Asymmetry
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Summary
The first part, titled "Folly," tells in the third person the "love" story of Alice, an American assistant editor in her early twenties, and Ezra Blazer, a celebrated writer forty-five years her senior.
The second part, titled "Madness," recounts in the first person the life of Amar, an Iraqi-American economist. Flying to London to change planes for Kurdistan in search of his missing brother, he is unexpectedly detained by immigration officials and spends the last weekend of 2008 in a holding room at Heathrow Airport.
The third part is an interview with Blazer, through which we come to grasp the novel's central secret, and the relationships between the characters take on meaning more unexpected than ever before—an uncharted journey down the rabbit hole. Having turned the last page, readers cannot help returning to the beginning to savor, again and again, how Halliday overturns the entire story.
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers of fiction who enjoy intricate structure and restrained narration
- Readers interested in gender, race, and power relations
- Students and teachers taking courses in contemporary English literature
- Close readers who habitually return to the opening after finishing a book
Not a good fit for
- Readers expecting a strong plot and fast pace
- Readers unwilling to have their narrative perspective repeatedly overturned
Reading tips
- After reading all three parts in order, return at once to part one and watch for perspective clues previously overlooked
- Jot down the recurring types of "asymmetry" across the three parts and see how they echo one another
- If time is limited, read the interview in part three first, then reread parts one and two with questions in mind
About the publisher
Founded in 1996, Henan Literature and Art Publishing House mainly publishes books on literature and art, social sciences and broadly cultural subjects, and also edits and publishes the journal Celebrity Biography, gradually forming a publishing style characterized by full-length historical novels and biographical literature. Judging from the 269 titles in the database, its publishing scope also covers mystery and detective fiction, foreign literature, classic works and world classics. Representative books include Ellery Queen's four tragedies, Slaughterhouse-Five, Blindness, The Siege of Lisbon, The History of the Siege of Lisbon, the ten-volume Collected Works of Wang Zengqi, Old Tales Retold and the two-volume Classic Short Stories of Stanisław Lem, the God of Science Fiction. In terms of authors, it includes foreign masters such as Kurt Vonnegut, José Saramago and Ellery Queen, as well as translators such as Yang Xi, Yu Jianhua and Fan Weixin.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 第一部分 愚蠢
- 第一部分 愚蠢
- 第二部分 疯狂
- 第三部分 埃兹拉·布莱泽的《荒岛唱片》访谈
FAQ
What exactly is the relationship among the three parts?
Is the book demanding to read?
Why is part three in interview form?
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About the author
Lisa Halliday is an American novelist whose representative work is the novel Asymmetry. Published in 2018, the book is often classified under foreign literature. As far as publicly available information goes, details of her life are quite limited; no clear records are available regarding her education, writing career, or awards. What can be confirmed is that Asymmetry is her only work in the collection and serves as the main entry point for understanding her writing. Through this novel, readers can encounter her attention to contemporary life and human relationships, as well as a restrained and nuanced narrative approach. Overall, Halliday's body of work is small and public information is limited, yet Asymmetry has brought her attention in contemporary English-language fiction and offers Chinese readers a starting point for getting to know this American novelist.
Chen Xiaofei is an author about whom limited public information is available. What is known is that her works are classified under foreign literature, with three titles held in the collection. Her representative works include the "MaddAddam Trilogy (three-volume set)," "The Year of the Flood," and "Asymmetry." Judging from these titles and the existing classification, her writing tends toward long-form narrative and carries a distinct literary imagination, while the trilogy format suggests an ability to handle multi-volume structures. Because details such as dates of birth and death, nationality, and English name are not clearly recorded, her personal history and creative background cannot yet be introduced. Readers wishing to understand her writing may begin with these three works and observe the features of her narrative pacing and choice of subject matter.
