“Writings from the rat’s nest”by Lao She.

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Lao She is one of my favorite writers; I enjoyed reading this little book a few months after the publication by the same publisher of “The Philosophy of Lao Zhang” his first novel.

The “Writings …” are newspaper and magazine articles, especially from the period 1934-1939, but with a good short story, dated 1959, on cats, his favorite animal. Many autobiographical articles on his family, his children, his youth, his mother and uncle … demonstrate … Lire la suite

Paperbacks for a summer: a selection of ten novels.

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Originally published on Rue89 07/13/2010

 

As published last year, here again is a choice of ten chinese novels for your summer, recently published (in France ) as paperbacks and easy to find.The choice of novels of more than 300 pages has been limited to two books, as some readers shy away.

Only writers and books which came under review last year have been selected.

  • Available also in English:

–         Diane Wei Liang: The eye of … Lire la suite

He was not lucky with Germany…

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The writer and poet Liao Yiwu was unable to attend last September the Frankfurt Book Fair; a few days ago, he could not leave Chengdu to fly to the Literary Festival in Cologne. In short, he never could get out of China !

Born in 1958, he narrowly escaped death during the famine of the Great Leap Forward then the Cultural Revolution led to the breakdown of his family: his father, a teacher, was prosecuted, … Lire la suite

Liu Zhenyun and the Dangdai literary award.

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“Frogs” by Mo Yan did not receive the Dangdai award. The short list included all the books people are talking about in Beijing : the novels by A-Lai, Su Tong, Zhang Ling. Liu Zhenyun won the prize with “A Word Is Worth a Thousand Words. “after being the winner in 2007 with ” My name is Liu Yuejin “.

Liu Zhenyun was fortunate to have Sebastian Veg (1) as a translator for two books published … Lire la suite

“Frogs”, the latest novel by Mo Yan.

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If you like Mo Yan, cheer up. As was told during his interview to Rue89 (30/08/2009), his novel “Frogs” has just been published in Beijing. “Frogs”, “Wa” in Chinese is pronounced like Nu Wa, goddess in Chinese mythology who created humanity, more over the frog in some provinces is the symbol of fertility.

As he said in an interview with China Daily (01/08/2010), it is a novel about his aunt, now 76 years old, who … Lire la suite

Cao Naiqian

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Much has been said on this writer in recent weeks. His first book, “There’s nothing I can do when I think of you late at night” was published, six months ago, in the prestigious Asian collection at the University of Columbia. The book is part of the “long list” of best translations prepared by the University of Rochester but did not win a prize.

A collection of short stories has been translated into Swedish by … Lire la suite

A former Red Guard revisits the golden age of Islam in Europe.

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Zhang Chengzhi recently published “In the ruins of an outbreak: Travel in Al-Andalus, the Islamic Spain which enjoyed a brilliant civilization from the 8th to the 15th century. This book, which is not translated, is presented in details by Bruce Humes (1).

Zhang, after six trips to Andalusia, Morocco, Portugal, delivers a very personal book illustrated with photos and drawings, stories of his travels but also study of the relationship between Moors and China, the … Lire la suite

The writer Lu Xun, eternal protester of chinese society.

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Originally published on Rue89, 1/7/2010

 

 Lu Xun, the “giant” of Chinese literature before the Revolution, makes the headlines in publishing:  translations of high quality in France (by Sebastian Veg) and England (by Julia Lovell) and even a graphic novel about Ah-Q, his  most famous short story (Editions Elytis).

From tradition to challenge:

Lu Xun was born in 1881 in Shaoxing, a beautiful city south of Shanghai, famous for its yellow wine. A family of … Lire la suite