Ban's Cat
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Summary
Lu is a businessman in the Interstellar Consortium, which arranges for him to conduct commercial activities on the planet Parma. He arrives on this mining planet, far from Earth and famed across the stars for its cheap labor, just as labor resistance and unrest erupt there. He and other key personnel are evacuated by the authorities to a small town on Parma called "Ban."
Ban is named after Lu's late father, Ban. A scholar actively engaged in public life, Ban devoted his life on a desolate, remote planet to helping the colonized races improve their lives, enlighten their minds, and resist humanity's unreasonable demands and oppression. Lu happens to move into the house where Ban once lived; there he encounters the cat Ban left behind, and Parma children who have defied the government's relocation policy and are hiding in Ban.
Through work intelligence, he learns that after the unrest is suppressed, the Interstellar Consortium will take measures to control Parma's population for easier administration from Earth. To save the Parma children he has come to know, he is drawn into a larger social movement. His father was never merely a scholar in his study; all along he used his personal charisma and social influence to lead colonized races in pursuit of independence and liberation.
Earth receives warnings from the oppressed, and at last, before his father's grave, Lu comes to understand the distance and estrangement he once felt.
Editor's review
From a professional editorial perspective, the book's literary value lies in its distinctive narrative structure and symbolic system. "Ban" is not merely a narrator but an observer and questioner; its presence acts as a mirror reflecting the absurdity and warmth of human society. The author, Lu Ban, a young writer of considerable promise, often carries weighty themes with a light touch, and this quality is especially evident in Ban's Cat. He excels at using seemingly simple storylines to draw out deep philosophical reflections on loneliness, companionship, memory, and identity.
The value of reading this book lies in the detached perspective it offers, prompting us to reexamine our relationship with ourselves and the world around us. It offers no cheap consolation or definitive answers; instead, it invites readers into an ambiguous, poetic textual world that requires patience to savor. For readers seeking literary quality, intellectual depth, and narrative innovation, this is a reading experience worth engaging in. Its depictions of city corners, fleeting encounters, and silent understanding are especially resonant for modern minds feeling alienated amid a fast-paced life.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers who enjoy modern literary works with fantasy or allegorical elements
- Urban readers who resonate with and reflect on city life, interpersonal relationships, and loneliness
- Literary enthusiasts who appreciate delicate, restrained language rich in imagery and implication
- Readers seeking deep reading and spiritual exploration beneath the shell of a light story
Not a good fit for
- Readers who pursue strong plot, fast pacing, and clear endings
- Readers not at all interested in animal-perspective narration or stories with surreal elements
Reading tips
- It is recommended to read in a relatively quiet, undisturbed environment to better enter the atmosphere created by the text.
- Try following Ban's perspective, temporarily setting aside human thought patterns, to feel the world as it perceives it.
- Do not rush to seek the story's 'central message'; it is better to savor the details, imagery, and the experience brought by the language itself.
About the publisher
Chongqing Publishing House is a comprehensive publisher known for its titles in the humanities, social sciences, literature and arts, with about 940 books in its catalogue. Its publishing areas cover world history, science fiction, foreign literature, architecture and philosophy. Representative titles include Xiang Da's A History of Communications Between China and the West, Liang Sicheng's Rules of Qing-Style Construction, Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem II: The Dark Forest and III: Death's End, Ann Rand's The Fountainhead (25th Anniversary Edition), and Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive series. Its authors include Xiang Da, Liu Cixin, Liang Sicheng and Ann Rand. The press has developed distinctive strengths in historical source editing, the introduction and creation of science fiction, the translation of foreign literature, and architecture and philosophy titles, balancing scholarly value with general readership. As public information is limited, this profile outlines its publishing directions based only on the books in the catalogue.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 班的镇
- 住在阁楼的幽魂
- 无人起舞
- 纪子的地狱
- 以父之名的救赎
- 恨之刃
- 焚星
- 尾声
FAQ
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About the author
Lu Ban is a Chinese author known for science fiction. Public information about him is limited, and his nationality, dates of birth and death, and English name are not clearly recorded. Judging from the four works held in the collection, he writes around future societies, the ethics of technology, and human emotion. His representative works include Future Syndrome, Ban's Cat, and You Are Unreachable, and he also contributed to the anthology Nebula XI: Seeing Words as Meeting Faces. These titles suggest a sustained interest in themes of "the future" and "the unreachable." His works generally fall within science fiction, often taking an imagined near-future situation as an entry point and setting technological premises alongside the fate of his characters. Because verifiable information is currently scarce, his full body of work awaits further documentation, but on the basis of the known works alone he has left a recognizable voice in Chinese science fiction writing.
