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The Invisibility Cloak
An NYRB Classics Original
The hero of The Invisibility Cloak lives in contemporary Beijing—where everyone is doing their best to hustle up the ladder of success while shouldering an ever-growing burden of consumer goods—and he’s a loser. Well into his forties, he’s divorced (and still doting on his ex), childless, and living with his sister (her husband wants him out) in an apartment at the edge of town with a crack in the wall the wind from the north blows through while he gets by, just, by making customized old-fashioned amplifiers for the occasional rich audio-obsessive. He has contempt for his clients and contempt for himself. The only things he really likes are Beethoven and vintage speakers. Then an old friend tips him off about a special job—a little risky but just don’t ask too many questions—and can it really be that this hopeless loser wins?
This provocative and seriously funny exercise in the social fantastic by the brilliantly original Ge Fei, one of China’s finest living writers, is among the most original works of fiction to come out of China in recent years. It is sure to appeal to readers of Haruki Murakami and other fabulists of contemporary irreality.
The hero of The Invisibility Cloak lives in contemporary Beijing—where everyone is doing their best to hustle up the ladder of success while shouldering an ever-growing burden of consumer goods—and he’s a loser. Well into his forties, he’s divorced (and still doting on his ex), childless, and living with his sister (her husband wants him out) in an apartment at the edge of town with a crack in the wall the wind from the north blows through while he gets by, just, by making customized old-fashioned amplifiers for the occasional rich audio-obsessive. He has contempt for his clients and contempt for himself. The only things he really likes are Beethoven and vintage speakers. Then an old friend tips him off about a special job—a little risky but just don’t ask too many questions—and can it really be that this hopeless loser wins?
This provocative and seriously funny exercise in the social fantastic by the brilliantly original Ge Fei, one of China’s finest living writers, is among the most original works of fiction to come out of China in recent years. It is sure to appeal to readers of Haruki Murakami and other fabulists of contemporary irreality.
126 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2012
40 people are currently reading
3653 people want to read
About the author
Ge Fei
57 books65 followersGe Fei (Chinese: 格非; pinyin: Gé Fēi; Wade–Giles: Ke Fei, born 1964) is the pen name of novelist Liu Yong (刘勇), considered by many scholars and critics to be one of the most significant of the Chinese avant-garde writers that rose to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s.
Ge Fei was born in Dantu, Jiangsu, in 1964. He studied Chinese literature at East China Normal University and, after graduating in 1985, began to teach there and publish short stories and novellas. He read widely during his studies, but has since noted that he was particularly influenced by Borges, Faulkner and Robbe-Grillet. Some of his early, more experimental works were translated into English in the 1990s, such as "The Lost Boat", "Remembering Mr. Wu You" and "Green Yellow".
One of Ge Fei's most celebrated works is the "Jiangnan Trilogy", which explores the concept of utopia and contains many allusions to Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber.
In 2016, The Invisibility Cloak (which had won both the Lu Xun Literary Prize and the Lao She Literary Award in 2014) was the first of his longer works to be translated into English.
(from Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge_Fei_...
Ge Fei was born in Dantu, Jiangsu, in 1964. He studied Chinese literature at East China Normal University and, after graduating in 1985, began to teach there and publish short stories and novellas. He read widely during his studies, but has since noted that he was particularly influenced by Borges, Faulkner and Robbe-Grillet. Some of his early, more experimental works were translated into English in the 1990s, such as "The Lost Boat", "Remembering Mr. Wu You" and "Green Yellow".
One of Ge Fei's most celebrated works is the "Jiangnan Trilogy", which explores the concept of utopia and contains many allusions to Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber.
In 2016, The Invisibility Cloak (which had won both the Lu Xun Literary Prize and the Lao She Literary Award in 2014) was the first of his longer works to be translated into English.
(from Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge_Fei_...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 267 reviews
October 25, 2016
This wonderful short novel, Ge Fei’s first translated to English, has just been published by NYRB as a Classics Original. The cover copy calls it a “comic novel” and it is...in the sense of the straight man in a comic duo undergoing relationship trouble, family trouble, and job trouble in a fast modernizing Beijing. Our hero—we only ever learn his surname, Cui (pronounced Ts-wei)—plays the straight man role to the end, never quite losing his nerve, though he comes close, while we watch helplessly.
Cui is not completely destitute, except in terms of money, love, and friendship. He has skills. He can put together hi-fi sound systems that audiofiles want to buy. When forced to move from his sister’s unused apartment one winter, Cui develops a sound system that should qualify as “the best in the world,” for any discriminating buyer in China, in hopes that the profit will give him enough to buy a small courtyard for himself to live in.
What elevates this novel is the ordinary man quality, the sense we have of a human fleck bobbing on a wind-tossed sea over which he has no control. The bad things that happen are outside of his control, and though he makes plans and efforts to extricate himself, there is a certain inexorable flow to his outcomes.
This novel is not especially dark, though it has delicious elements of horror and mystery. We become genuinely terrified when a mysterious wealthy stranger offers to buy the "best sound system in the world," but who exudes a hard inflexibility and sense of ferocity when challenged...or when asked to pay. There is some evidence that he has done damage to those that oppose him.
Who wears the invisibility cloak in this novel? Cui tells us that
When Cui’s childhood friend Jiang Songping played a joke on Horsewhip Xu, an old man in his neighborhood, Cui had a personal revelation:
One of the more intriguing things Ge does in this novel is debunk the integrity of Jiang Songping, Cui’s best and only friend, and he does it using a pomegranate. Jiang Songping was a clever boy, but Cui’s mother could see right away he was going to be the kind of person who owned people. Jiang had a way of sounding authoritative, even when he spoke rubbish. All of us come under his spell to some degree when he states categorically that all pomegranates, no matter how big or how long they've grown, contain the exact same number of seeds, 365 to be exact. Our eyes pop a bit with this news, for who has ever actually counted pomegranate seeds, and who could dispute this entrancing fact? Later, we learn with the chagrin we share with Cui’s sister that, in fact, Jiang lied on this occasion, and perhaps on many others.
One of the more poignant moments in the book was when Cui returned to the neighborhood where he grew up and discovered it much changed:
This is a delightful addition to the canon coming out of China today, having none of the syrupy schmaltz that earlier, more severely censored works demonstrated. Terrific translation by Canaan Morse, and many thanks to NYRB for picking this one out to share with us. Kudos to all on this one.
Cui is not completely destitute, except in terms of money, love, and friendship. He has skills. He can put together hi-fi sound systems that audiofiles want to buy. When forced to move from his sister’s unused apartment one winter, Cui develops a sound system that should qualify as “the best in the world,” for any discriminating buyer in China, in hopes that the profit will give him enough to buy a small courtyard for himself to live in.
What elevates this novel is the ordinary man quality, the sense we have of a human fleck bobbing on a wind-tossed sea over which he has no control. The bad things that happen are outside of his control, and though he makes plans and efforts to extricate himself, there is a certain inexorable flow to his outcomes.
This novel is not especially dark, though it has delicious elements of horror and mystery. We become genuinely terrified when a mysterious wealthy stranger offers to buy the "best sound system in the world," but who exudes a hard inflexibility and sense of ferocity when challenged...or when asked to pay. There is some evidence that he has done damage to those that oppose him.
