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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
Niesamowita, bardzo zagmatwana i wielowymiarowa powieść, zupełnie inna od "Obfite piersi, pełne biodra", które czytałam pół roku wcześniej. Czego na pewno nie można Mo Yanowi odmówić, to bardzo bogatego, momentami wręcz rozbuchanego stylu, który jednak w niektórych momentach się uspokaja - owe rozbuchanie jest więc zabiegiem celowym. Historia ta to tak naprawdę wiele różnych i przeplatających się ze sobą historii, w których nie wszystko jest takim, jakim się wydaje, a wiele wątków potrafi nas naprawdę zaskoczyć. Jedna rzecz, która mi się w tej książce nie podobała, to że brakuje w niej ciekawych kobiecych postaci (w "Obfitych piersiach, pełnych biodrach" takich postaci było mnóstwo) i że główni męscy bohaterowie Mo Yana skupiają się non stop na fizycznych aspektach kobiet, a sam pisarz na opisaniu w coraz to nowych sposób ich sutków, bioder i jeszcze paru innych częściach ciała.
Powieść na początku trochę mnie irytowała, później zaintrygowała, a następnie wzbudziła we mnie głęboki podziw, stąd tak długa recenzja i tak wysoka ocena.
Powieść na początku trochę mnie irytowała, później zaintrygowała, a następnie wzbudziła we mnie głęboki podziw, stąd tak długa recenzja i tak wysoka ocena.
Mo Yan is writing a story about an investigator, who goes to Liquorland to investigate the rumors of little boys being eaten as a delicacy. He takes breaks in writing this story and keeps correspondence with someone who claims to be a PhD candidate, a Doctor of liquor studies. He sends the authors stories to critique and help publish. The letters are various meta arguments about interpretation of art and literature, censorship, and liquor. The investigator's story is about a man trying to uncover corruption, and being consumed by it.
The book is satirical with magical realism elements. My critique of this book would be the same thing the author says about these stories, "that it lacks a consistency of style, that it’s too capricious, that the characters aren’t well developed, and that sort of thing". The short stories range from mildly interesting to just meandering ramblings with no clear direction that I could glean from. Maybe something got lost in translation and maybe there were cultural significances I just didn't understand, so I'll give it a 2. As the novel goes on, the writing felt more and more incoherent, which may be the point, because it seems like they've been drinking?, but it's tortuous to read.
Quotes
"In the nationwide craze over getting rich, our Liquorland leaders had a unique vision, a pioneering inspiration, a singular plan to put us on the road to wealth. My friends, ladies and gentlemen, nothing in this world, I think you’ll agree, matches food and drink in importance. Why else would man have a mouth, if not to eat and drink? So people who come to Liquorland will eat and drink well. Let them eat for variety, eat for pleasure, eat for addiction. Let them drink for variety, drink for pleasure, drink for addiction. Let them realize that there’s more to food and drink than the mere sustaining of life, that through food and drink they can learn the true meaning of life, can gain awareness of the philosophy of human existence."
" She first stressed that a chef’s heart is made of steel and that a chef should never waste emotions. Rather than being human, the babies we are about to slaughter and cook are small animals in human form that are, based upon strict, mutual agreement, produced to meet the special needs of Liquorland’s developing economy and prosperity. In essence, they are no different than the platypuses swimming in the tank waiting to be slaughtered."
The book is satirical with magical realism elements. My critique of this book would be the same thing the author says about these stories, "that it lacks a consistency of style, that it’s too capricious, that the characters aren’t well developed, and that sort of thing". The short stories range from mildly interesting to just meandering ramblings with no clear direction that I could glean from. Maybe something got lost in translation and maybe there were cultural significances I just didn't understand, so I'll give it a 2. As the novel goes on, the writing felt more and more incoherent, which may be the point, because it seems like they've been drinking?, but it's tortuous to read.
