Hand Scroll

Name: Hand Scroll
ISBN: 9787549556656

西西Guangxi Normal University Press · ChinaDec 2021

4.3

Word count: 77K words
Chapters: 30
ISBN: 9787549556656

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Summary

This volume collects eleven short stories by Xi Xi, winner of the Fiction Recommendation Prize at the 11th Taiwan Times Literary Awards. Its protagonists include football referees and smuggled refugees; its stories unfold in a floating city or the nonexistent town of Feitu, where someone dreams of floating in midair and another finds himself in an internment camp. In her preface, the author writes that in the rushing torrent of life, each person has a different ferry. If you too hear the birdsong in the distance, perhaps it is time to open this book and explore the far shore.

Editor's review

Xi Xi's short story collection Handscroll contains eleven pieces and won the China Times Literary Award for fiction recommendation. Her method does not rely on dramatic drive; instead, among seemingly scattered figures and places—a football referee, smuggled refugees, a floating city, Fertile Soil Town—she builds a connection that is neither close nor distant. Someone dreams of floating in midair, someone finds himself in a detention camp; these situations have an allegorical air but are in no hurry to explain themselves. In the preface, Xi Xi says that in the torrent of life, everyone has a different ferry—a line that can serve almost as a reading hint for the whole book: it offers no standard answers but invites readers to ferry themselves between banks. The prose is restrained and the imagination light, suited to readers who like to savor language and structure in short fiction. While reading, do not insist on the "meaning" of each piece; some are more like a handscroll that needs to be slowly unrolled and looked at again and again.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy literary short stories and experimental narrative
Those interested in Xi Xi's work and contemporary Chinese-language fiction
Readers willing to experience allegory and ellipsis in the text
Readers who like to read short stories slowly and reread them

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking complete plots and clear endings
Those hoping for realistic full-length stories
Readers with limited patience for fragmented, allegorical writing

Reading tips

Read the preface first to grasp the image of the "ferry," then enter the pieces.
Pause after each piece and recall the space and situation the characters are in.
There is no need to read in order; start with titles or opening lines that interest you.
When something is unclear, read on; return to it after finishing the whole book.

About the publisher

Guangxi Normal University Press China · Founded in 1986

Guangxi Normal University Press is a publisher known for literature, foreign literature and history titles. Its 1,175 books in the database show a solid accumulation in classics and prose collections, including foreign literary works such as Les Fleurs du mal: Annotated Poems of Baudelaire, Snow Country, Dubliners and The Wild Palms, as well as modern prose compilations like The Complete Prose of Zhou Zuoren. History and philosophy also hold a notable share, with titles such as Running Dogs: Clerks and Runners in Qing County Yamen and The History and Thought of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom reflecting attention to Qing local administration and modern history. In art literature there is the 16-volume Ten Bamboo Studio Painting and Calligraphy Manual. Its author resources include foreign writers Charles Baudelaire and Yasunari Kawabata, translators and annotators Liu Nanqi and Zou Bo, and scholars such as Zhong Shuhe, Bradly W. Reed and You Chenjun. As public information is limited, this characterization is based only on the books in the database, which together present a profile balancing Chinese and foreign literary classics with academic works in the humanities and social sciences.

版权信息
【代序】
浮城志异
1 浮城
2 奇迹
3 骤雨
4 苹果
5 眼睛
6 课题
7 花神
8 时间
9 明镜
10 翅膀
11 鸟草
12 慧童
13 窗子
猬的二三事
1
2
3
4
奖品
这是毕罗索
名字阿扎尼亚
玛丽个案
肥土镇灰阑记
虎地
手卷
贵子弟
雪发

FAQ

Are the stories in Handscroll connected by a continuous plot?

There is no unified continuous plot. The eleven stories are independent but share recurring images and spaces, such as the floating city, Fertile Soil Town, and the detention camp. They are more like variations on a theme; readers can look for echoes between pieces rather than follow a main line.

I haven't read other works by Xi Xi. Can I read this directly?

Yes. This is a short story collection and does not depend on previous works. Xi Xi's writing, however, leans toward allegory and ellipsis; if you seldom read this style, start with shorter pieces with clearer situations and give yourself time to adjust to the rhythm of the language.

Is this book suitable for reading in one sitting?

Not really. The stories are similar in temperament but different in situation, and reading them consecutively can blur them together. It is better to read one or two at a time and leave room for them to linger, especially as a book to keep at hand and return to after a few days.

Comments

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About the author

西西 Author

Xi Xi is an author included in this Chinese book database, but public information about her is currently limited: her nationality, dates of birth and death, and English name are not clearly recorded, and six of her works are held in the database. These works show that Xi Xi's writing spans several genres. Handscroll and Xi Xi's Poetry Collection reflect explorations in modern poetry; The Bearded Man Has a Face and A Reader Like Me lean toward essays and reading notes; A Kind of Companionship Called Games touches on life and games; and The Complete Book of World Cars (Children's Pinyin Edition) is aimed at young readers. Her works are often classified under classics, modern poetry, and divination, suggesting a diverse range of subjects and styles. Because biographical details are unavailable, this profile can only sketch the outline of her writing based on the works in the database, and further background remains to be supplemented.