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earlgreypls 's review for:
Rouge Street: Three Novellas
by Shuang Xuetao
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher (Henry Holt & Co) for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!
This was a really special set of novellas. They were all written by a highly acclaimed Chinese author and recently translated into English. The third novella (Moses on the Plain) was actually turned into a movie (titled Fire on the Plain). I'm not sure if there are English subtitles available yet for the film, but if there are I will definitely be watching it.
The first story (The Aeronaut), is about a man who wants to invent a flying machine, the second (Bright Hall), is about two children who chase a criminal into a frozen lake and fight a giant fish-person, and the third (Moses on the Plain), is about the mysterious murders of taxi drivers.
To be completely honest, it was difficult to even write the above paragraph giving a synopsis for each story. They are all so much more than one chronological plot-line. Each novella has multiple POVs and many characters. While this added depth to the storytelling, it also sometimes got a bit confusing. Just as I would start to orient myself and understand each characters backstory, the novella would end and move onto the next one. I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing at all - but I would've been happy to read three full novels for each of these stories.
While each novella has a completely different plot, they all had the same dark/sorrowful/realist atmosphere. Some of them are set near the real neighborhood in Shenyang known as Yanfen street (which is where the author grew up - and where the title originates). The Translator's note at the beginning was SO HELPFUL for setting the scene of the novellas and giving some cultural context. Yanfen street was described as a dull and muddy rough neighborhood (from what I can tell, in the 90s)- although today it is apparently a bustling metropolis.
In addition to the setting, I noticed a lot of Chinese history wound into the storytelling, with many references to the cultural revolution (1966-1976) and Chairman Mao Zedong. There's also a lot of conversation on the shift from communism to a market economy, and rampant poverty. If you have an interest and some background in Chinese history or economics/politics in general, I would highly recommend this book. I would say I have minimal knowledge on this topic, so a few times I did google searches to educate myself a bit more on historical references which added more depth to the experience. I am sure that if you already have this knowledge, some of the details and dialogue would would be much more clear and impactful.
The true beauty of this book is in the details, not in the overarching plot.
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This is a set of novellas I would recommend for someone who is willing to cherish them and spend quality time reading. I spent about a month on them, and I'm honestly glad I did. They were a bit dense for me, and I think that is mostly because of the cultural references I did not always understand, and the large number of characters and storylines. Overall, the prose was really beautiful, the few magical realism elements were intriguing, the setting was bleak but compelling, and it was truly a gem to read!!
This was a really special set of novellas. They were all written by a highly acclaimed Chinese author and recently translated into English. The third novella (Moses on the Plain) was actually turned into a movie (titled Fire on the Plain). I'm not sure if there are English subtitles available yet for the film, but if there are I will definitely be watching it.
The first story (The Aeronaut), is about a man who wants to invent a flying machine, the second (Bright Hall), is about two children who chase a criminal into a frozen lake and fight a giant fish-person, and the third (Moses on the Plain), is about the mysterious murders of taxi drivers.
To be completely honest, it was difficult to even write the above paragraph giving a synopsis for each story. They are all so much more than one chronological plot-line. Each novella has multiple POVs and many characters. While this added depth to the storytelling, it also sometimes got a bit confusing. Just as I would start to orient myself and understand each characters backstory, the novella would end and move onto the next one. I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing at all - but I would've been happy to read three full novels for each of these stories.
While each novella has a completely different plot, they all had the same dark/sorrowful/realist atmosphere. Some of them are set near the real neighborhood in Shenyang known as Yanfen street (which is where the author grew up - and where the title originates). The Translator's note at the beginning was SO HELPFUL for setting the scene of the novellas and giving some cultural context. Yanfen street was described as a dull and muddy rough neighborhood (from what I can tell, in the 90s)- although today it is apparently a bustling metropolis.
In addition to the setting, I noticed a lot of Chinese history wound into the storytelling, with many references to the cultural revolution (1966-1976) and Chairman Mao Zedong. There's also a lot of conversation on the shift from communism to a market economy, and rampant poverty. If you have an interest and some background in Chinese history or economics/politics in general, I would highly recommend this book. I would say I have minimal knowledge on this topic, so a few times I did google searches to educate myself a bit more on historical references which added more depth to the experience. I am sure that if you already have this knowledge, some of the details and dialogue would would be much more clear and impactful.
The true beauty of this book is in the details, not in the overarching plot.
----------
This is a set of novellas I would recommend for someone who is willing to cherish them and spend quality time reading. I spent about a month on them, and I'm honestly glad I did. They were a bit dense for me, and I think that is mostly because of the cultural references I did not always understand, and the large number of characters and storylines. Overall, the prose was really beautiful, the few magical realism elements were intriguing, the setting was bleak but compelling, and it was truly a gem to read!!