Decoded, by Mai Jia

http://www.penguinrights.co.uk/Penguin/286306

Never before translated into English, DECODED tells the tragic story of a math genius who becomes China's greatest code-breaker, only to be driven mad by the unfathomable darkness in the world of cryptology. With the pacing and plot twists of a crime thriller, it combines elements of magical realism with historical fiction and state espionage. The fact that it takes place in a fully characterised shadowy world of the Chinese secret security, where Mai Jia worked for decades, makes it all the more unfamiliar, intriguing and authentic. The protagonist, Rong Jinzhen, is a classic Mai Jia character, possessing exceptional intelligence, yet also deeply flawed and fragile as a person. DECODED was published in 2002 and became an immediate success. There are over 300,000 copies in print and it has won several awards.

Penguin has acquired the rights to publish Decoded in 2013.

Comments

# 1.   

Glad to see this picked up. In my opinion, this is Mai Jia's best novel. The "crime thriller" description oversells it a bit (as publisher blurbs tend to do), because while there's certainly a mystery to be unraveled, the novel's strength lies in its deliberate, relentless investigation of the life of a cipher of a man, as opposed to a thriller's plot twists. (I have no impression of any magical realism whatsoever, though there is perhaps a bit of alt-history in there.) It's told as a personal history, with an intricately structured narrative pieced together from interviews with the subject's colleagues and family, over which the narrator muses on the meaning of genius until the story eventually folds in on itself. Fantastic.

jdmartinsen, August 23, 2012, 3:35a.m.

# 2.   

Has anyone been asked to translate it or the other MJ?

Nicky Harman, August 23, 2012, 10:08a.m.

# 3.   

We could probably ask Gray Tan…

Eric Abrahamsen, August 23, 2012, 5:37p.m.

# 4.   

Grayhawk's Tan has revealed that it will be translated by a duo: Olivia Milburn and Christopher Payne, two professors of Chinese now teaching in Seoul.

Bruce, August 25, 2012, 7:37a.m.

# 5.   

Thanks for doing that! I'll see if I can't get them in the translators directory…

Eric Abrahamsen, August 25, 2012, 8:13a.m.

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