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drewsof's review
5.0
It's always neat to be exposed to new cultures in translation and this is no exception. Calico, the new series from Two Lines, is off to an amazing start with THAT WE MAY LIVE -- a strange spin on temp work, stories of a city where its alphabetical districts have strange features like mushroom houses, an eerie fermented beverage that gives new meaning to "with the Mother", and more. I didn't love every story and found a few translation moments to be clunky, but on the whole this is a killer start to what will hopefully be a must-read series from Two Lines.
speculativebecky's review
4.0
That We May Live IS a collection of Chinese speculative fiction in translation from Two Lines Press’ new Calico Series. It features seven short stories by six contemporary Chinese writers. Normally I’d share the name of the editor but here no editors’ names are specified anywhere in the book. Aren’t anthologies meant to have a preface or afterword? Without anything except the stories themselves and short bios of the authors and translators, this collection feels a bit adrift, with no context for its existence.
That aside, I did enjoy reading this collection. The stories were varied in how much they appealed to me, but since it's an anthology collecting work from multiple authors I was always excited to read the next one. This book is also immaculately constructed, for those aesthetically-minded among you, the bright orange title pages for each of the stories are beautiful, and I loved how they incorporate the title, author, translator, and a quote from each story.
These stories are not speculative in a straightforward SFF sense, they are surreal tales that often left me unsure about the takeaway, yet more often than not emotionally impacted. I feel these stories certainly speak to a cultural context that I’m unfamiliar with, and likely operate on a metaphorical level to which I’m missing the references. (Another reason I would have appreciated some commentary from an editor or the translators.) It stands alone fairly successfully nonetheless, and I’m so glad I picked up this collection to get these strange and fascinating tastes of the included authors’ writing.
My favorite stories were the first and last. Sour Meat by Dorothea Tse, translated by Natascha Bruce is one of the most unsettling stories I’ve read in a while, reminding me of Carmen Maria Machado or Samanta Schweblin. Flourishing Beasts by Yan Ge, translated by Jeremy Tiang, is a delicate and intriguing tale about these beings who grow from the earth like saplings and are cut down to be carved into beautiful furniture. I am excited after these introductions to seek out more of these two authors' work especially.
That aside, I did enjoy reading this collection. The stories were varied in how much they appealed to me, but since it's an anthology collecting work from multiple authors I was always excited to read the next one. This book is also immaculately constructed, for those aesthetically-minded among you, the bright orange title pages for each of the stories are beautiful, and I loved how they incorporate the title, author, translator, and a quote from each story.
These stories are not speculative in a straightforward SFF sense, they are surreal tales that often left me unsure about the takeaway, yet more often than not emotionally impacted. I feel these stories certainly speak to a cultural context that I’m unfamiliar with, and likely operate on a metaphorical level to which I’m missing the references. (Another reason I would have appreciated some commentary from an editor or the translators.) It stands alone fairly successfully nonetheless, and I’m so glad I picked up this collection to get these strange and fascinating tastes of the included authors’ writing.
My favorite stories were the first and last. Sour Meat by Dorothea Tse, translated by Natascha Bruce is one of the most unsettling stories I’ve read in a while, reminding me of Carmen Maria Machado or Samanta Schweblin. Flourishing Beasts by Yan Ge, translated by Jeremy Tiang, is a delicate and intriguing tale about these beings who grow from the earth like saplings and are cut down to be carved into beautiful furniture. I am excited after these introductions to seek out more of these two authors' work especially.
sucreslibrary's review
3.0
the final story, Flourishing Beasts by Yan Ge, is truly a stand out and worth the price of the book, though Sour Meat by Dorothy Tse and Auntie Han's Modern Life by Enoch Tam are also great reads. Sometimes I wondered if the translation caused some of the writing to fall flat, and a couple stories felt like they went completely over my head, but I liked the ones mentioned previously and could at least appreciate parts of the others.
rosemaryc's review
Flourishing Beasts: 4 stars. I'd be interested in reading more work by Yan Ge.
I didn't like any of the other stories. To me a lot of them read like weirdness for the sake of being weird, and that seems to me like a writerly version of gluttony. Maybe I'm just not the right audience. (Although Lip Service was a decidedly awful story imo.)
I didn't like any of the other stories. To me a lot of them read like weirdness for the sake of being weird, and that seems to me like a writerly version of gluttony. Maybe I'm just not the right audience. (Although Lip Service was a decidedly awful story imo.)
carolinefaireymeese's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This made me SO excited for literally anything else in the Calico series from Two Lines Press. I love anthologies, I love science-fiction, I love translated work (and studied contemporary Chinese film and art in several college courses). Everything about this was brilliant.
lasloh's review
5.0
I absolutely love speculative Chinese fiction, and this anthology definitely whet that particular appetite. Tales of absolute obscurity that enchant and entice, "That We May Live" is a beautifully woven collection that I recommend to everyone that loves the blending of absurdity and reality. This is definitely a collection for fans of Karen Russell, Max Porter, and Emily Tesh.
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