A for 6:30,butwhen I woke up,it was not yet 6.I wiped the sleep from my eyes and lay in the dark,listening to my mother shuffling across the kitchen floor in her slippers.The next things I heard were the sound of wate...A for 6:30,butwhen I woke up,it was not yet 6.I wiped the sleep from my eyes and lay in the dark,listening to my mother shuffling across the kitchen floor in her slippers.The next things I heard were the sound of water boiling in a pot and my mother whisking eggs with chopsticks.After I got up,she watched me slurp up the eggs poached in brown sugarsyrup.展开更多
0“Five hundred sheep,” Nguyen Nhu Quynh muttered to herself, fixated on the TV,“and none of them mine.”On the screen, five hundred sheep were being prepped for a journey from China across the Vietnamese border. Te...0“Five hundred sheep,” Nguyen Nhu Quynh muttered to herself, fixated on the TV,“and none of them mine.”On the screen, five hundred sheep were being prepped for a journey from China across the Vietnamese border. Ten trucks rolled toward neat formations of sheep herders,arrayed like a reception committee on both sides of the highway.展开更多
1 My grandmother made a wish on her eightieth birthday.She wanted to go to Shanghai,and she wanted me to come with her.I was already on my summer break,and I’ve always liked reading novels about Old Shanghai,so I jum...1 My grandmother made a wish on her eightieth birthday.She wanted to go to Shanghai,and she wanted me to come with her.I was already on my summer break,and I’ve always liked reading novels about Old Shanghai,so I jumped at the chance to help her make her birthday wish come true.展开更多
Almost time.He looks around the room one more time.Three silent bunks.The beds clean,the desks below tidy.His bed—all in order...Not a single crease in the sheets.The blanket folded into a perfect block.On his desk,o...Almost time.He looks around the room one more time.Three silent bunks.The beds clean,the desks below tidy.His bed—all in order...Not a single crease in the sheets.The blanket folded into a perfect block.On his desk,only a computer.Books on the shelf or in drawers.The only items left out arc his old white mug,and another,new one.展开更多
At some point,not very far into the future,a review of a Chinese movie about the Covid-19 pandemic might need to start with a lengthier explanation of the epidemiology of the virus,the sociology of city and apartment ...At some point,not very far into the future,a review of a Chinese movie about the Covid-19 pandemic might need to start with a lengthier explanation of the epidemiology of the virus,the sociology of city and apartment complex lockdowns,the heroism of nurses,doctors,and food delivery workers,the physiology of a cotton swab up the nostril,and the economics of mask distribution.展开更多
This is an insignificant village in an insignificant place.A little more than a dozen families live here,perhaps 20 at most.The fields are given over yearround to growing rice and rapeseed.Nobody grows much of anythin...This is an insignificant village in an insignificant place.A little more than a dozen families live here,perhaps 20 at most.The fields are given over yearround to growing rice and rapeseed.Nobody grows much of anything else.In the winter,after the rice is harvested,all that remains is the low stubble and the wide,deep marks left behind by the tracks of the harvester Before the first frost,the stubble wilts and dries out,turning the fields a pale,earthy yellow.展开更多
Can Jia Pingwa shed his reputation for misogyny?《暂坐》里的都市女性,能否让贾平凹脱离“厌女”恶名?In the spring before the pandemic,Jia Pingwa invited me to Xi’an to talk about a translation of his novel,The Shaanxi ...Can Jia Pingwa shed his reputation for misogyny?《暂坐》里的都市女性,能否让贾平凹脱离“厌女”恶名?In the spring before the pandemic,Jia Pingwa invited me to Xi’an to talk about a translation of his novel,The Shaanxi Opera,which I was close to completing.For me,it was a chance to creep(under supervision)around the studio of a master.展开更多
"Hi-Lee-Bon,Hi-Lee-Bon jumpin’,jump right up and land in a coffin": an old man,a mysterious snack,and a school yard rhyme set the scene for this cynical and humorous tale by Zheng Zaihuan,set in a dusty rur..."Hi-Lee-Bon,Hi-Lee-Bon jumpin’,jump right up and land in a coffin": an old man,a mysterious snack,and a school yard rhyme set the scene for this cynical and humorous tale by Zheng Zaihuan,set in a dusty rural town that resembles the writer’s own childhood home.展开更多
One of China’s leading newsci-fi voices,Chen Qiufan is known for writing about social alienation in high-tech versions of the real world.His recent short story "The Dark Room Problem" takes a metaphysical d...One of China’s leading newsci-fi voices,Chen Qiufan is known for writing about social alienation in high-tech versions of the real world.His recent short story "The Dark Room Problem" takes a metaphysical dive into how technology manipulates our consciousness.展开更多
How well do you know the people next door?Could you develop a real connection just by sharing a wall?In this urban tale by writer Zhao Song,a recluse moves into an apartment block in an unnamed city,where not everythi...How well do you know the people next door?Could you develop a real connection just by sharing a wall?In this urban tale by writer Zhao Song,a recluse moves into an apartment block in an unnamed city,where not everything is what it seems.展开更多
Chinese literature in translation tends to feature the same cast of middle-aged,established authors.But Rouge Street,a new anthology of Shuang Xuetao’ s novellas,bucks trends by presenting a 1980 s-born author and hi...Chinese literature in translation tends to feature the same cast of middle-aged,established authors.But Rouge Street,a new anthology of Shuang Xuetao’ s novellas,bucks trends by presenting a 1980 s-born author and his distinctive " Rust Belt" literature to an English-speaking audience.展开更多
