Cold Nights
in Books on China
Thoughts on Pa Chin’s book.
The novel takes place in 1930’s China, Szechwan, as the Japanese advance on China. It tells the story of a family slowly falling apart, used as a metaphor for paralleling the hopelessness of China during its colonial takeover. A dark novel with constant atmospheric doom. As you follow the main character, a former intellectual, you see him slowly become a shadow of his former self as he withers. This is paralleled with an allegory of night, seemingly darkening his shadowyness.
The language is easy to read (read in Chinese, but English translation is the same). Short, sharp shooting, and descriptive. Not a fan of the writing, but it’s a page turner.
