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A review by anaiira
The Fat Years by Chan Koonchung
4.0
5/5 for what I think the book is actually, with one star subtracted for the translation.
This book, while it copies some of the tone and structure of classic dystopian novels (1984, Brave New World) still retains its quintessentially Chinese literary roots. I think ultimately, the translation suffers from the inability to encapsulate the millennias of idioms and references that are part and parcel of everyday Mandarin, much less the additional punning and references and layers of social stratification.
For example, the main protagonist in the version I read is referred to as Lao Chen, or Old Chen (directly translated), where Chen is the surname. His first name is never mentioned in the book. "Lao" can be used as an indication of familiarity, of closeness in family or friendship. When Fang Caodi changes to Master Chen (or Chen Shifu), it indicates a shift in tone of their relationship and the reader, because they had been following the main protagonist, was similarly meant to feel the sycophantic change that distance between Lao Chen and a bearer of a truthful reality. This dissonance fails to translate, so the impact is lessened.
Also, the meta element of the fact that the main protagonist and the author share the same surname is fantastic (it is mentioned in the preface that an interpretation is that the author has placed himself in the book à la real life Kilgore Trout).
This book shines the most when it is understood that it's not really meant to be a work of fiction. It is a documentation and a criticism of modern Chinese society under the guise of a detective/romance novel. After all, it effectively ties together political theory with current events and dystopian science fiction. More than a novel that is aimed at presenting novel circumstances or solutions, it seems more interested in documenting current conditions and pointing a curious eye towards areas for further research and understanding.
This book, while it copies some of the tone and structure of classic dystopian novels (1984, Brave New World) still retains its quintessentially Chinese literary roots. I think ultimately, the translation suffers from the inability to encapsulate the millennias of idioms and references that are part and parcel of everyday Mandarin, much less the additional punning and references and layers of social stratification.
For example, the main protagonist in the version I read is referred to as Lao Chen, or Old Chen (directly translated), where Chen is the surname. His first name is never mentioned in the book. "Lao" can be used as an indication of familiarity, of closeness in family or friendship. When Fang Caodi changes to Master Chen (or Chen Shifu), it indicates a shift in tone of their relationship and the reader, because they had been following the main protagonist, was similarly meant to feel the sycophantic change that distance between Lao Chen and a bearer of a truthful reality. This dissonance fails to translate, so the impact is lessened.
Also, the meta element of the fact that the main protagonist and the author share the same surname is fantastic (it is mentioned in the preface that an interpretation is that the author has placed himself in the book à la real life Kilgore Trout).
This book shines the most when it is understood that it's not really meant to be a work of fiction. It is a documentation and a criticism of modern Chinese society under the guise of a detective/romance novel. After all, it effectively ties together political theory with current events and dystopian science fiction. More than a novel that is aimed at presenting novel circumstances or solutions, it seems more interested in documenting current conditions and pointing a curious eye towards areas for further research and understanding.