Mark Antoine Leenhouts Ordine dei libri (cronologico)

Una grande comunità matriarcale in cui si muovono, con l'eleganza di miniature, fanciulle fortunate o sfortunate, serve o padrone, mogli o concubine. Un'atmosfera rarefatta in cui, allegre o dolenti, fluttuano figure eteree, tra spettacoli e indovinelli, visite all'imperatore ed elaborati culti religiosi. Attraverso l'aura fiabesca il lettore occidentale però scopre attonito la realtà di una società complessa, imbrigliata dalla burocrazia, sottoposta a un rigido codice d'onore e vincolata a convenienze e usi immutabili, destinati a far soffrire. Fra i tanti personaggi a metà tra figurine e individui, compare Paoyü, il protagonista, il "diverso", che tira a sé le fila della narrazione e regge, come il principe Myskin nell'Idiota di Dostoevskij, gli equilibri precari dell'esistenza che, suo malgrado, si trova a vivere.

Twintig jaar geleden speelde operazangeres Xiao Yanqiu de hoofdrol in de opera 'Vlucht naar de maan'. De rol is haar op het lijf geschreven. Yanqiu bezit dezelfde kille schoonheid als de godin Chang'e uit de eeuwenoude legende. Maar Yanqiu is een glanzende carrière misgelopen en wijdt tegenwoordig haar leven aan lesgeven, terwijl in haar hart nog steeds de passie voor de opera brandt. Als ze de kans krijgt om opnieuw de rol van maangodin te spelen, gaat Yanqiu tot het uiterste om haar droom te verwezenlijken. Maar tot welke prijs? Op grandioze wijze beschrijft Bi Feiyu jaloezie, afgunst en identiteitsverlies, zoals die door de falende acteurs gevoeld worden. Acteurs die eigenlijk pas tot leven komen als ze op het toneel bewonderd worden.

From the daring imagination of one of China’s greatest living novelists comes a work of startling power and originality–the story of a young man “displaced” to a small village in rural China during the 1960s. Told in the format of a dictionary, with a series of vignettes disguised as entries, A Dictionary of Maqiao is a novel of bold invention–and a fascinating, comic, deeply moving journey through the dark heart of the Cultural Revolution.Entries trace the wisdom and absurdities of Maqiao: the petty squabbles, family grudges, poverty, infidelities, fantasies, lunatics, bullies, superstitions, and especially the odd logic in their use of language–where the word for “beginning” is the same as the word for “end”; “little big brother” means older sister; to be “scientific” means to be lazy; and “streetsickness” is a disease afflicting villagers visiting urban areas. Filled with colorful characters–from a weeping ox to a man so poisonous that snakes die when they bite him–A Dictionary of Maqiao is both an important work of Chinese literature and a probing inquiry into the extraordinary power of language.