Who wears the invisibility cloak in this novel? Cui tells us that
"In the 1990s, Mou Qishan, the celebrity tycoon, was a household name in Beijing. He liked calligraphy, climbing mountains, and hanging out with female movie stars—all an open secret. Other rumors, however, told of his eccentric and often unpredictable behavior. The wildest story I heard was that he could show up at any event unseen because he wore an invisibility cloak…"When Mou died, Cui bought a pair of hexagonal Autograph speakers from Mou’s estate. He used them to construct the “best sound system in the world.” It could be the invisibility cloak passed from person to person with ownership of the speakers.
When Cui’s childhood friend Jiang Songping played a joke on Horsewhip Xu, an old man in his neighborhood, Cui had a personal revelation:
"...the best attributes of anyone or anything usually reside on the surface, which is where, in fact, all of us live out our lives. Everyone has an inner life, but it’s best if we leave it alone. For as soon as you poke a hole through that paper window, most of what’s inside simply won’t hold up to scrutiny."What do we take from this? If you are wearing the invisibility cloak, you not only cannot be seen, there isn’t much worth seeing? It does seems as though once ownership of the Autograph speakers changed hands, the “freed man,” as it were, becomes once again visible, and able to express himself “on the surface,” without us having to look through “the hole in the paper window” to their inner thoughts.
One of the more intriguing things Ge does in this novel is debunk the integrity of Jiang Songping, Cui’s best and only friend, and he does it using a pomegranate. Jiang Songping was a clever boy, but Cui’s mother could see right away he was going to be the kind of person who owned people. Jiang had a way of sounding authoritative, even when he spoke rubbish. All of us come under his spell to some degree when he states categorically that all pomegranates, no matter how big or how long they've grown, contain the exact same number of seeds, 365 to be exact. Our eyes pop a bit with this news, for who has ever actually counted pomegranate seeds, and who could dispute this entrancing fact? Later, we learn with the chagrin we share with Cui’s sister that, in fact, Jiang lied on this occasion, and perhaps on many others.
One of the more poignant moments in the book was when Cui returned to the neighborhood where he grew up and discovered it much changed:
"Human memory really is unreliable. I could clearly remember this alley being long, wide, submerged in green shade or sprinkled with white locust flowers, and nowhere near as cramped and seedy as it looked that day…As I sat on the stoop and surveyed the cluttered street under the setting sun, I felt vaguely alienated from everything."Not all change is good...but memory is unreliable.
This is a delightful addition to the canon coming out of China today, having none of the syrupy schmaltz that earlier, more severely censored works demonstrated. Terrific translation by Canaan Morse, and many thanks to NYRB for picking this one out to share with us. Kudos to all on this one.
December 4, 2023
“My experience dealing with professors has taught me that educated people have the ability to demean a person with a single glance. His friend didn't seem like your average guy either. A thick mustache guarded his mouth, making him look a little like Friedrich Engels.”
“As we waited, I flipped through their CD collection; all of it dated pop music, mostly pirated. I have no opinion when it comes to my clients musical tastes. It doesn't matter to me if they like classical, blues, jazz, or even glass shattering heavy metal. But honestly, spending a hundred and fifty thousand yuan on an Acapella set just to listen to pirated CDs seemed unbelievable. I realized that I had been taking this job a little too seriously, spending two weeks fine tuning the amp to perfection.”
“Now is a good time to say something about my ex-wife, Yufen. We met before I started in the audio industry. I was selling shoes at a famous shoe shop on the main boulevard. I noticed her the moment she walked into the store. There was no way you couldn't notice her. She had that pure, perfect face that gives you a feeling like a razor slash across the heart. You felt as if you'd risk your life just to be with her.”
“Before leaving she asked me a question. She had been shoe shopping the whole day, and had tried on hundreds of pairs without finding anything she liked. How had I done it? ‘Oh, that's not surprising. People are always choosing things that don't fit them.’ Looking back at the way things turned out that innocent remark was more like an omen.”
“Sometimes poor people get lucky enough to find treasures too. But you'll never be able to keep her. The most you can do with a woman like this is take your turn and enjoy her. When the time comes she'll go where she must go. What is the most valuable thing anyone can ever have? It’s your life, isn't it? But you can hold on as tightly as you can, and you'll still have to let go when the time comes, won't you?"
“My sister had given me an ultimatum to move out of her apartment at once. As she pushed me to my emotional limit, I gritted my teeth and agreed. After forty eight years of fighting on this earth, I was about to become homeless. A pang of hopelessness and fatigue pierced my chest.”
************
Ge Fei is a Chinese writer who gained acclaim in the late ‘80s and ‘90s and is currently professor of literature at Tsinghua University in Beijing. This 2012 novel was translated by the New York Review of Books in 2016. The protagonist Cui is a divorced custom stereo amp builder whose sister Lihua and her idiot brother-in-law Baoguo are intending to evict from their apartment. His attractive ex-wife Yufen is remarried and pregnant but wants to rekindle an affair with him. He ridicules the intellectuals and businessmen who buy his equipment, as his friend Songping helps to lure in more wealthy customers.
After agreeing to move out Cui has few options where to go. Songping who runs a shirt factory rejects his requests to stay at one of his buildings temporarily, but he provides a lead to a client Ding, a potentially dangerous character, who asks him to build ‘the highest quality stereo system in the world’. With nowhere to live he decides to put together a $50,000 setup sacrificing his rare speakers to buy a farmhouse. After the equipment is delivered the balance still remains unpaid weeks later. Baoguo is threatening him and he has days to leave the apartment. He asks Songping for a loan but is turned down.
Much of this book has to do with the withering effects of capitalism in China. Traditional friendships and relations were now meaningless in a scramble to make money. His mother had warned him Yufen wouldn’t stay with him and suddenly he realizes the meaning of her words; that a man of his means will never be able to hold on to the things he cherishes. Cui travels back to Sleeping Dragon Valley in an attempt to collect payment on the sound system but instead he finds redemption in an unexpected way. In the process he has lost his best friend and sister but comes to discover that life is still beautiful.
It is mysterious that Ge Fei hasn’t published another novel in the last twelve years. I could easily read more if they are as good as this one. Luckily the first volume of his Jiangnan Trilogy has also been translated by NYRB, ‘Peach Blossom Paradise’ (2004), his most famous work. ‘Invisibility Cloak’ was the winner of the Lu Xun Prize in 2013, awarded every three years in China. The Beijing of 2012 is like any world city: crowded, cosmopolitan and competitive. Fei shows the absurd and shallow qualities of his characters in a comical way, and yet there is a dark undercurrent that flows just beneath the surface.
“As we waited, I flipped through their CD collection; all of it dated pop music, mostly pirated. I have no opinion when it comes to my clients musical tastes. It doesn't matter to me if they like classical, blues, jazz, or even glass shattering heavy metal. But honestly, spending a hundred and fifty thousand yuan on an Acapella set just to listen to pirated CDs seemed unbelievable. I realized that I had been taking this job a little too seriously, spending two weeks fine tuning the amp to perfection.”
“Now is a good time to say something about my ex-wife, Yufen. We met before I started in the audio industry. I was selling shoes at a famous shoe shop on the main boulevard. I noticed her the moment she walked into the store. There was no way you couldn't notice her. She had that pure, perfect face that gives you a feeling like a razor slash across the heart. You felt as if you'd risk your life just to be with her.”
