A lightly surreal story of misfortune, menace, and highend stereo equipment in the cutthroat, capitalistic world of modern china. May 01, 2012 the invisibility cloak is a book about the the forces in society that are more terrifying than the mafia. The invisibility cloak by ge fei translated by canaan morse 2016 english 144 pages rating. All in all, the invisibility cloak is an agreeable little story, drifting nicely with its narrator, but along the way also giving a good sense of the rapid changes in modern china, and the human costs. He is best known for his jiangnan trilogy, which includes the novels renmian taohua peach blossom beauty, my dream of the mountain and river, and spring ends in jiangnan, and for which he received the 2015 mao dun literature prize. The invisibility cloak ebook por ge fei 97816870217. One of the groups in the invisibility cloak thats criticized most stridently is the group of intellectuals who like to blow hot air and make revisionist arguments that dont stand up. Despite these audacious claims, the actual footage contains several clues that this invisibility cloak is nothing more than the result of video editing. Sep 27, 2016 the invisibility cloak by ge fei translated by canaan morse nyrb classics, 127 pages. The story of a man offered to build an incredible sound system delves into odd turns and noir. Oct, 2016 join the china institute for an exclusive conversation between ge fei, one of chinas leading voices in contemporary fiction, and zhang xudong, director of nyu china house. Ge feis the invisibility cloak by canaan morse, published september 3, 2012, 5.
This provocative and seriously funny exercise in the social fantastic by the brilliantly original ge fei, one of china. It features cui, a man in his 40s, who builds elite tubeamp stereo systems for rich audiophiles in china. The narrator and protagonist of the invisibility cloakthe first english translation of a novel by acclaimed chinese writer ge feiis not an inherently likable person. The invisibility cloak, ge fei, canaan morse, nyrb classics. The cover copy calls it a comic novel and it the sense of the straight man in a comic duo undergoing relationship trouble, family trouble, and job. Were all familiar with unreliable narrators, those firstperson storytellers whose words we are not sure we can trust. A lightly surreal story of misfortune, menace, and highend stereo equipment in the cutthroat, capitalistic world of mod. Well into his forties, hes divorced and still doting on his ex, childless, and living with his sister her husband wants him out in an apartment at the edge of town with a crack. Canaan morse for his translation proposal the invisibility cloak by ge fei.
His most prominent work is the novel peach blossom beauty. Canaan morse the hero of the invisibility cloak lives in contemporary beijingwhere everyone is doing their best to hustle up the ladder of success while shouldering an evergrowing burden of consumer. The grimy, hardscrabble beijing, inhabited by gangsters and hustlers. First chapter from the invisibility cloak by ge fei. The invisibility cloak by ge fei words without borders. Apr 07, 2009 the story in the end there are several argument. On the translation of his novel the invisibility cloak ge fei, author canaan morse, translator moderated by lydia h. One of chinas most prominent contemporary writers, ge fei, is known for his prizewinning series of novels, the jiangnan trilogy, and novella the invisibility cloakwinner of the prestigious lu xun literary award in 2014. The invisibility cloak by ge feitranslated beautifully from the chinese, albeit with a certain appealing clunkiness, by canaan morseis the first of his novels to be translated into english. The invisibility cloak by ge fei is what a friend called loser literature. The invisibility cloak ebook by ge fei 97816870217. Thats why hes excited to recommend ge feis the invisibility cloak. This slim comic novel, the first by acclaimed chinese author ge fei to be translated into english, follows the travails of a likable loser trying to stay afloatfinancially and emotionallyin contemporary beijing. Ge fei was considered one of the preeminent experimental writers during that period, and he is currently a professor of literature at tsinghua university.
The invisibility cloak was not the books first titleit was something like leftover fragments of emotion in the floating life. Liu, director of the institute for comparative literature and society and wun tsun tam professor in the humanities, columbia university. Ge feis only measure of time is the flock of brown birds which fly across the sky each day. If theres one group of people in china that i despise more than any other, it would be the intellectuals.
The invisibility cloak, by ge fei, gets its hooks into you right away and makes for a quick read. I wanted to add aspects of the horrormovie concept into the title. A reading life ambiguity of the invisibility cloak by ge fei is tantalizing. On the translation of his novel the invisibility cloak. The invisibility cloak is an emotionally complex, profoundly reflective journey of a chinese audiophiles search for love, meaning, purpose and resolution. Dec 06, 2016 it is in these depths that ge fei is secured as a new author to watch. They will discuss ge feis body of work and the publication of the invisibility cloak by nyrb classics. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. He graduated from east china normal university in 1985. Its remarkable how much ge fei packed into these 126 pages. I recall a certain doctor once saying, blood symbolises injury, and by the same logic, these birds symbolise the seasons.
Read the invisibility cloak by ge fei available from rakuten kobo. During the discussion, renowned chinese author ge fei discussed his novel the invisibility cloak with lydia h. The following is from ge feis novel, the invisibility cloak, translated from the chinese by canaan morse. The invisibility cloak by ge fei, canaan morse kirkus.
The hero of the invisibility cloak lives in contemporary beijingwhere everyone is doing their best to hustle up the ladder of success while shouldering an evergrowing burden of consumer goodsand hes a loser. Oct, 2016 the following is from ge feis novel, the invisibility cloak, translated from the chinese by canaan morse. Ge fei does the slightly offkilter very well, making for some nicely understatedly bizarre and fun touches. Photographs and audio are now available from the october 12, 2016 event ge fei in new york. A lightly surreal story of misfortune, menace, and highend stereo equipment in.
Ge feis depiction of beijing life is cynicalfrom the pompous professor who insists cui install only the best sound system but knows nothing about music. Nov 14, 2016 whats the meaning behind the name the invisibility cloak. The author has been called a leading writer of experimental fiction. It follows a middleaged man with nothing good going on. The avantgarde writer ge fei the pen name of liu yong is one of chinas. Ke fei, born 1964, penname for liu yong, is a notable contemporary chinese author whose works were prominent during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Lee the invisibility cloak por ge fei disponible en rakuten kobo. Liu, wun tsun tam professor in the humanities at columbia university, and canaan morse, who recently translated the novel into. The susan sontag prize for translation 2014 this year the prize is awarded to. The invisibility cloak by ge fei translated by canaan morse this wonderful short novel, ge feis first translated to english, has just been published by nyrb as a classics original.
He is best known for his jiangnan trilogy, which includes the novels renmian taohua peach blossom beauty, spring ends in jiangnan, and my dream of the mountain and river, and for which he received the 2015 mao dun literature prize. This is the chinese generation that grew up after communism destroyed societys traditions. The invisibility cloak by ge fei overdrive rakuten. I used it, but it gave me a really unlucky, inauspicious feeling.
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