(Amazon)
This is one of those books that you grow to love as you read it. It’s an easy, enjoyable read with interesting characters that you gradually come to know and like. It is full of political and cultural insights, yet is deceptively simple in its execution. There are no wasted words, and no weak parts.
The novel’s protagonist is Dan, a ’reserve worker’ in a factory who has not been paid for months on end.
He and his wife struggle to make ends meet, until he discovers that he can make a living by posing as a journalist at corporate events. However, before long his deceit catches up with him and he discovers that as a ’journalist’ the most vulnerable members of society expect him to act as their champion.
Dan is great character, very well rounded, with great flaws and great strengths.
I also liked the characters of his wife, Little Plum, and the pushy journalist Happy Gao.
I enjoyed reading about them. Some of the other characters could have been a little more fleshed out, but that’s not a major criticism.
The storyline is good, twisting enough to keep the reader’s interest, but always plausible.
I never grew bored. It provides a fascinating and vivid view of life in the capital of the most populous nation in the world. I feel that I learnt a great deal about the culture and issues in modern China, whilst enjoying the story.
Serious issues are explored subtly and without trying to find easy answers; of censorship, inequality between rich and poor, and of corruption.
Particularly admirable is the way Yan uses small, simple incidents to put across a much larger concept.
It whispers rather than shouts. The descriptions are brilliant, evocative without being at all wordy. I was longing to try some of the banquet food described.
There is really very little to criticise in this story, and I would recommend it as a pleasurable story to any readers.
It’s a must for anyone with an interest in modern China, and worth reading even anyone without.