“Before leaving she asked me a question. She had been shoe shopping the whole day, and had tried on hundreds of pairs without finding anything she liked. How had I done it? ‘Oh, that's not surprising. People are always choosing things that don't fit them.’ Looking back at the way things turned out that innocent remark was more like an omen.”
“Sometimes poor people get lucky enough to find treasures too. But you'll never be able to keep her. The most you can do with a woman like this is take your turn and enjoy her. When the time comes she'll go where she must go. What is the most valuable thing anyone can ever have? It’s your life, isn't it? But you can hold on as tightly as you can, and you'll still have to let go when the time comes, won't you?"
“My sister had given me an ultimatum to move out of her apartment at once. As she pushed me to my emotional limit, I gritted my teeth and agreed. After forty eight years of fighting on this earth, I was about to become homeless. A pang of hopelessness and fatigue pierced my chest.”
************
Ge Fei is a Chinese writer who gained acclaim in the late ‘80s and ‘90s and is currently professor of literature at Tsinghua University in Beijing. This 2012 novel was translated by the New York Review of Books in 2016. The protagonist Cui is a divorced custom stereo amp builder whose sister Lihua and her idiot brother-in-law Baoguo are intending to evict from their apartment. His attractive ex-wife Yufen is remarried and pregnant but wants to rekindle an affair with him. He ridicules the intellectuals and businessmen who buy his equipment, as his friend Songping helps to lure in more wealthy customers.
After agreeing to move out Cui has few options where to go. Songping who runs a shirt factory rejects his requests to stay at one of his buildings temporarily, but he provides a lead to a client Ding, a potentially dangerous character, who asks him to build ‘the highest quality stereo system in the world’. With nowhere to live he decides to put together a $50,000 setup sacrificing his rare speakers to buy a farmhouse. After the equipment is delivered the balance still remains unpaid weeks later. Baoguo is threatening him and he has days to leave the apartment. He asks Songping for a loan but is turned down.
Much of this book has to do with the withering effects of capitalism in China. Traditional friendships and relations were now meaningless in a scramble to make money. His mother had warned him Yufen wouldn’t stay with him and suddenly he realizes the meaning of her words; that a man of his means will never be able to hold on to the things he cherishes. Cui travels back to Sleeping Dragon Valley in an attempt to collect payment on the sound system but instead he finds redemption in an unexpected way. In the process he has lost his best friend and sister but comes to discover that life is still beautiful.
It is mysterious that Ge Fei hasn’t published another novel in the last twelve years. I could easily read more if they are as good as this one. Luckily the first volume of his Jiangnan Trilogy has also been translated by NYRB, ‘Peach Blossom Paradise’ (2004), his most famous work. ‘Invisibility Cloak’ was the winner of the Lu Xun Prize in 2013, awarded every three years in China. The Beijing of 2012 is like any world city: crowded, cosmopolitan and competitive. Fei shows the absurd and shallow qualities of his characters in a comical way, and yet there is a dark undercurrent that flows just beneath the surface.
March 17, 2017
Contains a plot outline which may constitute spoiling.
You fall in love in a shoe store but your mother warns against a marriage. You marry anyhow. Your mother, terminally ill, waits out her sickness until your wife runs away with the shop manager. You fix his stereo anyhow. Your sister kicks you out of your apartment, but not before she tries to set you up with some androgynous divorcée. You fix the divorcée's stereo anyhow. Your best friend turns out to be a real shit, but not before he sets you up with a rich client who may or may not be in the Chinese Mafia. You fix the client's stereo. The client stiffs you so you go to his house to collect payment. He's not there - he's gone - but you hear the recording of Emil Gilels playing Brahms' Second Piano Concerto, the 1972 performance, Eugen Bochum conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. So, of course you stay with the woman with half a face who does not mind that your feet smell.
"Do you mind if I contribute my thoughts to this one? If you could just stop nitpicking and dissecting every little thing, if you could learn to keep one eye closed and one eye open, and quit worrying about everything and everybody, you might discover that life is actually pretty fucking beautiful. Am I right?"
You fall in love in a shoe store but your mother warns against a marriage. You marry anyhow. Your mother, terminally ill, waits out her sickness until your wife runs away with the shop manager. You fix his stereo anyhow. Your sister kicks you out of your apartment, but not before she tries to set you up with some androgynous divorcée. You fix the divorcée's stereo anyhow. Your best friend turns out to be a real shit, but not before he sets you up with a rich client who may or may not be in the Chinese Mafia. You fix the client's stereo. The client stiffs you so you go to his house to collect payment. He's not there - he's gone - but you hear the recording of Emil Gilels playing Brahms' Second Piano Concerto, the 1972 performance, Eugen Bochum conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. So, of course you stay with the woman with half a face who does not mind that your feet smell.
"Do you mind if I contribute my thoughts to this one? If you could just stop nitpicking and dissecting every little thing, if you could learn to keep one eye closed and one eye open, and quit worrying about everything and everybody, you might discover that life is actually pretty fucking beautiful. Am I right?"
October 17, 2019
This was one of my favorite modern Chinese novels. Instead of dealing with the horrors of war and destruction of families and bureaucracies, as in Mo Yan and Yan Lianke's works, this was a breath of fresh air. It read much more like Japanese fiction in its depiction of an everyday narrator, tasked with his very specific struggles. It was well-polished and informative, as regards the high-end audio business. The author's style possessed the charm of Murakami's early works without as many pop references.
This is a short, absorbing tale that could be enjoyed by just about anybody, and a nice departure from the bleak style of a lot of the Chinese translations we are getting recently. There are many clever observations on contemporary frustrations, and it left a bittersweet, lingering aura of unfulfilled dreams in my mind. The blurbs make the work seem far more surreal and magical than it actually is. There are easy comparisons to Murakami, but Ge Fei has his own voice. His only other title in English is a minuscule novella called "Flock of Brown Birds." I have also found scattered stories in scattered anthologies. They are all good, solid pieces of writing, partaking equally in the realms of pulp and literary fiction.
I believe this author has wide appeal and would be able to capture a large number of readers in America and elsewhere if he were only given the chance. They call him one of the most important writers working in China, but because of his lack of political agendas, hack writers like Yan Lianke get egregious amounts of attention, while his charming gems go unnoticed. Besides Can Xue, he is my favorite living Chinese author.
This is a short, absorbing tale that could be enjoyed by just about anybody, and a nice departure from the bleak style of a lot of the Chinese translations we are getting recently. There are many clever observations on contemporary frustrations, and it left a bittersweet, lingering aura of unfulfilled dreams in my mind. The blurbs make the work seem far more surreal and magical than it actually is. There are easy comparisons to Murakami, but Ge Fei has his own voice. His only other title in English is a minuscule novella called "Flock of Brown Birds." I have also found scattered stories in scattered anthologies. They are all good, solid pieces of writing, partaking equally in the realms of pulp and literary fiction.
I believe this author has wide appeal and would be able to capture a large number of readers in America and elsewhere if he were only given the chance. They call him one of the most important writers working in China, but because of his lack of political agendas, hack writers like Yan Lianke get egregious amounts of attention, while his charming gems go unnoticed. Besides Can Xue, he is my favorite living Chinese author.
February 20, 2022
Wonderful. Beautiful writing about the value of art and the integrity of artists in bad times. Also about the impossibility of understanding what can cause people we thought were family and friends to turn against us. Finding companionship in unexpected places. Dedication. Humor. Fear. A fine book to read now.
I would give this story of a middle aged man who barely scrapes by in Beijing by building very high quality tube based audio systems for occasional wealthy customers four stars; I'm pondering five. His social life consists of a lingering love for his unfaithful ex-wife, an erratic businessman who was his childhood friend, and the sister who demands he turn over his apartment to her and her husband. To solve his logistical problems he takes on an audio project for a risky client.
I was particularly struck by a chapter in which the narrator claims the integrity of the small community that trades long distance in used audiophile equipment is due to the influence of classical music on the soul. One of his customers calls him a fool, and points out that fascists sent people to the crematorium by day and went to concerts by night. Look at Furtwangler. Beethoven was no hero. He says or narrator has just been lucky to deal with honest buyers and sellers:
I would give this story of a middle aged man who barely scrapes by in Beijing by building very high quality tube based audio systems for occasional wealthy customers four stars; I'm pondering five. His social life consists of a lingering love for his unfaithful ex-wife, an erratic businessman who was his childhood friend, and the sister who demands he turn over his apartment to her and her husband. To solve his logistical problems he takes on an audio project for a risky client.
I was particularly struck by a chapter in which the narrator claims the integrity of the small community that trades long distance in used audiophile equipment is due to the influence of classical music on the soul. One of his customers calls him a fool, and points out that fascists sent people to the crematorium by day and went to concerts by night. Look at Furtwangler. Beethoven was no hero. He says or narrator has just been lucky to deal with honest buyers and sellers:
"And in a filthy, mediocre world, luck is the only religion"....
After accepting his chastisement, my face turned crimson and I felt pathetic...I mulled over what the [customer]said for months, and listened to all nine of Beethoven's symphonies, as well as the late quartets, from start to finish. In the end, I had to admit that my life might be beyond hope.
It was impossible for me not to like Beethoven.
March 25, 2025
4,5 ⭐
El narrador es un silencioso habitante de Beijing, apasionado por los equipos de sonido, y por la fidelidad que la que se puede lograr escuchar la música clásica. Un hombre sin mayores aspiraciones ni inquietudes; su único malestar es haber sido abandonado por la mujer que adoraba. ¿No era la mujer para él, como le había anunciado su madre?
"De niño había entendido algo, y era que lo mejor de las personas y de los hechos se concentra en una delgada capa superficial, y ese es el lugar donde podemos asentarnos felizmente. Todas las cosas tienen un fondo que es mejor no sondear. Lo que encontraremos detrás, después de rasgar esa fina lámina, por lo general es decepcionante."
Su tranquila vida, sólo incomodada por los permanentes reclamos de su hermana, se verá alterada por un encargo, con algo de misterio, y que por momentos siente que lo excede.
Una novela sobria e impecable, y mi primer contacto con el ámbito urbano contemporáneo de China. Una gran empatía con el narrador, muy buenos personajes y una historia que se lee con gran fluidez, lo cual no implica levedad ni simplicidad. Los elogios de Vila-Matas no fueron exagerados.
Excelente.
Ge Fei (seudónimo de Liu Yong) nació en Dantu, Jiangsu en 1964, y fue uno de los protagonistas de la vanguardia literaria china en las décadas del'80 y '90. El invisible es su primera obra traducida al castellano.
El narrador es un silencioso habitante de Beijing, apasionado por los equipos de sonido, y por la fidelidad que la que se puede lograr escuchar la música clásica. Un hombre sin mayores aspiraciones ni inquietudes; su único malestar es haber sido abandonado por la mujer que adoraba. ¿No era la mujer para él, como le había anunciado su madre?
"De niño había entendido algo, y era que lo mejor de las personas y de los hechos se concentra en una delgada capa superficial, y ese es el lugar donde podemos asentarnos felizmente. Todas las cosas tienen un fondo que es mejor no sondear. Lo que encontraremos detrás, después de rasgar esa fina lámina, por lo general es decepcionante."
Su tranquila vida, sólo incomodada por los permanentes reclamos de su hermana, se verá alterada por un encargo, con algo de misterio, y que por momentos siente que lo excede.
Una novela sobria e impecable, y mi primer contacto con el ámbito urbano contemporáneo de China. Una gran empatía con el narrador, muy buenos personajes y una historia que se lee con gran fluidez, lo cual no implica levedad ni simplicidad. Los elogios de Vila-Matas no fueron exagerados.
Excelente.
Ge Fei (seudónimo de Liu Yong) nació en Dantu, Jiangsu en 1964, y fue uno de los protagonistas de la vanguardia literaria china en las décadas del'80 y '90. El invisible es su primera obra traducida al castellano.
August 24, 2023
An average ostensibly down-on-his luck man lives in Beijing, gets into some hairy situations and in the end understands that he loves his life after all.
February 12, 2024
The Invisibility Cloak - Ge Fei
بطل الرواية أربعيني فاشل-هكذا يراه المجتمع، يعيش في الصين المعاصرة، مطلّق وبلا أطفال، بلا عمل ثابت وبلا منزل وبلا مدخرات، يعيش مع شقيقته وزوجها في شقة متهالكة ويريدون منه الانتقال بأسرع ما يمكن، هو لم يتخط بعد انفصاله عن زوجته قبل عدّة أعوام ووفاة أمه أيضًا، لديه صديق واحد تربطهما علاقة "سامة" ومتذبذبة ويتدبر أمره عبر تصميم وإصلاح مكبرات صوت عالية الجودة وقديمة الطراز وهو عمل مربح وزبائنه قلة وهم حفنة من المتثيقفين ومدّعي حب الموسيقى الكلاسيكية والباحثين عن صوت نقي، لذا وبإيعاز من صديقه يقبل فرصة عمل مربحة مع رجل غامض ومريب ويبحث عن نظام صوتي نادر وقديم، هل سيحصل أخيرًا على فرصته في الحياة وينال ما يريد؟
نوفيلا قصيرة، تصور مجتمع الصين بعد ماو وتعقيدات العلاقات العائلية والتغييرات السريعة التي تشهدها الصين وهموم المواطنين والطبقة الجديدة من مثقفين وأصحاب ثروات جديدة ورجال عصابات .
أحببت العمل لأنه قصير ولأنه يصور كل هذا بشكل مكثف وعميق، ولأن الكاتب ما زال موجودًا في الصين ولذا وجدت الصورة أصيلة وصادقة.
~
فجر الثلاثاء الثالث من شعبان 1445 هـ.
بطل الرواية أربعيني فاشل-هكذا يراه المجتمع، يعيش في الصين المعاصرة، مطلّق وبلا أطفال، بلا عمل ثابت وبلا منزل وبلا مدخرات، يعيش مع شقيقته وزوجها في شقة متهالكة ويريدون منه الانتقال بأسرع ما يمكن، هو لم يتخط بعد انفصاله عن زوجته قبل عدّة أعوام ووفاة أمه أيضًا، لديه صديق واحد تربطهما علاقة "سامة" ومتذبذبة ويتدبر أمره عبر تصميم وإصلاح مكبرات صوت عالية الجودة وقديمة الطراز وهو عمل مربح وزبائنه قلة وهم حفنة من المتثيقفين ومدّعي حب الموسيقى الكلاسيكية والباحثين عن صوت نقي، لذا وبإيعاز من صديقه يقبل فرصة عمل مربحة مع رجل غامض ومريب ويبحث عن نظام صوتي نادر وقديم، هل سيحصل أخيرًا على فرصته في الحياة وينال ما يريد؟
نوفيلا قصيرة، تصور مجتمع الصين بعد ماو وتعقيدات العلاقات العائلية والتغييرات السريعة التي تشهدها الصين وهموم المواطنين والطبقة الجديدة من مثقفين وأصحاب ثروات جديدة ورجال عصابات .
