Turkey's Daily Sabah Reviews Uighur Tale, "Confessions of a Jade Lord"

https://www.dailysabah.com/books/2019/01/05/a-gem-of-uighur-literature-alat-asems-confessions-of-a-jade-lord

cover image

Alat Asem begins his narrative with the backstory to the name of the protagonist, an anti-hero ripe for moral transformation named Eysa ASAP who exemplifies the hardened, survivor's will of a Uighur man out to better himself, but who in the process only hurts those closest to him.

"ASAP" originates from his ability to attract women with stunning immediacy. It is his weakness for compulsive action that sends him spiraling into the pulpy yarn of "Confessions," rich with the special qualities of Uighur literary wit arguably best interpreted in four sequences, as subtle plays on the pseudo-religious themes: death, resurrection, repentance, redemption.

Comments

# 1.   

For a short English excerpt from the novel, visit:

Rechristening a High-rise

http://bruce-humes.com/archives/11723

Bruce Humes, January 5, 2019, 10:24a.m.

# 2.   

Another review of Confessions has gone online here. Reviewer Cuilin Sang has clearly read both the English and Chinese versions of this novel set in Xinjiang.

She writes:

It’s refreshing and invigorating to see that Chinese language, and, for that matter, English language, have the capacity to collaborate with a literary expression that bears such remarkable and distinctive marks of Uyghur culture. The current English title of the book brings into relief its predominant feature: it is a folkloric, spiritual adventure, a bildungsroman of a middle-aged, religious man in the business of jade trade.

Bruce Humes, January 12, 2019, 11:49a.m.

# 3.   

For a brief synopsis of Confessions of a Jade Lord, visit:

http://bruce-humes.com/archives/12924

Bruce Humes, January 14, 2019, 11:51a.m.

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