The Vintage Book of Contemporary Chinese Fiction - by Carolyn Choa & David Su Li-Qun (Paperback)

About the Book

The editors introduce 19 of China's most enthralling writers, to date largely unknown outside their native land. From Shanghai to Beijing, readers meet people whose lives have been transformed by their country's turbulent history.

Book Synopsis

David Su Li-Qun and Carolyn Choa introduce nineteen of China's most enthralling writers-to date largely unknown outside their native land. From Shanghai to Beijing, we meet people whose lives have been transformed by their country's turbulent recent history.

Cheng Nai-shan writes about the present-day life of the former Shanghai upper class and their children. Sent to work on a rural commune at age fifteen, Wang An-yi now writes about the struggles of the urban underclass. Wang-Meng, once exiled to Tibet, now writes award-winning, character driven stories. Mo Shen had been a railway porter before emerging as a writer after the fall of the Gang of Four. With these and seventeen other writers represented, The Vintage Book of Contemporary Chinese Fiction is a literary testament to a post-revolutionary nation in transition.

Review Quotes

"A fount of beautifully translated storytelling that veers between the wistfully romantic and the downright angry."
--The Guardian (London)

"An exceptional glimpse of the domestic life about which most of the West still knows very little."
--Literary Review (London)

"An exhilarating glimpse into another all too human world."
--Herald (London)

About the Author

Born and educated in Hong Kong, Carolyn Choa works as a film producer and choreographer in London. David Su Li-Qun was resident playwright at the National Union Theatre in Beijing until emigrating to England in 1984. Since then he has taught at the University of London.