Paper Theater
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Literary readers who enjoy formal experimentation and metafiction
- Readers interested in world-literary intertextuality and parody
- Those willing to read slowly, take notes, and join in a puzzle-like reading
- Readers who care about illustration and book design as collectibles
Not a good fit for
- Readers seeking coherent plot and the pleasures of traditional narrative
- Those who want every story to point clearly to reality
- Readers unwilling to spend time tracing the relation between fictitious authors and stories
Reading tips
- Before each story, read the fictitious author's note first; after finishing, look back at it and consider how Pavić uses identity information to disrupt the story's interpretation.
- There is no need to read straight through; pick stories by the national literature that interests you, then go back and fill in the related pieces.
- Keep a sheet of paper to record the links between fictitious authors and stories, which helps you grasp the book's structure.
- The illustrations can be viewed as independent texts; after reading, compare them with the images recalled from the stories.
About the publisher
Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 作家的话
- 玛丽亚·阿纳·洛佩斯（西班牙）
- 景由心造
- 卡塔丽娜·姆尼舍克·莱万多夫斯卡（波兰）
- 期末考
- 罗格·克拉利尼克（瑞士）
- 奥隆城堡
- 陆常（中国）
- 艾滋病
- 维奥莱塔·雷佩卡（立陶宛）
- 上戏院
- 埃德蒙多·波蒂略·克鲁斯（阿根廷）
- 裤腿上的扣子
- 伊什特万·巴奇（匈牙利）
- 巴拉顿湖边的五栋房子
- 欧热尼奥·阿尔瓦雷斯（巴西）
- 科尔特斯的第三个论据
- 扬·利普卡（斯洛伐克）
- 双管手枪
- 爱德华·海于格森德（挪威）
- 穿越峡湾之旅
- 伊西多罗·查克穆尔（墨西哥）
- 雨神查克穆尔之死
- 卡尔洛·凯科宁（芬兰）
- 文身
- 瓦茨拉夫·塞德拉切克（捷克共和国）
- 布拉格极简史
- 圣地亚哥·卡扎雷斯·希尔（西班牙）
- 一天夜里，弗朗西斯科·戈雅……
- 西梅翁·巴基什茨（亚美尼亚）
- 纸剧院
- 因加·乌尔乌（丹麦）
- 全球变暖
- 智海朝（韩国）
- 春香
- 范德凯巴斯（荷兰）
- 消失之椅
- 叶卡捷琳娜·丘特切夫（俄罗斯）
- 画
- 安杰利娜·玛丽·布朗（英国）
- 伊夫琳
- 阿道夫·松迪乌斯（瑞典）
- 四手联弹
- 孔皮尤塔·维蒂（意大利）
- 但丁和薄伽丘
- 伊普西皮尔·达斯卡拉基斯（希腊）
- 海雷丁·巴巴罗萨的第二次生命
- 马克西姆·亚历山德罗维奇·朱加什维利（格鲁吉亚）
- 斯大林在神学校
- 杰里米·德德齐乌斯（加拿大）
- 爱德华·斯蒂普尔伍德，吾爱
- 穆罕默德和阿里·本·伊尔季穆里（土耳其）
- 有可能，他们，就像我们，也曾是恋人
- 米洛拉德·帕维奇（塞尔维亚）
- 一百五十步
- 三宅俊郎（日本）
- 磁带
- 克拉拉·阿斯凯纳齐（以色列）
- 瓶中光阴
- 约恩·奥普列斯库（罗马尼亚）
- 爱的通信
- 让·特雷斯图内尔及其合作伙伴（法国）
- 来自巴黎的鸟类合唱团
- 阿夫拉姆·霍启科·扎洛波夫（乌克兰）
- 黑人文书的故事
- 汉斯·基希格塞尔（德国）
- 穿白衣的男人
- 加内·索蒂罗斯基（北马其顿）
- 黄金圣像画
- 塞巴斯蒂安·布尔戈斯（葡萄牙）
- 银色梳子
- 埃丽卡·贝夫茨（斯洛文尼亚）
- 窗帘
- 吉姆·芬尼莫尔·斯图（美国）
- 蓝色汗水
- 鲍里斯·G（保加利亚）
- 魔鬼
FAQ
Do the 38 stories have a continuous plot?
Can I read this without having read other works by Pavić?
What role do the illustrations play in the book?
Comments
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About the author
Milorad Pavić is a writer known for formal experimentation and narrative puzzles, with works often built around unconventional structures such as dictionaries, tarot cards, and theaters. Seven of his works are included here, among them the male and female versions of Dictionary of the Khazars, a novel assembled in dictionary form from historical records, legends, and dreams and widely regarded as his representative work; Last Love in Constantinople: A Tarot Novel for Divination organizes its story through tarot cards, while Paper Theater and The Inner Side of the Wind, or A Novel About Hero and Leander continue his exploration of textual form. His writing often blurs the boundary between fiction and scholarly investigation, blending fantasy, history, and religious motifs, and holds a distinctive place among readers of foreign literature. Public information is limited, and no reliable details on his dates of birth and death, nationality, or English name are available; this introduction relies only on the works listed here and common genre classifications.
Guan Shuning is an author about whom very limited public information is available. Few details can be confirmed at present, and no clear record has been found regarding nationality, dates of birth and death, or educational background. One work by this author is held in the collection, Paper Theatre, which is classified under foreign literature; this suggests that Guan Shuning's writing or editorial work is connected with the field of foreign literature. The title Paper Theatre itself carries vivid imagery, hinting that the work may explore some interplay between fiction and reality, or between stage and text, but given the limited materials available, a more detailed account of its content, narrative approach, and literary stance cannot yet be provided. Because there is no verifiable public record of the author's life or creative development, this introduction is based only on the work information in the collection and does not offer excessive speculation about writing style or literary influence. Readers who wish to learn more about Guan Shuning should still take Paper Theatre as the main clue and supplement it with any public materials that may emerge in the future.
Chen Ji is an author about whom limited public information is available. Two works are currently known under this name, Paper Theatre and The Gaudy History of Fish Scales, and they are usually classified as foreign literature. Because public sources are limited, basic details such as nationality, dates of birth and death, and English name cannot be confirmed, so any introduction must focus on the works themselves. Judging from the titles, Chen Ji's writing appears to carry a strong imaginative quality and an experimental approach to narrative; the imagery is vivid and combines theatricality with a sense of the fantastic, possibly exploring the boundary between reality and fiction. Overall, a fuller picture of this author's creative profile must await further information, but the works currently visible already show a distinctive literary sensibility and deserve attention from readers interested in foreign literature and experimental narrative.
