The Fat Years

November 14, 2011
In the near future, China—the premier world superpower—has entered an unprecedented era of prosperity. Successful writer Lao Chen is one of the happy ones, until some old friends start to nag him with a troubling fact: an entire month is missing from history. Between the collapse of the Western financial system and the Chinese ascendance, a month was erased from official memory. With a ragtag band of friends, including the beguiling woman with whom he’s fallen in love, Lao Chen gropes toward the brutal truth underlying this government-imposed collective happiness. As Koonchung writes: “Between a good hell and a fake paradise—which one would you choose?” Part political thriller, part dystopian nightmare, the journey through 20th-century Chinese history bears misleading comparisons to Brave New World, since these characters are little more than mouthpieces for discussions about politics. As a result, this first English translation of Koonchung’s fiction, an underground sensation in China, feels flat, a quality exacerbated by the novel’s uneven pace and lengthy digressions into historical and political minutiae. However, Koonchung (founder of Hong Kong’s City Magazine) reveals the moral and political perils of contemporary Chinese life, and a better translation may allow this novel to flourish.

December 1, 2011

Available to U.S. audiences for the first time, Chan's novel originally debuted in 2009 in his native Hong Kong as Shengshi: Zhongguo 2013 and was released in Great Britain in 2011 under its current title. This controversial sociopolitical work, currently banned in China, takes place in 2013. Protagonist Lao Chen, a Hong Kong-born writer with serious writer's block, lives in China during its Golden Age of Ascendancy, a period marked by economic boom and a time when citizens can happily flock to their local Starbucks for a Lychee Black Dragon Latte. As the novel unfolds, readers meet other characters, like Little Xi, a woman with whom Chen reunites after more than 20 years. As more characters are introduced, a mystery emerges--citizens are unable to recall anything about a 28-day period between the beginning of the world's economic crisis and the current "Golden Age." VERDICT Only seemingly innocuous, this work contains a surprising amount of realistic intrigue while packing a big political punch. Readers savvy about current events, particularly regarding China, will likely be drawn to it and may want to suggest it to their local book group for further discussion.--Shirley N. Quan, Orange Cty. P.L., Santa Ana, CA

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.