Book Launch: Novel: Educated Youth by Ye Xin

RSVP: events@abbeys.com.au

A novel that touches the heart for the children left behind.

During the Cultural Revolution over fourteen million Chinese high school graduates were sent from the cities to live and work in the countryside. They were known as zhiqing – ‘educated youth’. They fell in love, married, had children. In the late 1970s the policy changed and they were allowed to return, but not their families. Many jumped at the opportunity, leaving spouses and children behind. Ten years later the children, now teenagers, began to turn up in the cities, looking for their parents.

Ye Xin's novel Educated Youth follows five such children, who have travelled across China from a province in the south west to Shanghai in the east, only to discover that their mothers and fathers have remarried, and have new families, in which there is no room for them. Their reappearance brings out the worst in the parents – their duplicity, greed and self-interest – and the best too, as they struggle to come to terms with their sense of love and duty.

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ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK —— Written in the nineties and only now available to the English language reader, this classic Chinese novel provides yet another example of grand social engineering undertaken by governments, only to be dismantled in years to come, by which time their policies have left a trail of broken families and abandoned children.

This is a warm and rewarding novel with insights into Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution and how the edicts were received and observed (or not) by those it sought to control. A novel that touches the heart for the children left behind. Craig Kirchner

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‘With a mix of popular storytelling, psychological insight and startling candour about his generation, Ye Xin turns a slice of recent Shanghai life into an entertaining, touching novel. It’s great to have a fine English version of this Chinese modern classic.’ Nicholas Jose

Ye Xin was born in Shanghai in October 1949. He was sent to Guizhou Province as a zhiqing in 1969 and worked on the construction of the Hunan-Guizhou railway. His novels include High Sierra in Miaoling, The Ages of Idling Away, Family Education, Love Has No Choice and Shanghai Diary. He has won many awards including the October Prize and the National Prize for Best Novel. He is vice-chairman of the Writers’ Association of China and the Writers’ Association of Shanghai, and director of the Institute of Literature of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

Dr Jing Han is the translator of Educated Youth by Ye Xin and she received her PhD degree in English literature from University of Sydney in 1995 and her MA in English and American Literatures from Beijing Foreign Studies University in 1986. Dr Han joined SBS TV in 1996 and she is now the head of SBS Subtitling Department. Over the last 19 years, she has subtitled more than 300 Chinese films and TV programs for the Australian audience including the currently showing TV series If You Are The One. Dr Han also lectures at Western Sydney University, teaching translation studies including audiovisual translation, literary translation and accreditation studies.

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Notes from Eve Abbey ~ November 2015

I had trouble starting the latest Pulitzer Prize winner for Fiction...

 – All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr – mainly because it seemed too dense – too many details but I did come to revel in this fine book. The author took ten years to finally finish this so take the time to enjoy it. There are two contrasting stories: one about a blind girl whose father works in the Museum of Natural History in Paris where he is in charge of all the keys, and another about a boy and his sister living in an orphanage attached to the mining community in Essen. Their stories finally meet in the small town of St. Malo which was almost totally destroyed by Allied bombing at the end of the Second World War. Marie-Laure has unwittingly become the keeper of a precious stone hunted by the Nazi treasure seekers, while Werner has become a fabled fixer of radios, uneasily serving his Nazi commanders.

Many people at home enjoy the afternoons on ABC Radio listening to Richard Glover’s cheerful approach to life, as well as his columns in the newspapers. He has written a thoughtful and amusing memoir called Flesh Wounds in which he recalls his life growing up with an uncaring mother who is also deceiving every one about her own identity. Quite remarkable really that he has turned out such a well-adjusted, cheerful and amusing person. Many thanks go to his loved wife, scriptwriter and author Debra Oswald. Dare I say “this is a nice book”?

I did enjoy The Waiting Room by Melbourne writer Leah Kaminsky. This is mostly set in Israel where the main character is both a mother and a doctor. Her uneasiness in living daily with the threat of some sort of attack is multiplied by her anxiety for her small son. Her days are also interrupted by the voice of her dead mother, once a holocaust survivor, and now giving her daughter regular advice. Will she remain in Israel with her loved Sabra husband or will she return to Melbourne?

Famous Irish writer John Banville has a new novel out called The Blue Guitar. His books are always finely written and this time you could call the work a “stream of consciousness”. Oliver, the narrator and main character was once a successful artist but now has returned to the small town which was his childhood home. He confesses to a secret delight in stealing small things but stealing his friend’s wife is not so small! The novel covers just one year, the current year in Oliver’s life, told as he writes on a large jotter in the kitchen.