أحببت العمل لأنه قصير ولأنه يصور كل هذا بشكل مكثف وعميق، ولأن الكاتب ما زال موجودًا في الصين ولذا وجدت الصورة أصيلة وصادقة.
~
فجر الثلاثاء الثالث من شعبان 1445 هـ.
October 22, 2019
**SPOILERS**
3.5 rounded down
A slippery novel set in contemporary China which defies categorisation. A divorced Beijing man in his 40s who repairs stereos is bumbling through life, encountering misfortune after misfortune - his beautiful wife leaves him, his mother dies, his sister wants to boot him out of her house. A bit of a loser who is down on his luck, our protagonist then comes across a mysterious man who wants to buy “the best sound system in the world”... and from here on in things get really quite peculiar, involving (possibly) the Mafia, kidnap, and suicide.
For me, Ge Fei’s novel made for a refreshing read as it is something quite different compared to other fiction coming out of 21st century China.
3.5 rounded down
A slippery novel set in contemporary China which defies categorisation. A divorced Beijing man in his 40s who repairs stereos is bumbling through life, encountering misfortune after misfortune - his beautiful wife leaves him, his mother dies, his sister wants to boot him out of her house. A bit of a loser who is down on his luck, our protagonist then comes across a mysterious man who wants to buy “the best sound system in the world”... and from here on in things get really quite peculiar, involving (possibly) the Mafia, kidnap, and suicide.
For me, Ge Fei’s novel made for a refreshing read as it is something quite different compared to other fiction coming out of 21st century China.
August 23, 2023
I don’t think I have ever laughed out loud so much reading a book.
The ending is comforting and satisfying.
Highly recommend!
“因为在我很小的时候，就明白了一个道理，不论是人还是事情，最好的东西往往只有表面薄薄的一层，这是我们的安身立命之所。任何东西都有它的底子，但你最好不要去碰它。只要你捅破了这层脆弱的窗户纸，里面的内容，一多半根本经不起推敲。”
“如果你不是特别爱吹毛求疵，凡事都要去刨根问底的话，如果你能学会睁一只眼闭一只眼，改掉怨天尤人的老毛病，你会突然发现，其实生活还是他妈的挺美好的。不是吗？”
The ending is comforting and satisfying.
Highly recommend!
“因为在我很小的时候，就明白了一个道理，不论是人还是事情，最好的东西往往只有表面薄薄的一层，这是我们的安身立命之所。任何东西都有它的底子，但你最好不要去碰它。只要你捅破了这层脆弱的窗户纸，里面的内容，一多半根本经不起推敲。”
“如果你不是特别爱吹毛求疵，凡事都要去刨根问底的话，如果你能学会睁一只眼闭一只眼，改掉怨天尤人的老毛病，你会突然发现，其实生活还是他妈的挺美好的。不是吗？”
April 20, 2025
despite having zero knowledge on audiophile culture (which makes up majority of the book), this was quite an absorbing and quick read! Ge Fei did an amazing job at making me sympathize with the most insufferable man ever lol
Also thoroughly enjoyed the author’s interview with the paris review! https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2...
Also thoroughly enjoyed the author’s interview with the paris review! https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2...
September 28, 2020
"Everyone has an inner life, but it's best if we leave it alone."
Ge has only recently entered the translation canon which is good, for this novel, at least, is a refreshing, quiet, and mysterious little story that readers of Chinese fiction will welcome for not being self-consciously obsessed with the last 50 years of Chinese history. Indeed, there is little of political note here, thank Zarquon. Instead, we are served up the story of Mr. Cui, an audio maniac who designs perfect stereo systems for (mostly) classical music fans in and around Beijing. Middle-aged and unlucky in love, Mr. Cui's story is given over to simple concerns like life, family, and love or the lack thereof.
But then, it's like there's a whole other novel working underneath that one, a novel where recluses go to parties in invisibility cloaks, deformed women haunt the villas of the rich, and general weirdness quietly ensues.
This is definitely the kind of gently insane novel that will keep you thinking on your toes for days afterwards. Another NYRB translation comes out in December, so I'm looking forward to reading more of this guy's stuff.
Ge has only recently entered the translation canon which is good, for this novel, at least, is a refreshing, quiet, and mysterious little story that readers of Chinese fiction will welcome for not being self-consciously obsessed with the last 50 years of Chinese history. Indeed, there is little of political note here, thank Zarquon. Instead, we are served up the story of Mr. Cui, an audio maniac who designs perfect stereo systems for (mostly) classical music fans in and around Beijing. Middle-aged and unlucky in love, Mr. Cui's story is given over to simple concerns like life, family, and love or the lack thereof.
But then, it's like there's a whole other novel working underneath that one, a novel where recluses go to parties in invisibility cloaks, deformed women haunt the villas of the rich, and general weirdness quietly ensues.
This is definitely the kind of gently insane novel that will keep you thinking on your toes for days afterwards. Another NYRB translation comes out in December, so I'm looking forward to reading more of this guy's stuff.
February 12, 2017
I really enjoyed reading this. It gave me a view of Beijing which is rare for me. I usually just get smoggy pictures on the news.
Fei leaves us to interpret what we are reading so what I'm writing here is my interpretation with one eye closed and one eye open as per his recommendation for a 'beautiful fucking life'.
Fei dabbles with the concept of how beauty, wealth, success all come at a price, they do not exist in a vacuum and they are carnivorous in their need for admiration, attention. What is the use of being beautiful if nobody admires you. And what happens when someone is not as beautiful, or as wealthy, or as successful, as per current requirements, does he become invisible?
I liked Cui's narrative and his love for his equipment, I love listening to music but I do not get into the nitty gritty of the equipment, he does and his passion is beautiful to see. I'm glad he shrugged of his cloak of invisibility and saw what was around him
A very lovely read with Carol.
Fits into 26. of my reading challenge - A book by an author from a country you've never visited
May 4, 2018
This novel is a real gem. Introspective and honest in an understated, unassuming way. There were rare moments of humour which were perfectly timed. I was totally absorbed in the story of this "loser" from beginning to end. If fiction reflects the author, which further reflects the society which the author inhabits, I believe it has also given me additional precious insight on the general Chinese psyche. [Final rating: 4.5*]
October 8, 2018
Unexpected rapid spin across contemporary Beijing society through the lens of high-end stereo world, portraying the relatively mundane with a noir-tinged sense of intrigue. Sense of place, especially, comes through strongly.
December 26, 2019
“Bir kimsenin veya bir şeyin en iyi özellikleri genellikle yüzeyde bulunur ve aslında hepimiz ömürlerimizi orada tüketiriz. Herkesin iç hayatı vardır ancak onu yalnız bırakmak en iyisidir. Zira o kağıt pencerede bir delik açtığın an, içeride olanın büyük çoğunluğu açıkça incelemeye karşı koyamaz.”
.
