The Prosperous Time: China 2013

[aristotle1990]

Anyone read this book? (Warning: spoiler later on the article.)

In the euphoric Beijing of 2013, Starbucks is Chinese-owned and called "Starbucks Wangwang." Its trademark drink is Longjing Latté, named for a famed Chinese tea. It is a place where Mr. Chen, an immigrant from Hong Kong, feels comfortable escorting a marginalized woman named Xiaoxi, the secret love of his youth. After running into Xiaoxi in a Beijing bookstore, their first encounter in many years, Mr. Chen asks her whether she had gone abroad. "No," she replies.

"No is good," Chen nods. "As everyone says, no place is better than China nowadays."

"You are joking," Xiaoxi says.

Her sullen mood seems at odds with the jubilant crowd around them. As she suddenly departs, he notices two men smoking nearby who have been following her.

So opens an early scene from The Prosperous Time: China 2013, a hotly controversial Chinese science-fiction novel. Written by 58-year-old Hong Kong novelist Chen Guanzhong, who has lived and worked in Beijing for much of his life, China 2013 presents an ambivalent vision of China's near future: outwardly triumphant (a Chinese company has even bought out Starbucks), and yet tightly controlled. There is a mood of mounting tension, here evident as a woman with dissenting thoughts is followed by secret police.

The novel, first published in Hong Kong in late 2009, caused quite a stir on Chinese websites early this year. For instance, Hecaitou, one of the most influential bloggers in the country, wrote in January that the book "once and for fall settles the majority of Internet quarrels" on what China's tomorrow will be like. At the time, the book was only available in Hong Kong. But after interest grew apace in Chinese cyberspace, the author himself "pirated" his rights from his own publisher in Hong Kong to let Chinese mainlanders read it online for free. Since February, numerous digital versions of the novel have circulated and sparked heated discussions on the Chinese Internet.

Get it here.

[Meng Lelan]

Mmm, but even more interesting would be "Cat Country", that would be a nice thing for the Short Story thread here somewhere, if I can ever find that (banned?) story, mmm hmm.

[knadolny]

Cat Country

What is the Chinese name for it? Sounds like a story I would like...

[gato]

It's probably the short novel by 老舍. See online version below:

http://www.kehuan.net.cn/book/miaochengji/

猫城记 老舍

[skylee]

I have seen this book in local 三聯s.

"Hong Kong novelist Chen Guanzhong, who has lived and worked in Beijing for much of his life" - I wonder how true this statement is.

[skylee]

I shouldn't have read that article at #1. Now knowing the twist what's the fun in reading the book?

Isn't there this saying - 有怎樣的人民就有怎樣的政府 (People get the government they deserve).

[natra]

I am reading 《盛世：中国2013年》right now... I'm only about 50 pages into it, but it has been a highly entertaining read so far. XD

The Chinese name for Cat Country by the way is 《猫城记》. I read it last summer and had a hard time finding a copy in the original Chinese. Eventually, I got one of the first editions through inter-library loan, though personally did not enjoy this one very much.

[roddy]

猫城记 is online here and also in paper.

[zhwj]

I posted my thoughts on the novel in the discussion on Metafilter. In short, it's an interesting book with an enjoyably meandering plot that draws inspiration from hard-boiled detective novels, until four-fifths of the way through it gets cut short by a 40-page treatise on China's role in world politics.

The Foreign Policy piece linked above is badly misleading about the current state of SF in China. Yes, many authors and readers lament the fact that hard-SF and pulp adventure predominate, but socially-oriented, politically-conscious SF is far from as rare as the author makes it out to be. I mention two recent stories in that comment linked above, Ma Boyong's "City of Silence" (寂静之城), which ran in SFW a few years ago, and Han Song's My Homeland Does Not Dream (我的祖国不做梦), which was published online. Pretty much all of Han Song's stuff involves social or political criticism, and there are other authors who write SF in that vein.

[knadolny]

http://www.kehuan.ne...ok/miaochengji/

猫城记 老舍

Thanks Gato and Roddy! Something to look into...

I am reading 《盛世：中国2013年》right now... I'm only about 50 pages into it, but it has been a highly entertaining read so far. XD

Maybe something to pick up next week then (in Shanghai). Thanks!...It will be my first trip to China in forever

[gato]

盛世 is banned in mainland China.

[skylee]

And so is 大江大海一九四九, I believe. A very harmless book imho.

[knadolny]

Ooops! Nevermind then...I will get it another way.

[Sarevok]

I shouldn't have read that article at #1. Now knowing the twist what's the fun in reading the book?

There should have been some spoiler warnings (in the article itself or in the OP), I am not so excited about reading it now. I still might read it solely for Chinese practice purposes though...

[Gleaves]

I read this book a few months ago. The book has a great hook (The first line of the book is "一个月不见了"). I enjoyed the first half, but it lost me around the time of the 40-page political science monologue that zhwj mentioned. The ending/resolution just didn't do it for me.

I picked it up from books.tw.com.

[nicbec]

I aim to learn Mandarin, but right now my proficiency is ~0. Is there an English translation of this book available? I'm a great fan of SF, with a lot of interest in China/Asiatic cultures and this seems like a book I really have to read!

[Gleaves]

According to this blog post, an English translation will be out by next year.

[michaelS]

out in English 21st July

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fat-Years-Chan-Koonchung/dp/0385619189

[Gleaves]

I read through Cat Country. Posted some brief thoughts about it in the science fiction thread. I liked it better than 盛世, but it definitely has its fair share of dull moments.

[michaelS]

I finally read it (in translation), and thought it was fantastic.

Have put a review on my blog: http://fightthelandlord.wordpress.com/book-review-the-fat-years/