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The Drunkard
Since I last updated this page, I dipped my toes into the works of several authors that seemed worth "strolling through", e.g., Chu Tʻien-wen, Fei Ming, and Wang Zengqi, but none of them really stuck with me. Maybe if I revisit them in a different mindset I'll find more to say about them, but at the time I read their stories my only real reaction was "ok." It was only in January that I found what might be the perfect author for where I am in life right now: Xu Xu. To put my feelings for him in a sentence that won't be particularly useful to anyone, he is delightful. He is so delightful that I don't know how to write about him. I've gotten too emotionally invested in his books, and the ground I'd have to cover far exceeds what a simple "stroll" can contain. We'll have to wait for a later date before we can depart on something more than a stroll through his world.
For now, I'll just say that it was bad timing getting into him in January. It would have been better to have known about him when I was in Hong Kong during New Year's. I could have looked for old editions of his books at used-bookstores there, where I imagine he exists more plentifully than here in Shanghai, despite Shanghai being the subject of so much of his work. He was very well known during the wartime years, but after leaving for Hong Kong in 1949, his works obviously weren't preserved in the mainland the way leftist authors like Mao Dun were. He also hasn't experienced the same sort of revival that someone like Eileen Chang/Zhang Ailing has. So when I've tried tracking down his works, my options have been between a handful of recently published selections of his novellas and essays (which only scratch the surface of what he's written), yellowed editions of his books published in Hong Kong in the 50s or 60s (often not cheap and liable to crumble to pieces at the slightest touch), or the 17-volume Complete Works of Xu Xu, which I wouldn't have space for in my apartment and would be one of the expensive single purchases I've made in the past five years.
Essays:Contact me at saddleblasters [at] gmail [etc]
