As I started reading Yan Lianke's Dream of Ding Village, I was reminded of a favourite novel of mine, Albert Camus' The plague. However, as I read on, the similarity started to fade - or, perhaps it's just that the particularity of Lianke's conception took over. Both books explore a community living with a highly contagious, … Continue reading Yan Lianke, Dream of Ding village (Review for Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize, 2011)
Yan Lianke
Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week January 8-14
Week 9 of our Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011 project and the shortlist has now been announced, as I reported earlier this week. However, we are still reading and reviewing in preparation for announcing "our" Shadow winner in early March, just before the announcement of the winner. This week's reviews are: Amitav Ghosh's River … Continue reading Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week January 8-14
Man Asian Literary Prize 2011 Shortlist announced
... And my preferred two books - those by Ahmad and Yoshimoto - of the three I've read are in the final seven books. Woo hoo ... but I have a lot to read to catch up to the rest of the team. The shortlisted books are: Jamil Ahmad's Wandering falcon Jahnavi Barua's Rebirth Rahul … Continue reading Man Asian Literary Prize 2011 Shortlist announced
Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week December 18-24
Happy Holidays everyone who is celebrating this weekend ... May you receive many books and the time to read them! I have taken a quick break from my festivities to bring you Week 6 of our Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011 longlist reviewing project. It has been quiet on the reviewing front this week, … Continue reading Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week December 18-24
Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week November 27 to December 3
Week 3 of our Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011 longlist reviewing project brings you ... Mahmoud Dowlatabadi's The colonel (Iran) from Lisa of ANZLItLovers. This sounds quite different in style and structure, but worth reading, particularly since it's from a country whose literature is little known to me. Yan Lianke's Dream of Ding Village (China) from Matt … Continue reading Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week November 27 to December 3
Whispering Gums 