A review by toughmilk
Land of Big Numbers: Stories by Te-Ping Chen

4.0

The stories of "Land of Big Numbers" submerse me into worlds where the fantastical and the mundane collide. Chen's descriptions place me into the moments with the characters of each story where the sensations and emotions are almost tangibly felt. Whether it's the chaos of multitasking in a call centre, a train station turned temporary shelter or a depiction of an Arizona sunset, Chen draws you in even when the situation is nearly unbelievable. In the stories, I see reflections of the China that I know and the China that I only have heard about through anecdotes, news and media. So many tales in this collection capture the spirited nature of the people even with the darkness of government corruption and apathy seeping through the background. A great selection of vignettes that showcase the variety of characters who are shaped by the land, the culture, the bureaucracy and the history of China.