“Maybe she had slipped through to some other dimension...Perhaps the whale had traveled the same way and died on the prairie.”In this enigmatic story by contemporary literature scholar Wang Weilian,a woman wanders o...“Maybe she had slipped through to some other dimension...Perhaps the whale had traveled the same way and died on the prairie.”In this enigmatic story by contemporary literature scholar Wang Weilian,a woman wanders out of her house one humid day in Guangzhou,and sees nothing is as she expects.展开更多
No cars were coming from the opposite direction,so the Mercedes and the Nissan that followed it glided into the village and parked on the cement pad in front of the house.The people who got off split into two groups:o...No cars were coming from the opposite direction,so the Mercedes and the Nissan that followed it glided into the village and parked on the cement pad in front of the house.The people who got off split into two groups:one that followed Ah-jun into the mountains and another that went inside.The second group had to wait for the first to return before they could fill their stomachs together.展开更多
Once again,Can Xue didn't win the Nobel Prize in Literature—but at this point,her legacy may already be secured Upon the announcement in early October that Han Kang,the Korean author of The Vegetarian,would take ...Once again,Can Xue didn't win the Nobel Prize in Literature—but at this point,her legacy may already be secured Upon the announcement in early October that Han Kang,the Korean author of The Vegetarian,would take the Nobel Prize in Literature,fans of Chinese author Can Xue,who had been regarded as one of the frontrunners for the honor for six consecutive years,were generally sanguine.展开更多
文摘A for 6:30,butwhen I woke up,it was not yet 6.I wiped the sleep from my eyes and lay in the dark,listening to my mother shuffling across the kitchen floor in her slippers.The next things I heard were the sound of water boiling in a pot and my mother whisking eggs with chopsticks.After I got up,she watched me slurp up the eggs poached in brown sugarsyrup.
文摘0“Five hundred sheep,” Nguyen Nhu Quynh muttered to herself, fixated on the TV,“and none of them mine.”On the screen, five hundred sheep were being prepped for a journey from China across the Vietnamese border. Ten trucks rolled toward neat formations of sheep herders,arrayed like a reception committee on both sides of the highway.
文摘1 My grandmother made a wish on her eightieth birthday.She wanted to go to Shanghai,and she wanted me to come with her.I was already on my summer break,and I’ve always liked reading novels about Old Shanghai,so I jumped at the chance to help her make her birthday wish come true.
文摘Almost time.He looks around the room one more time.Three silent bunks.The beds clean,the desks below tidy.His bed—all in order...Not a single crease in the sheets.The blanket folded into a perfect block.On his desk,only a computer.Books on the shelf or in drawers.The only items left out arc his old white mug,and another,new one.
文摘At some point,not very far into the future,a review of a Chinese movie about the Covid-19 pandemic might need to start with a lengthier explanation of the epidemiology of the virus,the sociology of city and apartment complex lockdowns,the heroism of nurses,doctors,and food delivery workers,the physiology of a cotton swab up the nostril,and the economics of mask distribution.
文摘This is an insignificant village in an insignificant place.A little more than a dozen families live here,perhaps 20 at most.The fields are given over yearround to growing rice and rapeseed.Nobody grows much of anything else.In the winter,after the rice is harvested,all that remains is the low stubble and the wide,deep marks left behind by the tracks of the harvester Before the first frost,the stubble wilts and dries out,turning the fields a pale,earthy yellow.
文摘Can Jia Pingwa shed his reputation for misogyny?《暂坐》里的都市女性,能否让贾平凹脱离“厌女”恶名?In the spring before the pandemic,Jia Pingwa invited me to Xi’an to talk about a translation of his novel,The Shaanxi Opera,which I was close to completing.For me,it was a chance to creep(under supervision)around the studio of a master.
文摘"Hi-Lee-Bon,Hi-Lee-Bon jumpin’,jump right up and land in a coffin": an old man,a mysterious snack,and a school yard rhyme set the scene for this cynical and humorous tale by Zheng Zaihuan,set in a dusty rural town that resembles the writer’s own childhood home.
文摘One of China’s leading newsci-fi voices,Chen Qiufan is known for writing about social alienation in high-tech versions of the real world.His recent short story "The Dark Room Problem" takes a metaphysical dive into how technology manipulates our consciousness.
文摘How well do you know the people next door?Could you develop a real connection just by sharing a wall?In this urban tale by writer Zhao Song,a recluse moves into an apartment block in an unnamed city,where not everything is what it seems.
文摘Chinese literature in translation tends to feature the same cast of middle-aged,established authors.But Rouge Street,a new anthology of Shuang Xuetao’ s novellas,bucks trends by presenting a 1980 s-born author and his distinctive " Rust Belt" literature to an English-speaking audience.
文摘“Maybe she had slipped through to some other dimension...Perhaps the whale had traveled the same way and died on the prairie.”In this enigmatic story by contemporary literature scholar Wang Weilian,a woman wanders out of her house one humid day in Guangzhou,and sees nothing is as she expects.
文摘No cars were coming from the opposite direction,so the Mercedes and the Nissan that followed it glided into the village and parked on the cement pad in front of the house.The people who got off split into two groups:one that followed Ah-jun into the mountains and another that went inside.The second group had to wait for the first to return before they could fill their stomachs together.
文摘Once again,Can Xue didn't win the Nobel Prize in Literature—but at this point,her legacy may already be secured Upon the announcement in early October that Han Kang,the Korean author of The Vegetarian,would take the Nobel Prize in Literature,fans of Chinese author Can Xue,who had been regarded as one of the frontrunners for the honor for six consecutive years,were generally sanguine.