Cui ses sistemleri kuruyor. İki tip müşterisi var: Bilenler ve bilmeyenler. Her iki grubun ortak özelliği ise şu: bildiklerine emin olmaları.
Cui sakin bir hayatın içinde, ablası ve eniştesiyle yaşıyor. İşe gidip geliyor, müziği hayatından ayırmıyor, büyük hırsların peşinde koşmuyor..
Ama bir gün hayatını değiştirecek bir müşteriyle tanışıyor. Ve o müşteri şunu istiyor : Dünyanın en iyi ses sistemi..
Cui kolları sıvıyor, yaşamında hayat vereceği son şeymişçesine..
.
Dilimizdeki ilk eseriyle yeni bir yazarla daha tanışmış oldum (ki sevdim de). Yormayan bir dile sahip Gei Fei, merakla okunuyor üstelik.
Çin edebiyatındaki çoğu esere sinmiş toplumsal analiz bu eserde de mevcut. Olaylar yaşanırken; karakter kapitalizmi de sorguluyor.. Zevklerin ve kültürel birikimin çarklara yenik düşmesini, parası olanın satın alabileceği şeylerin sınırsızlığını..
.
Yazar, eserin pek çok yerinde müzik konusundaki detaycılığını hissettiriyor okuyucuya. Bu ise aklıma sevdiğim bir isimi getiriyor ve gülümsetiyor beni: Haruki Murakami!
.
Sun Zi’nin Savaş Sanatı’nı ve Konfüçyüs’ün Konuşmalar’nı da kendisinin keyifli çevirisiyle okuduğum Giray Fidan, bu eseri de dilimize kazandırıyor~
.
Kapak ise Cüneyt Çomoğlu çalışması ~
.
Cui ses sistemleri kuruyor. İki tip müşterisi var: Bilenler ve bilmeyenler. Her iki grubun ortak özelliği ise şu: bildiklerine emin olmaları.
Cui sakin bir hayatın içinde, ablası ve eniştesiyle yaşıyor. İşe gidip geliyor, müziği hayatından ayırmıyor, büyük hırsların peşinde koşmuyor..
Ama bir gün hayatını değiştirecek bir müşteriyle tanışıyor. Ve o müşteri şunu istiyor : Dünyanın en iyi ses sistemi..
Cui kolları sıvıyor, yaşamında hayat vereceği son şeymişçesine..
.
Dilimizdeki ilk eseriyle yeni bir yazarla daha tanışmış oldum (ki sevdim de). Yormayan bir dile sahip Gei Fei, merakla okunuyor üstelik.
Çin edebiyatındaki çoğu esere sinmiş toplumsal analiz bu eserde de mevcut. Olaylar yaşanırken; karakter kapitalizmi de sorguluyor.. Zevklerin ve kültürel birikimin çarklara yenik düşmesini, parası olanın satın alabileceği şeylerin sınırsızlığını..
.
Yazar, eserin pek çok yerinde müzik konusundaki detaycılığını hissettiriyor okuyucuya. Bu ise aklıma sevdiğim bir isimi getiriyor ve gülümsetiyor beni: Haruki Murakami!
.
Sun Zi’nin Savaş Sanatı’nı ve Konfüçyüs’ün Konuşmalar’nı da kendisinin keyifli çevirisiyle okuduğum Giray Fidan, bu eseri de dilimize kazandırıyor~
.
Kapak ise Cüneyt Çomoğlu çalışması ~
October 9, 2016
Oct 2016 NYRB Club Selection
Talk about reading a book about life, this is it. If all of Ge Fei's work is like this, he deserves the Nobel.
One story about man's life and his desire for something, is actually a brilliant comment about most lived.
Talk about reading a book about life, this is it. If all of Ge Fei's work is like this, he deserves the Nobel.
One story about man's life and his desire for something, is actually a brilliant comment about most lived.
Read
November 18, 2021"If you could just stop nitpicking and dissecting every little thing... quit worrying about everything and everybody, you might discover that life is actually pretty fucking beautiful. Am I right?"
▫️THE INVISIBILITY CLOAK by Ge Fei, translated from the Chinese by Canaan Morse, 2012/2016.
#ReadtheWorld21 📍China
Mr. Ciu is a 40-something down-on-his-luck divorcee, who is still getting over his ex, and has complicated relationships with other people in his life.
He is a serious audiophile and designs and repairs hi-fi systems for a living, and is a classical music afficiando. Through the course of the novella, he stumbles into a weird surreal experience that keeps getting weirder.
Yeah, yeah, you can stop me there.
I know!
It *does* sound like the plot of every Haruki Murakami novel.
Except... No cats! 😾
Parallels to Murakami, but plenty of differences too. Obviously this one is set in modern Beijing (not Tokyo), and there's some notes about the city's nouveau riche culture, the explosive growth and rapid building. Another thing that was different is Ge's great humor: wisecrack sayings, quick come-backs, situational comic appeal.
Very little about politics in this one. The only line I can recall about politics made me laugh, Ciu remembers his mother saying:
"That kid is too smart. If there ever comes a day when capitalism really does return, I'm afraid the two of you will end up working for him."
Ge Fei's other novella FLOCK OF BROWN BIRDS is on my ereader and may fit in this month, and his newest translated title PEACH BLOSSOM PARADISE was nominated for several awards this year. I hope to read both!
▫️THE INVISIBILITY CLOAK by Ge Fei, translated from the Chinese by Canaan Morse, 2012/2016.
#ReadtheWorld21 📍China
Mr. Ciu is a 40-something down-on-his-luck divorcee, who is still getting over his ex, and has complicated relationships with other people in his life.
He is a serious audiophile and designs and repairs hi-fi systems for a living, and is a classical music afficiando. Through the course of the novella, he stumbles into a weird surreal experience that keeps getting weirder.
Yeah, yeah, you can stop me there.
I know!
It *does* sound like the plot of every Haruki Murakami novel.
Except... No cats! 😾
Parallels to Murakami, but plenty of differences too. Obviously this one is set in modern Beijing (not Tokyo), and there's some notes about the city's nouveau riche culture, the explosive growth and rapid building. Another thing that was different is Ge's great humor: wisecrack sayings, quick come-backs, situational comic appeal.
Very little about politics in this one. The only line I can recall about politics made me laugh, Ciu remembers his mother saying:
"That kid is too smart. If there ever comes a day when capitalism really does return, I'm afraid the two of you will end up working for him."
Ge Fei's other novella FLOCK OF BROWN BIRDS is on my ereader and may fit in this month, and his newest translated title PEACH BLOSSOM PARADISE was nominated for several awards this year. I hope to read both!
June 29, 2023
some good quotes but besides that, i’m pretty sure he’s a misogynist. or a taurus.
March 28, 2018
Superb friend recommendation. The main story follows a middle-aged divorced man who cobbles together a living by installing high-end sound systems for China's new rich. The plot revolves around his imminent loss of housing. Not exactly blockbuster material, but through the protagonist's disaffected, sardonic but very lucid perceptions, I felt vividly immersed in the contemporary Chinese experience. Savored the many rich, odd, unexpected details, and the almost casual brilliance with which the author tied everything up in this slim, elegant, confident novel left me eager to see more of his work translated.
