmarish world on Yellow Mud Street, which abounds in suspicion, filth, and dementia, as a district agent comes to investigate a mysterious entity that may or may not be a man. Likewise, the characters in "Old Floating Cloud," first published in 1986, are beset by insomnia, infestation, paranoia, and decay. Their attraction and love turn into obsession and pain. Both novellas describe hell on earth in a fragmented style matching the disjointed world depicted, an often frightful picture that could be a canvas painted jointly by Bosch and Dali. The symbolism is interwoven with references to Maoist slogans and society, challenging readers to make a cohesive whole of disparate elements.
- B.E. Perushek, Univ. of Tennessee at Knoxville Lib.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
- B.E. Perushek, Univ. of Tennessee at Knoxville Lib.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
