A Dictionary of Maqiao
by Han Shaogong
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Book Summary Information
Author: Han ShaogongTranslator: Julia Lovell
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2005-09-27
ISBN: 0385339356
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
Book Reviews of A Dictionary of Maqiao
Book Review: One of the great towns in our literary world...
Summary: 4 Stars
This remarkable novel was a random discovery; after finishing it I do hope that Han Shaogong finds a larger audience around the world.
A novel structured like a dictionary of a semi-real, semi-fictional town in a rather remote region of southern China, A DICTIONARY OF MAQIAO is a remarkable, dazzling creation - each 'dictionary entry' is a vignette unto itself, each of which gradually coalesce into something greater. Shaogong's Maqiao is a bit like Garcia-Marquez' Macondo or Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, a semi-fictional place upon which one can examine (and also honor and satirize) the varied contradictions and conundrums of a changing nation.
A DICTIONARY OF MAQIAO is set against the backdrop of the cultural revolution, though these political events don't intrude into the center of the story. Shaogong instead emphasizes language, specifically it's mutability and restless, dynamic evolutions, symbolic of life itself, and this tactic (or fascination) does serve to also place external events into some sort of philosophical perspective.
The end result is a novel that is fascinating, inventive and endlessly playful, with a vast cast of intriguing characters, and a captivating, cinematic precision. It didn't seem to get much attention when published in translation, which is highly unfortunate - it's a novel worth going out of your way to read.
-David Alston
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