Sunday, June 3, 2012

Book 8: The Fat Years by Chan Koonchung


It has been a while since I finished this book, so I apologize if the review is more vague than normal.  I saw this book on a must read list along with The Flame Alphabet and thankfully I enjoyed this one more.  This novel has been banned in China and it’s really not hard to guess why—the corruption detailed in this novel might hit too close to home.

The book is set in 2013 in Beijing when China has reached a golden age and the rest of the world has sunk into a deep economic depression.  The Chinese people, with a few exceptions, are happy and seem to be suffering from collective amnesia.  An entire month is missing from the official records and most peoples memories.  This month just happens to coincide with the beginning of the world depression and China’s ascendancy.  The few people that do remember the crackdowns that happened in this month and who are disturbed by the complacency of the Chinese public do all they can to find out the truth.

This book was fascinating and disturbing, mostly because I could see this happening.  It obviously had shades of 1984 but wasn’t quite as severe.  I’m not sure what else to say about it.  It was interesting but I don’t think I’ll ever read it again.  I just don’t really want any conspiracy theories in my life right now.

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