Angling

Name: Angling
ISBN: 9789888663460

申吟China International Culture Press Limited · Hong Kong SAR, ChinaDec 2021

3.0

Word count: 124K words
Chapters: 20
ISBN: 9789888663460

Report an error Find this book

Summary

A man past fifty, carrying a turbulent story and a messy stack of manuscripts, rents an old house slated for demolition and buys a secondhand computer. He wants to organize his drafts and put his story online. But he knows nothing about computers—still less about the internet. So he hires someone: a woman, no longer young but still alluring, who keeps swaying her seductive body in front of him. In the end, he cannot resist the temptation, gets thoroughly played by her, and she neatly slips away, escaping unscathed and scot-free. No one knows who anyone really is. The woman mockingly calls the man “Old Ox.” She calls herself “Little Fish.”

Editor's review

Centering on a man past fifty with a stack of old manuscripts, *Angling* tells of how he rents an old house slated for demolition and buys a secondhand computer, hoping to turn his messy drafts into a finished text and put it online, only to find he must hire help because he understands neither computers nor the internet. The story’s core tension comes from his dealings with the no-longer-young but still alluring female employee: she keeps testing him with her seductive manner, and he ultimately fails to keep his composure, is thoroughly schemed against, and she neatly slips away, leaving behind only the pair of mocking names “Old Ox” and “Little Fish.” The work’s readability lies in its blunt examination of a middle-aged man’s desire and embarrassment; the language carries a streetwise, teasing tone, and the nickname-like forms of address add a layer of folk-wisdom irony to the narrative. It offers no moral sermon but lays out an inglorious encounter for the reader to see, from which one may read a warning about credulity, vanity, and self-preservation. A caveat: the book’s depiction of women carries an obvious male gaze and objectifying color, and its narrative stance is one-sided; readers should approach it with a critical eye and not take it as an objective portrayal of relations between the sexes.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers of novellas and short stories who like street-level subjects and care about the situation of middle-aged people
Readers interested in realistic stories with an ironic, teasing tone
Readers who want to observe human weaknesses and the cost of credulity through literature

Not a good fit for

Readers sensitive to objectifying depictions of women and demanding a balanced gender perspective
Readers who prefer positive, inspirational, or warm and healing stories
Readers of genre fiction expecting a complete detective or suspense-reversal structure

Reading tips

Treat the mutual nicknames “Old Ox” and “Little Fish” as the key to understanding the characters’ relationship, and notice who is defining whom.
When reading the depiction of the female character, pause to distinguish the narrator’s perspective from the character’s prejudice.
Read it alongside other works about the predicaments of middle age and compare how different authors handle them.
After finishing, go back to the section where the man “cannot resist the temptation” and think about which voices the story leaves out.

About the publisher

China International Culture Press Limited Hong Kong, China · Founded in 2000

China International Culture Press Limited, headquartered in Hong Kong, is a comprehensive publisher serving Chinese-reading communities worldwide. Its publishing covers classics, art, literary appreciation, modern poetry, documentary literature and cultural studies. Representative titles include Gleaning Delights in the Sea of Art, Notes on Reading Zhuangzi, Studies in Rubbings and Appreciation of Fine Rubbings, Research on Mahler's Symphonies: Genre, Symbol and Intertextuality, An Appreciation of Mao Zedong's Couplet Collection, A Cool Stroll through a Mountain Village, A Cultural History of the Imperial Examination in the Late Imperial Period, and Moving Beyond Intergenerational Trauma from the Family of Origin, with authors such as Xu Jiaqiang, Lin Zhengong, Sun Honglin, Wu Ning, Liu Chunyong, Niu Qiushi and Jin Shang. The books in its catalogue show a balance between art appreciation and cultural scholarship, serving both general readers and specialized research. As public information is limited, other publishing features are not detailed here.

版权信息
故事简介
前言：建起一座文字花园，为收藏记忆时光
序
上篇垂钓
一橼木求鱼
二都是钱惹的祸
三欲擒故纵
四你是谁
五跨过那道坎
下篇香车系在谁家树
六隔着口袋买猫
七红与黑
八不幸人自有不幸
九老牛与小鱼
十天使与魔鬼
十一弓藏鸟尽
十二上溪泼大雨，下溪发大水
十三丰硕的苹果
后语：失败者的痴语

FAQ

What does the title “Angling” mean in the story?

Judging from the characters’ nicknames, “Little Fish” is what the woman calls herself, while “Old Ox” is her mocking name for the man. The image of angling roughly points to a round of maneuvering with temptation as bait: who is fishing for whom, and who ultimately gets away, forms the ironic core of the story. Readers may understand it as a metaphorical summary of this encounter rather than a literal fishing plot.

How does the story end?

According to the synopsis, the man ultimately fails to resist temptation and is thoroughly schemed against by the woman, while she neatly slips away and escapes unscathed; no one knows who anyone really is. In other words, the maneuvering ends with the man losing out and the woman getting away. No follow-up of pursuit or reconciliation is given, leaving a sense of absurdity that simply fizzles out.

Does the book’s depiction of women carry prejudice?

It indeed carries an obvious male gaze: the portrayal of the female employee focuses on external features such as being “alluring” and “swaying her body,” and casts her as the schemer. This is a limitation of the narrative stance. Readers should regard it as the world seen through the character’s eyes rather than as the author’s or the work’s objective judgment of women, and maintain a critical eye while reading.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

申吟 Author

Shen Yin is an author for whom public information is currently limited. Only one work by this author, Angling, is included in the collection. According to the existing classification, the work falls under modern romance, suggesting that Shen Yin's writing is connected to contemporary urban emotional themes and may revolve around relationships, emotional entanglements, and everyday life. Because basic details such as nationality, dates of birth and death, and English name are not clearly recorded, the author's personal background and creative context cannot yet be described in detail, nor is it possible to determine Angling's place in the author's writing career. The available material offers only clues about subject matter and genre, and is not enough to summarize Shen Yin's full writing style or literary influence. Readers who wish to learn more about Shen Yin should still rely mainly on the text of Angling itself, discerning the author's creative orientation through characterization, plotting, and language.