China Dream

Starred review from April 29, 2019
Exiled Chinese writer Ma’s satirical novel (after The Dark Road) is a bold, searing indictment of present-day China and a lyrical exposé of the false utopia created by the Communist Party and its current leader-for-life, Xi Jinping. Written “out of rage” according to Ma’s foreword, the fable subverts the propaganda of Xi’s Chinese Dream and chronicles the descent into madness of the louche, corrupt government functionary Ma Daode. Having played his part in the nasty factional violence of the Cultural Revolution, Ma has risen to become director of the China Dream Bureau, charged with replacing all private dreams with the collective, great China Dream. But he is increasingly unable to control his own dreams: dreams of fallen comrades, a martyred girlfriend, and the pitiful demise of his parents after he himself denounced them. After a disastrous appearance at an antigovernment demonstration during which his neighbors throw chicken bones and condoms to protest the razing of their neighborhood, and having made a fool of himself in a speech at a Golden Anniversary Dream ceremony in which his dreams overcome him, Ma is suspended from his position. He goes on a desperate search for a cure, extracting the recipe for the miraculous Old Lady Dream’s Broth, a hare-brained concoction of blood and tears he hopes will eradicate not only his, but all undesirable dreams. The book will surely be banned in China, as has Ma’s other works. This is an inventive yet powerful confrontation of China’s past and present.

David Shih delivers the quiet, contemplative voice at the center of this dystopian novel set in modern China. He creates the satirical figure of Ma Daode, a party official who is corrupt and plagued by his subconscious. Shih strikes the right chord of understated irony as listeners are led into an increasingly absurdist breakdown of reality. Ma Daode is supposed to create a computer program that will wipe the memories of people with unsuitable thoughts; we laugh along at his increasing inability to continue his mission. Shih's voice is rich, varied, and light. He captures a nonlinear plot that races towards oblivion for the main character. M.R. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine