Alec AshReseñas
Autor de Wish Lanterns: Young Lives in New China
Reseñas
Este sitio utiliza cookies para ofrecer nuestros servicios, mejorar el rendimiento, análisis y (si no estás registrado) publicidad. Al usar LibraryThing reconoces que has leído y comprendido nuestros términos de servicio y política de privacidad. El uso del sitio y de los servicios está sujeto a estas políticas y términos.
The stories could have been written in simple narratives, but Ash chose to break them up and intersperse them, trying to create cliffhangers. Because the stories don't really climax or have much action, a better format would have been to present six stories separately. There appears to be very little research into these self-reported stories.
The six characters include Fred, an apathetic wealthy daughter of cadres who studies in the US, Dahai, an engineer for a state building firm, Snail, an internet-addict from a farming village, Xiaoxiao, Miao, and Lucifer, three fashionista hip-cats trying to find their identities. They are all young and politically disinterested, even Fred, who ends up teaching politics, though I was interested in her defense of Chinese political power.
I don't think these stories necessarily reflect the broad scope of young people in China. Because three of the young people are openly trying to push or copy fashion trends, it does offer a different take than what one would read in similar books. Unfortunately, no one seemed to be at the bottom rungs of the societal ladder. Considering the sheer amount of poverty in China, an effort could have been made to show people who were trying to work their way up (although plenty of nonfiction has been written on the subject, such as the books from Xinran, Leslie Chang, Evan Osnos, Liao Yiwu, et al.). There was also no inclusion of ethnic minorities in China.
Perhaps these criticisms miss the point, though. Perhaps Ash simply wanted to show youth in China from a different angle. That angle of youth who are politically disengaged and semi-rebellious in a cultural sense is certainly found, though.
Ash's writing is clear and breezy. The book is easy to read, even though the stories are chopped up.