Short stories deal in brutal truths about life in modern China
Yu Hua's short stories deal in brutal home truths, writes Amy Russell
Boy in the Twilight: Stories of the Hidden China
by Yu Hua
Pantheon
4.5 stars
British Victorian novelist George Eliot once wrote that "the finest language is mostly made up of simple unimposing words". This statement rings true in the writings of the Hangzhou-born Yu Hua.
In Boy in the Twilight, his carefully crafted vignettes, minimalist in style, portray stark and emotional scenarios that regular citizens of reform-era China are forced to face in their everyday lives. For Yu, plainness is a gift. It allows the voice of his characters to shine through, unburdened by verbiage, and lets events speak for themselves so that readers can experience their full weight and consequence.
Events may take an unexpected turn at any moment, and bonds are precarious
Boy in the Twilight, first published in 1999 in Chinese, is eloquently reinvigorated in English in a translation by Allan H. Barr, a teacher of Chinese at Pomona College, California. These 13 short stories, written between 1993 and 1998, see friends, foes, lovers and family members brought together in sharp snapshots of their inner or "hidden" lives.
Dentist-turned-writer Yu moved from working on open but silent mouths to giving voice to characters and contemporary issues in China. He is best known for his novels such as To Live (1992) and Chronicle of a Blood Merchant (1995). Those longer works, while establishing him in the Chinese literary scene, have eclipsed his short fiction of the same period.
This collection of tales highlights Yu's true narrative talents, and with them the truth and tensions of modern China. Suffering and sin are juxtaposed with humour and irony in this gritty, honest melange of simple sketches, showing how quickly and frighteningly normalcy can be disturbed.
Amid the mistrust and misplaced loyalties come violence, confusion and heartache. Instability is exposed by the unravelling of mundane scenarios - the discovery of a secret key when tidying a house, or the unexpected arrival of a visitor during the day.
And from these cracks, lives can crumble and fall, particularly in the realm of relationships: friendships are strained and marriages can come undone.