A review by neixin
The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories by Yu Chen, Regina Kanyu Wang

4.5

i’m in awe that an anthology that includes so many writers and translators, and such a wide range of stories managed to be so consistently fantastic. in awe, i tell u!

of course, there were some stories i loved more than others, but there wasn’t a single story i disliked, which has literally never happened to me with an anthology before. i wish i could review each story but i’m having a flareup (</3) so instead, i’m gonna group them by how much i enjoyed them (they’re not ranked within the categories though, i’m just listing them in the order they appear in the collection). i might go back and add individual reviews later.

favorites, will probably think about them forever
  • the stars we raised 逃跑星辰 by xiu xinyu 修新羽 (tr. judy yi zhou 周易)
  • the restaurant at the end of universe: tai-chi mashed taro 宇宙尽头的餐馆之太极芋泥 by anna wu 吴霜 (tr. carmen yiling yan 言一零)
  • the alchemist of lantian 蓝田半人 by baifanrushuang白饭如霜 (tr. ru-ping chen 陈汝平)
  • to procure jade 得玉 by gu shi 顾适 (tr. yilin wang 王艺霖)
  • the mountain and the secret of their names 山和名字的秘密 by wang nuonuo 王诺诺 (tr. rebecca f. kuang 匡灵秀)
really loved
  • the tale of wude’s heavenly tribulation 五德渡劫记 by count e E 伯爵 (tr. mel “etvolare” lee)
  • what does the fox say? 狐狸说什么？ by xia jia 夏笳
  • baby, i love you 宝贝宝贝我爱你 by zhao haihong 赵海虹 (tr. elizabeth hanlon 韩恩立)
  • the way spring arrives 春天来临的方式 by wang nuonuo 王诺诺 (tr. rebecca f. kuang 匡灵秀)
  • the name of the dragon 应龙 by ling chen 凌晨 (tr. yilin wang 王艺霖)
  • dragonslaying 屠龙 by shen yingying 沈璎璎 (tr. emily xueni jin 金雪妮)
  • the portrait 画妖 by chu xidao 楚惜刀 (tr. gigi chang 张菁)
liked
  • blackbird 黑鸟 by shen dacheng 沈大成 (tr. cara healey 贺可嘉)
  • a saccharophilic earthworm 嗜糖蚯蚓 by baifanrushuang白饭如霜 (tr. ru-ping chen 陈汝平)
  • a brief history of beinakan disasters as told in a sinitic language 衡平公式 by nian yu 念语 (tr. ru-ping chen 陈汝平)
  • new year painting, ink and color on rice paper, zhaoqiao village 年画 by chen qian 陈茜 (tr. emily xueni jin 金雪妮)
  • the woman carrying a corpse 背尸体的女人 by chi hui 迟卉 (tr. judith huang 錫影)

i also enjoyed the essays a lot. part of me wishes they’d been longer but i also don’t think that that necessarily would’ve worked for this collection; it’s just that i could read a lot more of these authors’ thoughts on translation and gender. my one real nitpick (and it’s a criticism i always have whenever bl gets brought up in nonfiction) is that ni’s essay net novels and the “she era”: how internet novels opened the door for female readers and writers in china presents danmei only from the angle of providing a space for female audiences to explore their desires, without touching on how frequently this leads to the fetishization of gay men…granted, that wasn’t the focus of the essay, and i’m admittedly more sensitive to this than your average reader because i’ve read, written and translated a frankly ridiculous amount of nonfiction about bl, and more nuanced takes of the genre are disappointingly few and far between. hence it being just a nitpick, but one i did have to rant about for a second. the rest of the essay was very informative though, or a great overview if the topic is one you’re already familiar with. my favorite essays were definitely yilin wang’s translation as retelling: an approach to translating gu shi’s “to procure jade” and ling chen’s “the name of the dragon”, and emily xueni jin’s is there such a thing as feminine quietness? a cognitive linguistics perspective, both of which offered really great views on different aspects of translation in succinct bite-sized chunks. not that i would’ve complained if they’d been longer.