Five Spice Street (the Margellos World Republic Of Letters)
by Can Xue /
2009 / English / EPUB
2.5 MB Download
Five Spice Street
Five Spice Street tells the story of a street in an
unnamed city whose inhabitants speculate on the life of a
mysterious Madam X. The novel interweaves their endless
suppositions into a work that is at once political parable
and surreal fantasia. Some think X is 50 years old; others
that she is 22. Some believe she has occult powers and has
thereby enslaved the young men of the street; others think
she is a clever trickster playing mind games with the
common people. Who is Madam X? How has she brought the good
people of Five Spice Street to their knees either in
worship or in exasperation? The unknown narrator takes no
sides in the endless interplay of visions, arguments,
and opinions. The investigation rages, as the street
becomes a Walpurgisnacht of speculations, fantasies, and
prejudices. Madam X is a vehicle whereby the people bare
their souls, through whom
tells the story of a street in an
unnamed city whose inhabitants speculate on the life of a
mysterious Madam X. The novel interweaves their endless
suppositions into a work that is at once political parable
and surreal fantasia. Some think X is 50 years old; others
that she is 22. Some believe she has occult powers and has
thereby enslaved the young men of the street; others think
she is a clever trickster playing mind games with the
common people. Who is Madam X? How has she brought the good
people of Five Spice Street to their knees either in
worship or in exasperation? The unknown narrator takes no
sides in the endless interplay of visions, arguments,
and opinions. The investigation rages, as the street
becomes a Walpurgisnacht of speculations, fantasies, and
prejudices. Madam X is a vehicle whereby the people bare
their souls, through whomthey
they reveal themselves
even as they try to penetrate the mystery of her
extraordinary powers.
reveal themselves
even as they try to penetrate the mystery of her
extraordinary powers.Five Spice Street
Five Spice Street is one of the most astonishing
novels of the past twenty years. Exploring the collective
consciousness of this little street of ordinary people, Can
Xue penetrates the deepest existential anxieties of the
present day―whether in China or in the West―where the
inevitable impermanence of identity struggles with the
narrative within which identity must compose itself.
is one of the most astonishing
novels of the past twenty years. Exploring the collective
consciousness of this little street of ordinary people, Can
Xue penetrates the deepest existential anxieties of the
present day―whether in China or in the West―where the
inevitable impermanence of identity struggles with the
narrative within which identity must compose itself.