Are you enjoying the television detective series called Vera? I am. The stories come from some of the novels written by Anne Cleeves. I recently read, and enjoyed, the latest in the Vera series, which is called The Moth Catcher. These stories are all set around Newcastle in County Durham and I was happy to note there was not much blood and gore! A friend tells me that the stories Anne Cleeves has written which are set in the Shetland Isles are especially good so I have ordered the first two in the series – Raven Black and White Nights. They are being reissued just now, no doubt as a result of the success of the Vera TV series. I noticed that The Moth Catcher is dedicated to “Brenda with Thanks” so I assume this to be Brenda Blythen who plays Vera on TV. My friend tells me that it is worth reading the Shetland series in correct order as things happen in the lives of the characters.

Keep well,

Eve

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Author Event ~ Ceridwen Dovey ~ Only The Animals

Ceridwen Dovey will be appearing at Abbey's on Thursday May 29.

Ceridwen's new novel is titled Only the Animals and it contains beautiful and thought-provoking stories that explore the complex relationship mankind has with animals. Dovey has used cleverly used the device of speaking from the perspective of various animals as a means to approach some of the major conflicts of the past century in a fresh way.

The thoughtful and reflective tone of the novel is leavened with humour that comes from combining human understanding and expression with each animal's basic drives and behaviours.

Ceridwen will be appearing at Abbey's at 6pm on Thursday 29 May where she will be in conversation about her book and the ideas behind it. Light refreshments will be served and no animals will be harmed in the making of this event.

CERIDWEN DOVEY ~ ONLY THE ANIMALS

THURSDAY 29 MAY

6PM

131 YORK STREET

(Tucked safely behind the QVB)

FREE EVENT: If you would like to attend the event please RSVP to events@abbeys.com.au

One final note on pronunciation: Ceridwen is pronounced 'Keridwen'.

More about Ceridwen:

SMH interview

POP.EDIT.LIT interview

See you on the 29th!

Buy these books at Abbey's (131 York Street Sydney) ~ An Aladdin's cave for readers

Cairo by Chris Womersley ~ Abbey's Bookseller Pick

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- When Tom escapes the suffocating dullness of the small Victorian town where he has grown up and moves into the 'Cairo' apartment building in Melbourne's bohemian Fitzroy he feels that at last his real life is beginning.

The streets are alive with promise, the cafes and pubs filled with interesting people. Instead of enrolling at the University he feels his education would be better here, amongst the artists, the free thinkers that inhabit the suburb and indeed his own apartment building.

He has soon met Max and his wife, the desirable and lovely Sally. Alcoholic James too, and the desperate heroin users Greta and Edward in their vast warehouse, painters both.

Life is good, an endless round of drinks, parties, a little work washing up in a cafe. But then Tom gets involved, not against his will, in a scheme to steal a famous and controversial painting from the State Art Gallery.

This is a wonderfully compelling story, based, I'm told on a true theft. The atmosphere of Fitzroy is captured with great skill and the characters and their foibles are real. A book to read in a couple of intense sittings.

~ Peter Smith (Author of the bestselling children's book, Monsieur Albert Rides to Glory)


You can listen online to Chris Womersley discuss his novel with Daniel Browning here on ABC Books and Arts Daily.

Cairo
Chris Womersley

Buy this book at Abbey's (131 York Street Sydney) ~ An Aladdin's cave for readers

Tim Winton ~ EYRIE ~ Abbey's Bookseller Reviews

LINDY JONES...
I have been reading Tim Winton since he won the Vogel back in 1981, and I am a great admirer of his writing. In his new book, his powers of description are very apparent - the only other person who comes close to his descriptions of the western coasts for me is the poet John Kinsella. I dare say anyone familiar with Fremantle will see the area faithfully depicted in all its hybrid vigour.

The main character, Tom Keely, is holed up in a faded apartment block with million dollar views; he has no plans for the future, a pretty disturbing present, and a past which is only sketchily understood by the reader. When a new resident turns out to be a girl from his old neighbourhood, with custody over her detached and fey grandson, Keely finds himself reluctantly connecting with them.

