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hardback £17.99
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More reviews by Shahbano Bilgrami
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The Boat To Redemption by Su Tong
Rare is the book you wish wouldn't end, even after 400 pages, but one of these is Chinese author SU TONG's latest novel, THE BOAT TO REDEMPTION, a fascinating, often deeply disturbing, account of a young man struggling under the crushing weight of his family's questionable history. To those already acquainted with Chinese literature, Su Tong is a familiar name, first attracting international attention when his novella collection, Raise the Red Lantern, was made into a film, then nominated for an Oscar in 1993. Luckily, for those of us new to Chinese fiction, translator Howard Goldblatt has beautifully rendered the pathos and sensitivity of the original. Both novelist and translator were honored at this year's Man Asian Literary Prize awards ceremony in Hong Kong, where THE BOAT TO REDEMPTION Boat to Redemption won the 2009 Prize.
The story itself is a curious one and hinges on a comical, even ludicrous, premise: the appearance of a fish-shaped birthmark on the backside as proof of pedigree. Secretary Ku Wenxuan has just such a birthmark, establishing him as the son of revolutionary martyr Deng Shaoxiang and an important member of the Party. However, on September 27th, which, ironically, is Deng Shaoxiang's commemoration day, a team of martyr-orphan investigators conclude that Ku Wenxuan is not her son but in fact the product of the unsavory union of a river pirate and a prostitute. The implications of this finding are far-reaching, soul destroying and, ultimately, tragic, particularly for Ku Wenxuan, who is obsessed with his heredity. All of a sudden, life changes. The inhabitants of Milltown gloat as Ku Wenxuan and his wife, Qiao Limin, separate, and their teenage son, Dongliang, joins his father on a river barge.
Thus begins the father and son's virtual banishment from dry land and their association with the boat people, a motley group on the fringe, river-gypsies with their own lingo, code of conduct, and way of life. Discriminated against on land for being crude and unruly, the boat people embrace father and son and demonstrate an instinctive compassion lacking in their supposed "superiors", their folksy logic often more sensible than the bureaucratic jargon of Party hardliners.
Another unfortunate by-product of the martyr-orphan investigation is the revelation that Ku Wenxuan suffers from "lifestyle problems" or, in layman's terms, a predilection for sex outside marriage. Dongliang's introduction to sex takes the form of overhearing his parents' heated exchanges on the topic and reading a diary his mother keeps of her husband's infidelities. Eventually, consumed with guilt, Ku Wenxuan takes a decisive step to end his philandering, but his unsuccessful partial self-castration only adds to his reputation as an object of derision. Later, as Dongliang grows into manhood aboard the Sunnyside Fleet, Ku Wenxuan keeps an obsessive eye on his son's burgeoning sexuality, transferring his self-loathing onto young Dongliang, who comes to see his own urges as a shameful affliction.
This, coupled with loneliness, leads Dongliang to a singular obsession, one that begins when his beloved "sunflower", Huixian, is only a little girl and he a teenager. This beautiful but headstrong character enters the lives of the boat people after she and her mother stow away on Ku Wenxuan's boat. However, shortly after their arrival in Milltown, Huixian's distraught mother disappears. Reluctantly adopted by the boat people, she grows up on the Sunnyside Fleet, her obvious beauty marking her out for greatness. Her potential, however, is eventually curtailed by her sense of self-entitlement and the gutsy arrogance that sets her at odds with her powerful patrons.
If THE BOAT TO REDEMPTIONs about family, identity, and the struggle between generations, it is just as much about the lost potential of a youth squandered by circumstance. Once Ku Wenxuan is stripped of his position and identity, the other children begin calling Dongliang kongpi, which literally means "empty ass", an epithet that haunts Dongliang for the rest of his life, reminding him at all times that he is "nothing, a nobody". Any attempts on his part at self-betterment are thwarted time and again by this reminder from the people of Milltown till, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, he becomes the good-for-nothing that everyone keeps telling him he is. Similarly, despite a host of opportunities, Huixian eventually ends up in a barbershop cutting people's hair.
In fact, if anything, THE BOAT TO REDEMPTION's unflinching portrayal of the toughness of daily life, of the realities of social ostracism, prejudice, the unfairness of a system that can arbitrarily take away one's identity, even genealogy, are its greatest strengths: this is as real as it gets. Surprisingly, despite the dark nature of the themes explored and the often painful, gut-wrenching incidents portrayed, the story is fueled by a passion and tempered by a humour that makes it all not only bearable but mesmerizing to read.
Shahbano Bilgrami
04/01/2010
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Shahbano Bilgrami's first novel, 'Without Dreams', was published in November 2007 and was longlisted for the 2007 Man Asian Literary Prize. |
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