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A review by andrew61
Braised Pork by An Yu
4.0
I heard about this book on the excellent 'Literary friction' Podcast when the author was interviewed by the hosts, It sounded like an intriguing read and so it proved.
Jia jia is married to Chen Hang and they live in a Beijing apartment in what we later learn is a marriage in which she has had her personality and talents suffocated by her controlling partner. When Jia Jia walks into the bathroom to find her husband dead in the bath her life dramatically changes as she has to reflect on life as a single woman , new relationships , and the legacy of her parents separation and mother's death. This leads her to visit Tibet where her decision to follow a last journey made by her husband sees intricate threads linking back to Jia Jia and her visions of a half man half fish creature.
The book has a magical element to it throughout with a theme of water dominating Jia Jia's waking and sleeping dreams and she struggles to capture her visions in her painting which she rediscovers now Chen Hang can no longer prohibit her craft. The art mirrors sculptures made by her mother of the same image and also a drawing by Chen Hang before he died . This capturing of an elusive image I found very haunting and the magical element did not detract for me from this beautifully but very plainly told tale. I liked many other aspects including JIa Jia's reconciliation with her father who tells her the story of her mother, the love interest with barman Leo and his curious parents, Jia jia's aunt and grandmother and the characters she meets in Tibet including the grandfather of her translator who again brings the story back around to fish men and Jia jia's mother.
Overall this was an intriguing but compulsive story and I cannot wait to see what the author does next.
Jia jia is married to Chen Hang and they live in a Beijing apartment in what we later learn is a marriage in which she has had her personality and talents suffocated by her controlling partner. When Jia Jia walks into the bathroom to find her husband dead in the bath her life dramatically changes as she has to reflect on life as a single woman , new relationships , and the legacy of her parents separation and mother's death. This leads her to visit Tibet where her decision to follow a last journey made by her husband sees intricate threads linking back to Jia Jia and her visions of a half man half fish creature.
The book has a magical element to it throughout with a theme of water dominating Jia Jia's waking and sleeping dreams and she struggles to capture her visions in her painting which she rediscovers now Chen Hang can no longer prohibit her craft. The art mirrors sculptures made by her mother of the same image and also a drawing by Chen Hang before he died . This capturing of an elusive image I found very haunting and the magical element did not detract for me from this beautifully but very plainly told tale. I liked many other aspects including JIa Jia's reconciliation with her father who tells her the story of her mother, the love interest with barman Leo and his curious parents, Jia jia's aunt and grandmother and the characters she meets in Tibet including the grandfather of her translator who again brings the story back around to fish men and Jia jia's mother.
Overall this was an intriguing but compulsive story and I cannot wait to see what the author does next.