Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Shenzheners
Shenzheners | Yiwei Xue
4 posts | 2 read | 5 to read
The first book in English by acclaimed Chinese-Canadian writer Xue Yiwei, Shenzheners is inspired by the young city of Shenzhen, a market town north of Hong Kong that became a Special Economic Zone in 1980 as an experiment in introducing capitalism to Communist China. A city in which everyone is a newcomer, Shenzhen has grown astronomically to become a major metropolitan centre. Hailed as a Chinese Dubliners, the original collection was named one of the Most Influential Chinese Books of the Year in 2013, with most of the stories appearing in Best Chinese Stories.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
blurb
xicanti
Shenzheners | Yiwei Xue
post image

I read the last story in SHENZHENERS over breakfast, and I‘ll miss this excellent collection. Xue Yiwei‘s work is well observed and immersive. Somehow, his decision to identify each character by their profession or social role, not their name, gives each piece some extra oomph. I‘ll definitely look for more of his work. He‘s got at least one novel translated into English.

blurb
xicanti
Shenzheners | Yiwei Xue
post image

I tried to get an early start on #24in48, but it‘s a pain day and I was so tired I tapped out five minutes into today‘s short story. I slept a while longer, then went back in and finished it with 23 minutes on the clock.

Today‘s story was my fourth from this collection, and it was another good ‘un. I‘m so glad I stumbled across Xue Yiwei while I combed through the library catalogue in search of a replacement for THE OLD CAPITAL.

review
llwheeler
Shenzheners | Yiwei Xue
post image
Pickpick

I flew through these 9 short stories. The first one is still my favourite, but several of the others were also excellent. As with most collections of short stories, a couple didn't work as well for me, but overall it's a Pick and I would read more of the author's work if/when it is translated. In a few places there was some annoying male gaze/patriarchy sh*t but in at least one of the stories it was directly called out by the narrative.

blurb
llwheeler
Shenzheners | Yiwei Xue
post image

Okay I've only read the first short story of this collection so far but geeking out hard on issues of transmission of language/story, both within the text and as a reader. I mean, even aside from the author living in Canada, writing in Chinese, and being translated into English, how often do you read a story set partly near Trois-Rivières that's been translated from Chinese? And when the story is also about translation itself? I love this stuff 🤓

Natasha.C.Barnes That sounds so cool. Stacking!! 🤓 7y
llwheeler @Natasha.C.Barnes Hopefully the rest of the stories are as good as the first one! 7y
21 likes3 stack adds2 comments