Reviews

The Message is the first Chinese fiction book that I have read and despite knowing nothing at all about either Chinese or Japanese history I found it fascinating. If at times a little confusing.

In three parts, the first concerns the interrogation of the five people. You don’t really get to know much about any of them, most of the focus is on the ways of getting information, the tricks that Hihara and the others tried to get the information they required. And the mercifully brief descriptions of the torture methods used when this failed. It was this part of the book that I found the most confusing, partly due to my lack of knowledge concerning the history and partly due to the number of people involved. I had no idea who Ghost was or if the right person had been found guilty.

The second part was my favourite, it was here that I realised what meta -fiction was and I stopped looking for information about the characters online. More importantly I felt I got to know at least two of the characters more. Not necessarily liking them but I understood them more and had more sympathy. It was also here, when I started to appreciate how clever this book was.

The third part goes into detail of the history of the conflict between China and Japan, the identities of some of the characters involved and the beauty of the area where all the crimes took place. And the believable account of how it was protected.

I have never read a book like this before, not easy to read but I’m glad I took a chance

mariasmusings's review against another edition

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2.0

The Message 风声 by Mai Jia (麦家) was originally published in 2007. Translated by Olivia Milburn, the book was reprinted in 2014 by Changjiang Literature Press.

The tale is divided into two sections which form part of the one story: the search for a spy and secondly the tale of the author’s research.

The first narrative tells the story of the hunt for a spy among a group of experienced wartime codebreakers and the subsequent revelation of this communist traitor during the Second Sino-Japanese War. These four cryptographers, initially believe that they have been recruited for a secret mission to decode a message but they quickly realise they are the actual suspects and are about to be interrogated. To be honest, I had expected to prefer this section of the novel but I found that too much time was spent on the physical aspect of interrogation and less on the emotional or psychological interactions between the suspects. At times, I was inclined to skip over paragraphs just to get to the next section.

In the subsequent part of the novel, the author details his experiences in writing and researching the book. This metafiction narrative proved for me to be the more interesting aspect of the book as the author provided details of the conflict between China and Japan, and discusses the reasons behind the secrecy required in the earlier section. All in all, part two, serves to make sense off the previous part of the novel.

jellyjk's review

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5.0

A masterpiece. A historical fiction that thoroughly describes the dark time around the 1940s, when China was invaded by Japan. So many people fought or risked their lives for their falling motherland. No words can describe what they have suffered and done, thank you for everything you’ve done to stop the horrible war. It’s a blessing that I was born in a peaceful time.

karlou's review against another edition

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4.0

The Second Sino-Japanese War isn't a conflict I am familiar with and although Japan's involvement in World War II is well known to westerners, their invasion of China resulting in them forming a puppet government there isn't as widely written about here. Therefore, it was absolutely fascinating to read a novel written by a Chinese author about this dangerous, uncertain time in his country's history.
The first part of the book features the main narrative and is based on a true story about a small group of cryptographers who are brought together, ostensibly to decipher a secret message. However, when they easily crack the simple code, they realise the sinister truth is that actually they are all suspected of potentially being a Communist agent in surprise. With Communists and Nationalists separately resisting the puppet government, the interception of a telegram giving details of a special envoy, known as K on their way to meet leaders of the resistance movement would obviously have been handled with urgency and great secrecy. Therefore, when a second message is discovered in the possession of a Communist agent, warning the insurgents that the envoy has been spotted and to call off the Gathering of Heroes, it can only mean a spy is in their midst. The four cryptographers are told they have four days to either confess or make a denunciation but if the identity of this 'Ghost' isn't known after this period, they will each suffer whatever consequences are laid out in yet another encrypted message.
The four - two men and two women - each respond differently to the threat as they begin to either prove they can't be Ghost or to point the finger of suspicion at one of the fellow accused codebreakers. The intriguing narrative reveals the various ways in which the authorities plotted to try to trick the truth out of the them and although it's clear that at first they rather enjoy the challenge of the puzzle and relish trying to work out which one is Ghost, there is always an underlying sense of tension. This was a brutal and violent regime who would stop at nothing to ensure that their self-styled Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere wasn't threatened by either Communists or Nationalists. There are moments of shocking brutality here and a chilling reminder of the lengths people were prepared to go to protect or further their beliefs; there can be no doubting that a deadly game is being played out within the grounds of a former gangster's mansion.
The plot-driven narrative means that it isn't possible to really get to know any of the four codebreakers well and it's never obvious which of them are telling the truth and who may be concealing their true identities. Although the crime they have been accused of has occurred previously, this is essentially a locked room mystery, with no hope of escape unless the truth is revealed in the time period allowed. It took me a little while to adjust to a different style of writing but once I had each character clear in my head and understood what their roles were, I found this first part of the novel to be an engrossing read.
As a history buff, however, I think I enjoyed the latter part of the book even more; after the intrigue of the story comes a detailed and invaluable section in which the author writes a personal account of his experiences writing the book, including his meetings with some of the key players. It's not something I can discuss here in any great detail without giving anything away but Mai Jia's descriptive, almost conversational writing style is compelling and ensures there are plenty of surprises and revelations. It eventually becomes evident that trying to gain a clear, unambiguous view of what really happened is impossible given that those involved had roles which required secrecy and deception. The author's voice and opinions are distinctly expressed thanks to the excellent translation by Olivia Milburn. The Message is unlike any thriller I have ever read before, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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