Finally our National Library stocked the English translation of Shuang Xuetao's 'Rouge Street: Three Novellas'. This is translated by Jeremy Tiang and published in English in April 2022. 《艳粉街 : 三部中篇小说》，双雪涛著，程异译.
But gosh, it took soooo long even for me to get the digital copy to read. I was third in the queue and the readers ahead sure took their time. At least I managed to get my hands on the book before 2022 came to a close. Dohhhhh. (Reviews here, here, here and here.)
I have been meaning to read this writer's books, but never got around to it. So I was thrilled to read his stories in English first before I seek them out in Chinese. The 39-year-old author draws upon his childhood experiences growing up in Northeast China, in Shengyang, Liaoning Province. I read Jing Tsu's (石静远) book review in Chinese for NYT first before I read the book.
中国作家双雪涛的三部中篇小说集《艳粉街》中的人物大多都清楚地知道，每天的忙碌打拼无非就是一场精心的骗局。这就是他们在沈阳郊区的生活。这是一个拥有750万人口的工业中心，有时被称为中国的“锈带”。在1990年代的经济转型中，这里受到了粗暴的对待，那些50年代的苏联式国有企业——煤炭、纺织和钢铁工厂——遭到了改造。对许多工人来说，这种变化本身就是一种骗局，打破了共产主义制度下被称为“铁饭碗”的终身就业。
本书是双雪涛的作品首次译为英文——出自敏锐的译者程异之手——书名取自他熟悉的一个破败社区。他讲述了被中国经济奇迹抛下的一群有趣的人物。他们挣扎着从黯淡的现实中走出来，寻找光明，这种努力有时带有宗教色彩：一个女人寻找办法来报答一个在文化大革命期间救了她父亲一命的陌生人；一个年轻的主人公听从一个疯子的预言，解开了一个谋杀之谜；一名潦倒的工人帮助一个年轻的理想主义者实现梦想。
除此之外，艳粉街并不是一个彬彬有礼或充满希望的地方。它靠的是个人恩怨和世仇，而不是公正的审判。妇女和儿童经常遭到殴打，她们的丈夫和父亲既是暴力的发起者，也是受害者。双雪涛的描写丝毫不留情面，书中不乏理所当然的残酷、神秘与阴谋、意想不到的幽默以及为个人荣誉而做出的微小但有意义的举动，读者踏入这个世界，必定会有很多收获。
Magdalene Thien wrote a lengthy foreword, delving into Shuang Xuetao's use of prose, language, his created characters and the background/years they live in.
Yanfen Street, as Shuang brings it to life, has a clarity that allows his characters to be seen in their full dimensions. The ground shifts beneath them; rising and falling force them into new perspectives. Only when the children in "Bright Hall" sink to the bottom of the lake do they see the foundation of their era — knowledge that, if they are fortunate, they will bring with them back to the surface.
Set in Mao's China, these three novellas are titled 'The Aeronaut', 'Bright Hall', and 'Moses on the Plain'. They plod along slow, like proletariat films set in the 1980s or 1990s streaming on MUBI. The details were very in-depth. Drinking features very heavily in the book, presumably the choice of poison is baijiu.
In 'The Aeronaut', we literally hear about every connection in the family and the state of the relationships from the fathers to the sons. That was set against the backdrop of the Cultural Revolution that killed their fathers' spirit. The children turn out remarkably different, even in these harsh circumstances.
'Bright Hall' isn't such a cheerful place after all. It tells of two abandoned children, let down by adults supposedly responsible for them. It also raised the touchy topic of religion, and Christianity. There's a Pastor Lin. There's mention of a little girl Gooseberry knowing the story of Jonah and the Whale, as well as Abraham and Isaac, and Cain and Abel. Some of the puns get lost in translation, methinks. Say, in 'Bright Hall', there's this part that I'm unable to translate the names into Chinese,
Two little girls, maybe three or four years younger than me, were building a snowman in the field ahead of me. I cleared my throat.
—How do I get to Bright Hall?
The taller girl glanced at me. —What?
—Bright Hall.
—Bride Hall? Aren't you too young to be getting married?
The other girl laughed. I probably looked a bit silly, all sweaty and laden down.
'Moses on the Plain' is narrated by a few characters whose lives mingle and they know each other as neighbors. A serial murder case tied them all together, and they had history stretching back to the Cultural Revolution too. At the end of the day, the story is really about the feud of the parents' generation, and the two characters at the end of the story — police offer Zhuang Shu, and his childhood friend Li Fei.
I'm glad I took my time in reading this book. It's worth lingering over. I enjoyed the stories, and most of all, I really admire Jeremy Tiang's translation. It's nuanced, concise and totally reflected the words of the author, including complementing the original phrasing and pace.
How you interpret the stories, is really a matter for the Chinese diaspora to discuss. Everyone perceives political and social commentary differently. I couldn't empathize with what went on, but I'm glad that fate didn't have me be born in that era and in China, and in that particular province and town. China is so damn big that it matters where you were born, where you spent your childhood and where you spend your adulthood. They're starkly different and you'll be moulded according to what leaves the deepest impression during your formative years.
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