I took a while to get into the story, and I came away unsatisfied with the narrative. Winton spins a believable world populated with people on the edge, but unlike every other vaguely annoying book of his where the story just ends without resolution, I found myself annoyed that I had followed the characters through to yet another non-conclusion, and not understood what had happened. I also wondered if Winton's involvement in conservation causes had shaken him so much that he had to unload some of the negativity into this novel? This is not to say it isn't full of fine writing, but as a librarian friend of mine says, "Winton can sure write, but he can't end a story for peanuts!". This time, I have to agree with her!

GREG WALDRON...

Tom Keely is a broken man. Failed marriage and career, he is searching for redemption. When a woman from his past resurfaces with her enigmatic grandson, Keely finds both his past and present colliding with explosive consequences. Winton’s new book has divided opinion in the shop, but from my perspective I found this an incredibly disturbing and powerful read. The author demands the reader's participation, hence there are definitely loose ends in the story. For me this adds to the book's power and I found myself unable to put it down. Highly recommended.

EVE ABBEY...

Written in a very staccato way - quite disturbing. Well done, but not for me.

MEG SHOOTER...

Tim Winton has been one my favourite authors for many years.  I love his ability to intricately capture humanity on all levels, and images and environments that conjure such rich memories and familiarities that you just KNOW even if it is simply off his prose and not experience. Winton has certainly used that skill in every way in Eyrie. You can nearly feel the heat oozing out of the page, you can nearly taste the acrid wine and you can darn well empathise with every single character you meet.

Tom Keely has been unemployed for a while, his money is running out and his once important and beloved career will never be brought back to life. With troubles and headaches lunging at him from every corner, all he needs is for a forgotten piece of his past to come crashing through his door. And of course it does, in a most unlikely and seemingly rewarding way. I simply tore through this book, I drank in every page and the prose restored my lately failing faith in fiction. 

Eyrie is one of my books of the year and I highly recommend it for Winton fans, for lovers of literature and if you haven't yet had the pleasure of being introduced to Winton's eloquent and exact language - start with this one. Please! It is truly a morsel that you will devour and savour all at once.

EYRIE
TIM WINTON

Buy this book at Abbey's (131 York Street Sydney) ~ An Aladdin's cave for readers

The Feast of Artemis by Anne Zouroudi ~ Abbey's Bookseller Pick

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- I love this series! The Mysteries of the Greek Detective are a sparkling and entertaining lot of stories, all set in a modern-day Greece (but not contemporary – references to drachmas not euros, for instance). You don’t need to read them in any order, as they are self-contained with no reference to previous books.

Hermes Diaktoros works for the Higher Authorities rather than police, and is more interested in justice than law. This book is set in a small town at the time of its saint’s day celebrations, and Hermes, on his way elsewhere, finds himself detouring. He also discovers his half-brother Dino, an ageing hippy in appearance with a fondness for wine, women and story-telling (not to mention an inability to settle his debts!).

The two main families of the town are at loggerheads – one keeps traditional methods, the other is trying to embrace technology. When the young grandson of one family is burnt in a prank gone wrong and the patriarch of the other dies before his time, Hermes finds his special powers of observation and assistance are needed. Lots of descriptions of Greek food decorate the pages as an added incentive to read! Great fun!

~ Lindy Jones (ABA Text Publishing Bookseller of the Year 2011)


The Feast of Artemis
Anne Zouroudi

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The Swan Book by Alexis Wright ~ Abbey's Bookseller Pick

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- How to describe this amazing, complicated and intellectually demanding novel? It is full of inventive wordplay, chorus-like mutterings from the wings of the main theatre, splintered and fragmentary narratives.

It is angry, and playful, and colourful. It is about discrimination – against and within refugees, indigenes, country-dwellers. The main character, Oblivia, does not speak, but the ghosts of (some of) her past do. The woman who saves her from the abuses of her childhood is a great storyteller, full of tales of swans from a different hemisphere.

Climate change has intensified the problems of society, but the land remains essential to a sense of identity. Politics is as useless to the ordinary person as it ever was, but hero-worship remains important to national pride. Cultural misappropriation is rife, but it isn't always the fault of the non-indigenous.

All these elements make for a coruscating story, a 'modernist' novel that takes some effort to get into, but which is well and truly worth the time.

~ Lindy Jones (ABA Text Publishing Bookseller of the Year 2011)


The Swan Book
Alexis Wright

Buy this book at Abbey's (131 York Street Sydney) ~ An Aladdin's cave for readers