February 6, 2021
No niin! Kiinalaista naiskirjailijaa ei saatu luettavaksi vieläkään, mutta sentään vähän modernimpaa Kiinaa, eikä vain kulttuurivallankumouksen muisteluja! Näkymättömyysviitan päähenkilö Cui asuu Pekingissä ja tekee työkseen huippuluokan vahvistimia tosihifisteille. Työ on mielenkiintoista, mutta tuottaa vain niukan elannon. Vaimo jätti ja mies kaipaa edelleen vaimonsa perään. Kotina on siskon omistama asunto, jossa seinä on halki niin että talvella pohjoistuuli puhaltaa kylmästi sisään.
Tilanne käy hankalaksi, kun sisko uhkailee häädöllä: uusi kämppä pitäisi löytää, koska sisko haluaa asuntonsa omaan käyttöönsä. Onneksi aikaisemminkin rikkaita asiakkaita hankkinut ystävä osaa vinkata salaperäisestä asiakkaasta, joka haluaa aivan maailmanluokan äänentoiston. Tämä on kuitenkin tapaus, jossa pitää osata olla kyselemättä liikoja. Eikä siinä mitään – päähenkilöltämme löytyy kyllä ainekset huippuluokan hifikalustoon. Ehkä kaikki kääntyy parhain päin!
No, eihän se niin mene, tietenkään, ja lopputulos on varsin oiva pieni kirja. Näkymättömyysviittaa ei ole turhalla jaarittelulla pilattu, luin kirjan aika lailla yhdellä istumalla. Päähenkilöt kamppailut vetivät mukaansa. Hifimaailma tarjosi mainiot puitteet, klassista musiikkia sopii aina juhlistaa ja tietysti tuskailla ihmisiä, jotka pistävät suunnattomia summia hienoihin hifilaitteisiin ja kuuntelevat niillä sitten huonosti tuotettua tusinapoppia. Kirjan päähenkilö ei kestä rikkaita asiakkaitaan, mutta ei kyllä tule itsensäkään kanssa toimeen juuri sen paremmin.
Näkymättömyysviitta on hauska, se pistelee mukavasti piikkejä itseään täynnä oleviin intellektuelleihin ja rikkaisiin, jotka eivät tiedä mitä rahoillaan tekisivät. Hifilaitteiden yksityiskohtien kuvaamisessa on ihastuttavaa herkkyyttä ja Cui on päähenkilönä mukavan sympaattinen. Oikein miellyttävä kirja siis. Rauno Sainion käännös on taas oivallinen ja Tuomo Parikan elegantti kansitaide ansaitsee erillisen kiitoksen.
Tilanne käy hankalaksi, kun sisko uhkailee häädöllä: uusi kämppä pitäisi löytää, koska sisko haluaa asuntonsa omaan käyttöönsä. Onneksi aikaisemminkin rikkaita asiakkaita hankkinut ystävä osaa vinkata salaperäisestä asiakkaasta, joka haluaa aivan maailmanluokan äänentoiston. Tämä on kuitenkin tapaus, jossa pitää osata olla kyselemättä liikoja. Eikä siinä mitään – päähenkilöltämme löytyy kyllä ainekset huippuluokan hifikalustoon. Ehkä kaikki kääntyy parhain päin!
No, eihän se niin mene, tietenkään, ja lopputulos on varsin oiva pieni kirja. Näkymättömyysviittaa ei ole turhalla jaarittelulla pilattu, luin kirjan aika lailla yhdellä istumalla. Päähenkilöt kamppailut vetivät mukaansa. Hifimaailma tarjosi mainiot puitteet, klassista musiikkia sopii aina juhlistaa ja tietysti tuskailla ihmisiä, jotka pistävät suunnattomia summia hienoihin hifilaitteisiin ja kuuntelevat niillä sitten huonosti tuotettua tusinapoppia. Kirjan päähenkilö ei kestä rikkaita asiakkaitaan, mutta ei kyllä tule itsensäkään kanssa toimeen juuri sen paremmin.
Näkymättömyysviitta on hauska, se pistelee mukavasti piikkejä itseään täynnä oleviin intellektuelleihin ja rikkaisiin, jotka eivät tiedä mitä rahoillaan tekisivät. Hifilaitteiden yksityiskohtien kuvaamisessa on ihastuttavaa herkkyyttä ja Cui on päähenkilönä mukavan sympaattinen. Oikein miellyttävä kirja siis. Rauno Sainion käännös on taas oivallinen ja Tuomo Parikan elegantti kansitaide ansaitsee erillisen kiitoksen.
May 22, 2024
Il mantello dell’invisibilità 🇨🇳
•Narrativa cinese, inizio XXI secolo
•Favola moderna volutamente umoristica e satirica
•Analisi sociale
•Perfetto per gli amanti della musica
Il protagonista di questa storia è un perdente che per vivere costruisce impianti audio personalizzati per persone ricche. Nella vita in generale lo hanno abbandonato tutti: con il divorzio ha perso sua moglie -di cui è ancora innamorato- e sua sorella -la sua unica famiglia- non vede l’ora di sfrattarlo dall’unica casa di proprietà. Sfortuna dopo sfortuna, finisce per accettare un grosso lavoro da parte di un individuo abbastanza losco. Che sia questa la grande fortuna che stava aspettando?
Ge Fei propone una proposta editoriale azzardata e molto coraggiosa. Personalmente non conoscevo l’autore, ma ho letto questo suo romanzo - tra l’altro pubblicato dopo 12 anni - in poche ore: la sua penna di è magnetica, non ti molla.
La trama è apparentemente semplice: è così rocambolesca ed esilarante, ma mai banale.
Con ironia mirata, l’autore muove una critica alla società cinese, al consumismo e alla corruzione, alla scarsità e al disprezzo dei rapporti sociali, senza mai però mettere da parte il suo amore incondizionato per la musica classica.
Unico neo: la ripetizione di termini tecnici legati al mondo degli audiofili.
Per me ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.
Resta una buonissima lettura sì d’intrattenimento, ma che allo stesso tempo affronta tematiche importanti senza mai risultare pesante. Mi sono divertita tantissimo!
•Narrativa cinese, inizio XXI secolo
•Favola moderna volutamente umoristica e satirica
•Analisi sociale
•Perfetto per gli amanti della musica
Il protagonista di questa storia è un perdente che per vivere costruisce impianti audio personalizzati per persone ricche. Nella vita in generale lo hanno abbandonato tutti: con il divorzio ha perso sua moglie -di cui è ancora innamorato- e sua sorella -la sua unica famiglia- non vede l’ora di sfrattarlo dall’unica casa di proprietà. Sfortuna dopo sfortuna, finisce per accettare un grosso lavoro da parte di un individuo abbastanza losco. Che sia questa la grande fortuna che stava aspettando?
Ge Fei propone una proposta editoriale azzardata e molto coraggiosa. Personalmente non conoscevo l’autore, ma ho letto questo suo romanzo - tra l’altro pubblicato dopo 12 anni - in poche ore: la sua penna di è magnetica, non ti molla.
La trama è apparentemente semplice: è così rocambolesca ed esilarante, ma mai banale.
Con ironia mirata, l’autore muove una critica alla società cinese, al consumismo e alla corruzione, alla scarsità e al disprezzo dei rapporti sociali, senza mai però mettere da parte il suo amore incondizionato per la musica classica.
Unico neo: la ripetizione di termini tecnici legati al mondo degli audiofili.
Per me ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.
