A review by jayisreading
Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

3.5

I feel like I was stuck in a haze as I read this book, not entirely sure what was happening for a lot of it. I don’t know if this was a translation issue or what, but it made it hard to stay totally engaged. It could very well be that Yan Ge’s writing style just isn’t for me, since I really didn’t enjoy The Chilli Bean Paste Clan. That being said, I did find Strange Beasts of China far more intriguing and better written/translated, even if the book was a bit repetitive in the end. I can’t help but wonder if I would have enjoyed this book more if a different author had written it, admittedly.

I’d be curious to know about the social commentary that’s being made in this book and its connections to Chinese society, specifically (or maybe just generally). There’s an interesting thread throughout these stories that focuses on how beasts are taken advantage of and mistreated, as well as an exploration of tradition versus modernity.
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