Chinese Fiction, Short Story Collections (Single Author), Humorous Fiction
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Overview
Wang Meng became a cause celebre when he became the first Chinese citizen to sue the official journal of the Chinese Writer's Union for libelous attacks on his short story "The Stubborn Porridge," (also known as "Hard Porridge"), the first in this collection of ten. In this title story a traditional Chinese family's four generations come into conflict when trying to adapt to the modern world, questioning even such a seemingly simple matter as breakfast. Adopting a Western-style breakfast in lieu of their time-honored menu of pickles and porridge is the first of many changes. The stories in this collection all employ fable-like plots as comprehensive allegories for complex social and political issues in contemporary China. Lightening his stories with parody, paradox, and word play, Wang Meng reveals the humanity, the understanding and the compassion, that lie at the heart of controversial issues. Other stories in this volume include "The Wind on the Plateau," "Thrilling," and "A Winter's Topic."Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
Chinese writer Wang Meng, who currently teaches at Harvard, spent two decades in forced labor and internal exile, became Minister of Culture in 1986 and resigned in protest after the Tiananmen Square massacre. The 10 elegantly crafted stories in this first collection to appear in English swing from irreverent social satire to political fable to absurdist farce, often within the same story. In the title piece, a double-edged parable, a large, traditional Chinese family experiments with democratic decision-making in their quest for the ideal daily menu, which leads them to adopt an unhealthy Western-style diet with near-disastrous results. ``Fine Tuning'' profiles a couple whose obsession with their new color TV brings them to the brink of divorce until they realize they are completely out of touch with reality. In ``The Wind on the Plateau,'' a schoolteacher who wins a modest apartment after a six-year wait must face jealous colleagues and his wife's pent-up frustrations. Wang's willingness to take risks shines in these short, modernist, stream-of-consciousness exercises laced with wordplay, ironic humor, images from pop culture and surreal touches. (Apr.)Book Details
Published
May 1, 1994
Publisher
George Braziller Inc
Pages
180
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780807613535