The April 3rd Incident
The April 3rd Incidentis a collection of short stories byYu Hua,who wrote the stories from 1987 to 1991. The English translation, by Allan H. Barr, was published in 2018 byPantheon.[1]Barr teaches Chinese atPomona College.[2]
The stories included are experimental, andPublishers Weeklycharacterizes the shorter ones as having "devastating wit and morbid humor".[3]Kirkus Reviewsdescribed them as "very post-punk and confrontational".[1]Barr stated thatBorges,Faulkner,andKafkahad influenced Yu Hua's writing.[1]
The stories allude to an incident that is never clearly defined, not even in the chapter that shares its name with the collection's title; April 3 happens to be the birthday of Yu Hua.[4]The stories include elements of conspiracies, double-crossing, and characters revealing their true natures.Publishers Weeklycompares the stories to those ofItalo Calvino.[3]
Contents
[edit]In the chapter "The April 3rd Incident" the narrator is trying to figure out about an incident that he is unclear about.[4]
In "Death Chronicle" a truck driver trying to do the morally right thing in a possible hit-and-run incident is perceived by outsiders as having malicious intentions. Ten years prior to the events, he had done a hit-and-run incident,[3]killing two people.[3]He had been one a mountain road that was treacherous for drivers.[1]James Kidd of theSouth China Morning Postdescribes the truck driver as "gruff" and "self-justifying".[4]
"A History of Two People" talks about two characters having a shared dream even though one is richer than the other,[3]and one is unaware of the true circumstances of the other due to his own status. Jennifer Rothschild ofBookliststated that this shows how two people can progress into different life paths.[5]
Reception
[edit]Kidd rankedThe April 3rd Incidentfive of five stars, and concluded that it "reinforces Yu as China's boldest and smartest literary agent provocateur."[4]
Publishers Weeklystated that the series would get a positive reception from new readers and people devoted to Yu Hua's works.[3]
Kirkus Reviewsstated that "it's interesting to look back at [Yu Hua's] work when he was at his fiercest."[1]
Rothschild stated that "this challenging collection shows that his literary prowess and mastery were present from the start."[5]
References
[edit]- ^abcde"THE APRIL 3RD INCIDENT".Kirkus Reviews.2018-08-21.Retrieved2018-11-30.- print: September 1, 2018.
- ^Russel, Amy (2014-03-02)."Boy in the Twilight: Stories of the Hidden China".South China Morning Post.Retrieved2018-11-30.- Updated 12 March 2014
- ^abcdef"The April 3rd Incident".Publishers Weekly.2018-09-17.Retrieved2018-11-30.
- ^abcdKidd, James (2018-11-29)."Yu Hua's short stories portray disturbing personal and political realities of modern China".South China Morning Post.Retrieved2018-11-30.
- ^abRothschild, Jennifer (2018-09-21)."The April 3rd Incident".Booklist.Retrieved2018-11-30.
External links
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