Book of the Month June 2020 (or whenever!) - 《景恒街》 by 笛安

[roddy]

Still going, but I was away last week and am behind where I should be to finish by the end of the month (currently in Chapter 11). I'm going to stick with it for the rest of September, but I'm quite keep to get into 异兽志 so I don't know if I'll bother finishing it. I might speed read the remainder or something. Would happily recommend for anyone looking for a modern / business / romance-soapy read, it's just not particularly my kind of thing. 

[Singe]

14 hours ago, roddy said:

but I'm quite keep to get into 异兽志 so I don't know if I'll bother finishing it

 

Just wondering if 异兽志 is the next 'Book of the Month' choice as I can't see any other reference to it in this thread. Been meaning to try and join in this since my motivation to get back into Chinese has grown exponentially this year. Currently trying 活着 based on previous choices on this site and found it tough, but very beneficial.

[roddy]

Seems so. 

[roddy]

Don't think I'm going to finish this - missed too many days and while I'm only a few dozen pages from the end, I'm just not that interested in how it all pans out. Not a bad read, as I said above, but not for me. Looking forward to 异兽志 though. 

[murrayjames]

So I read Chapters 13 and 14.

 

@Lu’s plot synopses on the previous page of this thread are succinct and cover all major plot points. Don’t have much to add. Instead I’ll share a few scattered thoughts that came up while reading these chapters:

 

Spoiler

 

Wow. 幽幽 is cold and vicious. And 朱灵精’s threat: “你再多说一句，我就像这样砸你的脑袋。”

 

Why didn’t 灵精 ask 关景恒 about his relationship with 幽幽? Lu is correct that 灵精 and 景恒 where not then an item. But if 幽幽 is being honest, her relationship with 景恒 was not a mere fling, but something deeper. And 景恒 remained with 幽幽 right up until he got together with 灵精. 灵精’s shock and disappointment are understandable given the situation. I am surprised she didn’t say something.

 

Another thought related to the timeline. So 景恒 was with 幽幽. He developed feelings for 灵精 in a sudden, then broke off the relationship with 幽幽. This parallels 灵精’s relationship with 钢铁侠 in the opening chapters of the novel. So many love triangles in one book!

 

I wonder how 景恒 would react if he found out about 灵精 and 钢铁侠. Perhaps he will.

 

Not very interesting: (1) The internal politics of 粉叠 and its elite group of 蓝粉蝶. (2) The MJ资本 video games division and the cute 小雪人 game it’s investing in. More interesting: 小雅 is pregnant once again and stepping away from 粉叠. Her incoming replacement is 钢铁侠. He appears displeased with 关总 already.

 

Now to more important matters. To wit, a coffee update: There is no explicit mention of coffee in these two chapters. However, at the end of Chapter 14, 灵境, 文娟, and 小雅 seem ready to step out of the office to grab a beverage. They could be going for coffee!

 

 

Vocabulary:

爱豆 àidòu - idol
关卡 guānqiǎ - checkpoint (e.g., in a video game)

[murrayjames]

Chapter 15 is well-written and eventful. Some thoughts:

 

 

Spoiler

 

First off. Coffee does get mentioned. But the circumstances surrounding it are so sad I hesitate to describe them…

 

小雅 miscarries her second child. After taking two weeks off work, she returns to the office. 小雅 is no longer herself. She barely moves from her desk and is not eating. At lunchtime, she just asks 灵境 for coffee.

 

文娟’s response to the situation is unduly harsh. I mean, holy shit:

 

Quote

那偷情贪欢的时候怎么不记得自己也是妈妈呢？母亲这种神圣身份还真是遮羞布。而且… 你说实话你有没有怀疑过那第二个孩子是谁的。

 

文娟’s sympathies are with 钢铁侠 who, it’s worth noting, is also married and having an affair.

 

Quote

总之，虽说都是奸夫淫妇吧，这一次我站Tony。

 

Meanwhile, 灵境’s relationship with 景恒 is strained. The couple get to talking one night. 灵境 takes a shot at her husband’s seemingly endless supply of confidence and ambition:

 

Quote

我和你不一样，我觉得——一个人应该为了自己想要的生活去努力，有的人做到了，有的人做到的事情很大，让所有普通人的梦想相比之下都不值一提。可是，要是真的把碾压所有普通人一生的梦想当成是目标，那就太尴尬了。

 

Ouch.

 

Pride comes before the fall, and 景恒 is in a precarious situation. But 景恒 either does not realize this or refuses to acknowledge it. In a text message, 小雅 warns 灵精 that 景恒 is playing with fire. Then it all comes to a head. 钢铁侠 meets with 景恒. He calls out 景恒 for his poor decision making and gives him an ultimatum. 景恒 is to resign as CEO effective immediately. 景恒 refuses to resign. 钢铁侠:

 

Quote

现在就是考验你的时候，你是爱粉叠，还是爱你自己的虚荣？

 

Then, a power play. Resign, 关景恒. Now.

 

Quote

钢铁侠伸长了手臂，将酒杯举在半空中，“想好了以后，就跟我碰个杯，我等着你。”杯子就一直悬空举着，他丝毫不介意这种尴尬。

 

关总 resigns.

 

And that’s not all. We get a second revelation, a revelation 笛安 has carefully set the stage for in recent chapters. When 小雅 became pregnant again, she rekindled the romance with her abusive husband. At least three characters in the novel have wondered out loud who the actual father of her child is. Where is Tony’s thinking at here? Will he also return to his marriage? No. It turns out that the Iron Man’s wife is divorcing him for his former best friend:

 

Quote

下个礼拜，我得回去一趟得州，我去离婚。我老婆——也许该说前妻，她跟我过去最好的朋友在一起了。他们打算立刻结婚，然后生小孩。

 

 

 

 

I liked this chapter a lot and am excited to read what happens next.

[Lu]

20 hours ago, murrayjames said:

文娟’s sympathies are with 钢铁侠 who, it’s worth noting, is also married and having an affair.

But this is fair, I think. 钢铁侠 is thoroughly estranged from his wife and has been for years. They don't even live in the same country. The only reason he's not divorced is that his wife refuses to cooperate. Technically he's cheating, but morally he's fine, I'd say.

[murrayjames]

Thoughts on Chapter 16:

 

朱灵境 and 关景恒 are not in a good place. 灵境 is happiest watching TV at home alone. 景恒, now a regular 粉叠 employee, stays out late drinking with his co-workers. 

 

Against expectations, MJ’s 小雪人 video game is a modest success. Although I don’t care much about this subplot, I’m happy to see 灵境 get some good news.

 

MJ投资 decides to sell off 粉叠. But oh no! A perfidious plan to hurt the company—and 景恒 specifically—is put into action. Thankfully, the 蓝粉蝶 save the day.

 

In the last pages of the chapter, we learn that 白千寻 and 幽幽 were the ones behind this wicked plot. They were motivated by revenge: 白千寻, over the 蓝粉叠 affair; and 幽幽, over 潘神 getting pushed out of the company. Also: 幽幽 never actually slept with 景恒; she just said she did. (The way this all unfolds is a tad too convenient and underdeveloped for my taste.)

 

Onward to Chapter 17.

[murrayjames]

Finished the novel. Lots of interesting plot developments in the final chapter, plus coffee. Funny it took getting hit by a car for 关景恒 to finally let go of his company. The epilogue was good. Having 朱灵境 and 钢铁侠 gossip about past and present colleagues was a fitting end to the story. Their short dialogue about love on the final page tied in nicely with the prologue.

 

The book was not bad. I liked the characters; the humorous bits; some of the prose; and the observations about white-collar business culture and office politics in Beijing.