One of Jack Livings' interesting techniques (in his stories set in contemporary China)

By Helen Wang, published

"One of Livings’ interesting techniques is switching point of view at multiple junctures within his stories, often just for a sentence or two, so that the reader slips out of a protagonist’s thoughts for an instant and sees him or her from the outside, as others might. The habit is at first disorienting, but, slowly, the disorientation gains a strength. By the end of the collection, it feels like an artistic credo of sorts: a belief in seeing things from all angles." -- Review by Jonathan Lee in The Guardian, 16 July 2015

Jack Livings is getting stunning reviews for The Dog, his debut collection of short stories set in contemporary China. This comment on technique caught my attention, as it reminds me of the "POV?" comments by editors of C>E translations.

Comments

# 1.   

I have not read this book. Feeling mixed about having a non Chinese author who has not been in China for more than a decade portraying contemporary China. Have you all read it and found the stories and views authentic?

Roxanne Feldman, July 31, 2015, 10:48p.m.

# 2.   

I haven't read this collection, but here's an article on this subject that I thought was worth reading.

Eric Abrahamsen, August 1, 2015, 5:16a.m.

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