A review by antigonus
An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King
4.0
Regardless of an individual’s sex, any attempt to lead a normal life in a gender imbalanced society throws up numerous difficulties. If you add state oppression and social engineering into the mix, you get Maggie Shen King’s AN EXCESS MALE.
In an extrapolation of China’s current marriage problems, polyandry is not only the law of the land, but the State even encourages a woman to get hitched to three husbands, as a sign of their patriotism. While the element of state oppression is not as stifling as Orwell’s ‘1984’, the 4 main characters really shine through due to their distinctive personalities, hopes, fears, secrets and regrets.
Wei-guo is close to reaching the age of 50 and desperate to realize his dreams of a wife and a family. With the help of his two dads, he has finally up enough money as dowry. After a long wait, May-Ling and her two husbands, Hann & XX, pick him out as a potential match out of thousands of photos. While sticking to the nationalistic tune on the surface, every member of May-Ling’s family has their own, dark, reason to pursue a third marriage.
A particular highlight of this book is the way the author sets up scenes. While the adults are almost always involved in a heated discussion, the argument usually flows around BeiBei, May-Ling’s tantrum-prone two-year old boy. As you can imagine, the traditional concept of marriage is broadened in this instance. Wei-guo has to court May-Ling and her husbands in an equally successful fashion.
This is a very carefully sculpted scenario of the future where lonely, unmarried men are dispensable and treated as a nuisance. And women, despite the high-esteem in which they are hold, end up having little or no control over their own fate.
In an extrapolation of China’s current marriage problems, polyandry is not only the law of the land, but the State even encourages a woman to get hitched to three husbands, as a sign of their patriotism. While the element of state oppression is not as stifling as Orwell’s ‘1984’, the 4 main characters really shine through due to their distinctive personalities, hopes, fears, secrets and regrets.
Wei-guo is close to reaching the age of 50 and desperate to realize his dreams of a wife and a family. With the help of his two dads, he has finally up enough money as dowry. After a long wait, May-Ling and her two husbands, Hann & XX, pick him out as a potential match out of thousands of photos. While sticking to the nationalistic tune on the surface, every member of May-Ling’s family has their own, dark, reason to pursue a third marriage.
A particular highlight of this book is the way the author sets up scenes. While the adults are almost always involved in a heated discussion, the argument usually flows around BeiBei, May-Ling’s tantrum-prone two-year old boy. As you can imagine, the traditional concept of marriage is broadened in this instance. Wei-guo has to court May-Ling and her husbands in an equally successful fashion.
This is a very carefully sculpted scenario of the future where lonely, unmarried men are dispensable and treated as a nuisance. And women, despite the high-esteem in which they are hold, end up having little or no control over their own fate.