One of China’s most honored, award-winning, and bestselling authors presents six humorous and moving tales that capture the pulse of the nation’s people.
Celebrated for his novels satirizing contemporary China, Liu Zhenyun is also renowned for his short stories. Remembering 1942 and Other Chinese Stories showcases six of his best, featuring a diverse cast of ordinary people struggling against life’s various obstacles—bureaucratic, economic, and personal.
The exquisite stories in this collection range from an exploration of office politics to the tale of a young soldier entering his new life as a student and the story of a couple struggling to manage the demands of a young child. Another, about petty functionaries trying to solve a mystery of office intrigue, reads like a survival manual for Chinese bureaucracy. The masterful title story considers the legacy of the drought and famine that struck Henan Province in 1942, tracing its echoes in one man’s journey through war and revolution into the present.
Each story is rich in wit, insight, and empathy. Together they bring into focus the realities of China’s past and present, evoking with clarity and mordant humor the often Kafkaesque circumstances of contemporary life in the world’s most populous nation.
Stories include: “Tofu,” “College,” “Office,” “Officials,” “Recruits,” and “Remembering 1942”
“Liu’s fiction is a romp . . . making a wry statement about modern China.” —Kirkus Reviews
