Skip to main content

Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by Xiaolu Guo: book review

 



Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth (2008) is set in Beijing, China.


Twenty-one-year-old Fenfang Wang leaves rural China to follow her dreams in the big city, Beijing. At home, she was known but dependent, living in backwater conventionality and family traditions on a sweet potato farm. But in bustling, noisy Beijing she is unknown and independent, aiming to break free and release her passion for life.  

 

Her idealisms are challenged – she has no idea what to expect and nothing seems to be as she had hoped. Beijing is not as progressive as she is. Its political regime and the constant sexism she endures dismay her – not to mention the maze and haze of street and air pollution, high unemployment and low wages, and her poverty-stricken living condtions. Despite the challenges, she desperately wants to succeed. 

 

She gets a job as a film extra – a face in crowd, a woman walking over a bridge wheeling a bicycle, a bored waitress – she is always a silent body in the background. 

 

Ben, an American doctorate student, becomes her obsessive pursuit for freedom. A young man, Xiaolin, becomes her obsessive and neurotic boyfriend. Neither of them are good for her. Everyone thinks Fenfang is too individualistic, and she thinks everything – the city, the job, the apartment room, the men – are all disappointing. She wonders whether the feeling of sadness is better than emptiness? 

 

She finds her way in another neighbourhood of the city – it stirs her heart, her passions, and her dreams. 

 

The twenty fragments are the twenty chapters that show glimpses of Fenfang’s life in Beijing. With chapter headings, such as “Fenfang’s village won’t be found on any map of China” and “Fenfang sits on the edge of a swimming pool but doesn’t get in” – with accompanying photos on each chapter heading page – this is a delightful read.

 

The chapters are the words of a young, ambitious, slangy, raw, modern Chinese girl living on the fragile edge of potentiality. The writing is sublime. It’s one of the best novels I’ve read in many years. 








 

 

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

 

MARTINA NICOLLS

MartinaNicollsWebsite

 

Martinasblogs

Publications

Facebook

Paris Website

Animal Website

Flower Website

SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES 

 

MARTINA NICOLLS  is an international aid and development consultant, and the author  of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce  (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...
1 comment
Read more