Resta una buonissima lettura sì d’intrattenimento, ma che allo stesso tempo affronta tematiche importanti senza mai risultare pesante. Mi sono divertita tantissimo!
October 28, 2024
The blurb on the back of my copy says “This slim comic novel follows the travails of a likable loser trying to stay afloat—financially and emotionally—in contemporary Beijing… The author packs in wit, social commentary, and an emotional depth that will lift the reader’s spirits…”
I didn’t find this book to be comic; I didn’t find the character likable; I didn’t find any emotional depth; my spirits were actually *lowered;* the book was too short to “follow” anything; and the few troubles Cui experiences he also largely earns.
This is the type of bland, depressing “everyman” that make me fear for the world — whiny, unexceptional, shiftless, and vaguely misogynistic. Cui is distasteful and (worse) he’s boring.
The plot is so truncated and nonsensical (what was that ending?) that it feels totally pointless. Very little cultural texture is present, and the side characters are all grating and two dimensional.
Overall, this story is a bust.
I didn’t find this book to be comic; I didn’t find the character likable; I didn’t find any emotional depth; my spirits were actually *lowered;* the book was too short to “follow” anything; and the few troubles Cui experiences he also largely earns.
This is the type of bland, depressing “everyman” that make me fear for the world — whiny, unexceptional, shiftless, and vaguely misogynistic. Cui is distasteful and (worse) he’s boring.
The plot is so truncated and nonsensical (what was that ending?) that it feels totally pointless. Very little cultural texture is present, and the side characters are all grating and two dimensional.
Overall, this story is a bust.
Read
July 14, 2023The Murakami comparisons are obvious – a solitary man in a gray and bureaucratic Asian megalopolis whose wife has left him who focuses, narrow-mindedly, on his obscure little corner, whatever that may be. I enjoyed The Invisibility Cloak thoroughly, and as with certain other contemporary-ish Chinese novels, I felt a very palpable absence. Power structures are there. They are not discussed. You recognize they are not being discussed. Fill in the blanks yourself. Does this make it great literature? Not necessarily. It's better than the lesser output of Murakami's, not as good as his highest heights. But I am very curious to read more from Ge Fei.
May 18, 2016
Maybe it's because I live in and love Beijing, but I loved reading this book and recognizing the places, the hutongs, DZM, Maliandao....more than that this book, its audiophile protagonist and the Beijing it is set in feel modern and humane. Also, excellent translation.
October 26, 2021
Alright, just going to say this at the onset: Read this book. Read this book if you want to read something funny but also speaking of the capitalistic world, the brutality, what consumer goods do to us as individuals and as a society, and how in all of this we are trying very hard to make sense of ourselves.
This is the first Fei I have read, and I cannot wait to get to Peach Blossom Paradise (shortlisted for the National Book Award 2021 in the translations category). The Invisibility Cloak is a novella about modern China, full of urban malaise and surrounded by this listlessness, bringing with it deep undercurrents in the self and society at large.
Cui puts together hi-fi sound systems that audiophiles want to buy, and who ironically know nothing about music. His sister’s family wants him out of her unused apartment. He has no friends to speak of. His life is basically stuck and going nowhere. In all of this, he agrees to take on a job for a “mysterious person” without knowing what the future will look like for him.
The book is not necessarily dark, since it does have moments of humour and mystery to some extent. At the same time, Fei explores themes with great heft in such a short book – from friendship to the idea of hope to the role of the individual in the state to the different worlds that are being inhabited by people – the two Beijings, the grimy, ruined one and the one that is shiny and modern, both home to its people, to their aspirations, dreams, and shattered hopes.
Fei’s writing and Morse’s translation are both stunning. There are no disconnected or disjointed sentences. It all flows beautifully – one chapter to another. The Invisibility Cloak is one of those books that you read and wish it were longer.
This is the first Fei I have read, and I cannot wait to get to Peach Blossom Paradise (shortlisted for the National Book Award 2021 in the translations category). The Invisibility Cloak is a novella about modern China, full of urban malaise and surrounded by this listlessness, bringing with it deep undercurrents in the self and society at large.
Cui puts together hi-fi sound systems that audiophiles want to buy, and who ironically know nothing about music. His sister’s family wants him out of her unused apartment. He has no friends to speak of. His life is basically stuck and going nowhere. In all of this, he agrees to take on a job for a “mysterious person” without knowing what the future will look like for him.
The book is not necessarily dark, since it does have moments of humour and mystery to some extent. At the same time, Fei explores themes with great heft in such a short book – from friendship to the idea of hope to the role of the individual in the state to the different worlds that are being inhabited by people – the two Beijings, the grimy, ruined one and the one that is shiny and modern, both home to its people, to their aspirations, dreams, and shattered hopes.
Fei’s writing and Morse’s translation are both stunning. There are no disconnected or disjointed sentences. It all flows beautifully – one chapter to another. The Invisibility Cloak is one of those books that you read and wish it were longer.
July 6, 2021
Really enjoyable. This is only the second Chinese author I've read in the last couple of years, and both Ge Fei and Liu Cixin are great writers.
It was a great break from the 'literature' that I've been reading because the characters and story were so much more compelling and yet the meaning was just as strong, but you don't feel like you're reading an allegory, you feel like you're reading a novel.
It was a great break from the 'literature' that I've been reading because the characters and story were so much more compelling and yet the meaning was just as strong, but you don't feel like you're reading an allegory, you feel like you're reading a novel.
December 21, 2017
For years, I've had a voyeuristic fascination with the world of audiophiles - folks who are constantly changing their audio systems or tinkering with the equipment they have in order to improve the sounds they hear. In the end, I decided that wasn't a world I wanted to live in. I love music too much to want to add a neurosis (I probably already have enough of those already) to something I love even more than reading.
The audiophile world can be fascinating, though, and that's the main reason I bought this book.
It turns out that, while the protagonist builds high end tube amplifiers, The Invisibility Cloak deals with life more than it does with equipment and music. It delves into the subjects of whether one can depend on family, or on friends, the trap of conventional beauty, and where true kindness might come from.
My three star rating is (obviously) strictly my judgement. I felt that the resolution of the novel was too pat for my tastes, but I have no arguments with those who have rated it higher.
The audiophile world can be fascinating, though, and that's the main reason I bought this book.
It turns out that, while the protagonist builds high end tube amplifiers, The Invisibility Cloak deals with life more than it does with equipment and music. It delves into the subjects of whether one can depend on family, or on friends, the trap of conventional beauty, and where true kindness might come from.
My three star rating is (obviously) strictly my judgement. I felt that the resolution of the novel was too pat for my tastes, but I have no arguments with those who have rated it higher.
August 26, 2017
I'm not sure anyone will enjoy this book the way I enjoyed this book --- I'm sorry if anyone reads this off my rating
March 8, 2021
"Bir kimsenin veya bir şeyin en iyi özellikleri genellikle yüzeyde bulunur ve aslında hepimiz ömürlerimizi orada tüketiriz..."
Kitabın yalın bir anlatımı var. Karmaşadan uzak dingin bir hava hakim. Ses sistemleri çok ilgi çekici gelmese de konu bütün olarak ele alındığında okunur.
Kitabın yalın bir anlatımı var. Karmaşadan uzak dingin bir hava hakim. Ses sistemleri çok ilgi çekici gelmese de konu bütün olarak ele alındığında okunur.
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