As someone who spent several years living in Shanghai, I approached Land of Big Numbers with some trepidation as China has become so politicized and its citizens conflated with its government to such a great degree that it's rare to come across anything about the country that presents a balanced perspective. However, Te-Ping Chen does a wonderful job of bringing nuance in her collection. Her short stories run the gamut from contemporary fiction to magical realism. Standouts in the collection include "Lulu," "Shanghai Murmur," "Land of Big Numbers," and "Gubeikou Spirit."
A common pitfall of short stories is their brevity; often there are not enough pages to follow a traditional narrative structure with a climax and resolution. A couple of the stories in Land of Big Numbers felt a bit like unfinished vignettes. Whether by design or not, I wish Chen had dedicated a few more pages to fleshing out the stories rather than having them end abruptly and leaving the reader to wonder what happens next.
Overall, I was very impressed by Chen as a debut author. There is a magical quality about her writing that I find wholly unique. I look forward to following her future literary projects.
A common pitfall of short stories is their brevity; often there are not enough pages to follow a traditional narrative structure with a climax and resolution. A couple of the stories in Land of Big Numbers felt a bit like unfinished vignettes. Whether by design or not, I wish Chen had dedicated a few more pages to fleshing out the stories rather than having them end abruptly and leaving the reader to wonder what happens next.
Overall, I was very impressed by Chen as a debut author. There is a magical quality about her writing that I find wholly unique. I look forward to following her future literary projects.