Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh

by Howard Goldblatt and Mo Yan

Book Overview

Mo Yan, China's most critically acclaimed author, has changed the face of his country's contemporary literature with such daring and masterly novels as Red Sorghum, The Garlic Ballads, and The... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1611457351
• ISBN13: 9781611457353
• Release Date: November 2012
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant

I'll start with some words I never thought I'd type. This book is worth getting for the preface alone. Come on, admit it. Some of us don't even read prefaces. But this one's brilliant. And the book itself? Eight shorter works of fiction from one of China's finest contemporary authors. Loads of praise on the cover, all true, but I'll just grab the words "satire, fantasy, the supernatural, mystery: all are present in this remarkable, and intensely enjoyable, volume." I'll also add insightful, witty, clever, moving, and playful. I've reviewed his writing before, as well as other translations by Howard Goldblatt. The marriage of talents is perfect here. It's an extremely easy read, and one I'm certain you'll enjoy.

Kenzaburo Oe's choice for a Nobel

The blurb from Kenzaburo Oe on the front of the book says, quite simply, "If I were to choose a Nobel Laureate it would be Mo Yan." I think the esteemed Oe would have a good case to make. This short story collection is very revealing about Mo Yan and his purpose in writing. In his introduction, Mo discusses his direction to become a writer after a life of poverty, where a shipment of coal becomes a feast for the villagers. Several of these stories may seem incomplete at first glance, but Mo's introduction brings light to the fact that he is out to reveal a basic love of humanity in his work as well as a desire for justice. In the title story, certainly and focal point of this collection, Ding Shikou is laid off from work just one month before retirement. Silly, simple man that he is, he believes the kind words of the politicians and supervisors who give him encouraging words and even tries to see them when they've invited him to come see them at any time. But of course, they are liars, and that is what is at the root of Mo's work--the struggle of humans against powers stronger than them. Sometimes the humans take some kind of victory, as Ding Shikou does in becoming an entrepreneur by turning a rundown bus into a retreat for lovers (by the hour), but when they are victorious in any way, a price is paid. Ding suffers loss of pride, but fortunately not his humanity and in the end cannot be as greedy and ruthless as those who put him out in the first place. It is this kind of ideal that drives the other stories in this collection as well. "Man and Beast" and "Iron Child" are tales laced with magic about the struggles of soldiers and children to maintain their humanity in the face of unmerciful Japanese soldiers or abandonment by parents. In "Man and Beast," the narrator's grandfather learns compassion even for his enemies, while in "Iron Child," an abandoned child learns to live as an iron demon. Even is fantastical tales like "Soaring," a woman who can sprout wings is surrounded by cold traditionalists who insist upon her arranged marriage. The humans of Mo's work are beset on all sides and sometimes cannot overcome at all, but the best stories in this collection sing of the human spirit and its endless fight.

His Muses Were Hunger and Loneliness

This is a short story collection that ranges from the prosaic to the poetic. The title story ("Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh") is a delightful tale of an unemployed factory worker who gets incredibly creative and makes out like a bandit until he meets some clients that are out of this world. The Chinese director Zhang Yimou made turned this story into a film called HAPPY DAYS.Other than the opener, my favorite stories are "Abandoned Child," which makes a strong statement about the continuing practice of female infanticide; "Love Story," about an unlikely love affair set in the countryside; the strange fantasty "Iron Child" about a possible outcome of over-industrialization; and the incredibly poetic "Man and Beast," which the author claims is a sequel to his novel RED SORGHUM (although I missed some of the references, I was enthralled).In his preface, Mo Yan (which, by the way, is Chinese for "Don't Speak") says his muses were hunger and loneliness. In fact, the author has a unique rapport with the lives of peasants and workers, as opposed to many more intellectual writers in exile such as Gao Xingjiang. I have already read THE GARLIC BALLADS and plan to read more of this fascinating writer.

Simply marvelous

I'm afraid I have nothing intelligent to say about this book. However, this is not a reflection on the quality of the book, which certainly was not lacking, but rather a reflection of my extreme fatigue. In any case, this book is certainly worth a read or two and perhaps even more.