Quotes
Spoiler
"In the nationwide craze over getting rich, our Liquorland leaders had a unique vision, a pioneering inspiration, a singular plan to put us on the road to wealth. My friends, ladies and gentlemen, nothing in this world, I think you’ll agree, matches food and drink in importance. Why else would man have a mouth, if not to eat and drink? So people who come to Liquorland will eat and drink well. Let them eat for variety, eat for pleasure, eat for addiction. Let them drink for variety, drink for pleasure, drink for addiction. Let them realize that there’s more to food and drink than the mere sustaining of life, that through food and drink they can learn the true meaning of life, can gain awareness of the philosophy of human existence."
" She first stressed that a chef’s heart is made of steel and that a chef should never waste emotions. Rather than being human, the babies we are about to slaughter and cook are small animals in human form that are, based upon strict, mutual agreement, produced to meet the special needs of Liquorland’s developing economy and prosperity. In essence, they are no different than the platypuses swimming in the tank waiting to be slaughtered."
Denne boka gjorde meg lei meg, og så lo jeg en god del, og så tenkte jeg "hmmmm" og så ble jeg lei meg igjen. Men på en god måte.
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Unhinged, unpredictable, unreliable. What starts as a unique detective story quickly becomes a convoluted mess of several forms of narration, all of which are different. And this is not a bad thing. Mo Yan explores multiple approaches to a novel, which together form an interesting, mostly well-crafted story that is unlike anything Western literature has to offer. The book becomes way too shattered at the end for my taste, but it was surely a valuable experience.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Republic of Wine is set in the fictional Chinese province of Liquorland (which, as it happens, shares the title of a chain liquor store we have here in New Zealand), where every citizen in drinking 24/7 and the elite feast on the baby boys bred and sold to them by the lower class. Yes, the bodies of infants are boiled, baked and braised into the prime gourmet treat of the malicious aristocratic drunkards that populate this disturbing fever dream of a novel.
The main narrative of Ding Gou'er's horrifying and pitiful investigation into the cannibals of Liquorland is interspersed with fictional letters between Li Yidou, a budding short story writer and Doctor of liquor studies in Liquorland, and Mo Yan himself. Through his amateur short stories, Li Yidou describes the ins and outs of his bizarre hometown, and they soon become Mo Yan's inspiration for The Republic of Wine, which he writes during this invented correspondence. These epistolary interludes were an intriguing postmodern twist at first glance, but quickly become irritatingly repetitive, and all but drown the novel in mediocre short stories and whiny kowtowing.
A thoroughly grotesque read, not without its sublimely surreal moments, though the abundance of wretchedly wacky details and detours got more than a few winces out of me.
The main narrative of Ding Gou'er's horrifying and pitiful investigation into the cannibals of Liquorland is interspersed with fictional letters between Li Yidou, a budding short story writer and Doctor of liquor studies in Liquorland, and Mo Yan himself. Through his amateur short stories, Li Yidou describes the ins and outs of his bizarre hometown, and they soon become Mo Yan's inspiration for The Republic of Wine, which he writes during this invented correspondence. These epistolary interludes were an intriguing postmodern twist at first glance, but quickly become irritatingly repetitive, and all but drown the novel in mediocre short stories and whiny kowtowing.
A thoroughly grotesque read, not without its sublimely surreal moments, though the abundance of wretchedly wacky details and detours got more than a few winces out of me.
Понравилось чуть меньше, чем "Устал рождаться и умирать", но тоже отличная книга.
Мо Янь пишет роман и ведет переписку с начинающим литератором, который отправляет ему свои рассказы. Все это причудливым образом переплетается в повествовании и уже очень скоро становится непонятно, что происходит на самом деле, а что выдумка.
Мо Янь пишет роман и ведет переписку с начинающим литератором, который отправляет ему свои рассказы. Все это причудливым образом переплетается в повествовании и уже очень скоро становится непонятно, что происходит на самом деле, а что выдумка.
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
it's not pleasant, and it's not even unpleasant in any sort of productive way. any stars i'm giving are for the fact that it's not like anything else i've read. i no longer want to read about the smell of women's farts, baby genitals, urine in alcohol or heaps of distasteful ableism ever.
note: i read the polish translation by katarzyna kulpa
note: i read the polish translation by katarzyna kulpa
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Murder