Twenty fragments of a ravenous youth

English language

Published Feb. 8, 2008 by Nan A. Talese/Douleday.

ISBN:: 978-0-385-52592-3
OCLC Number:: 185032527

(2 reviews)

From the author of the 2007 Orange Prize finalist A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers comes a wholly original and thoroughly captivating coming-of-age story that follows a bright, impassioned young woman as she rushes headlong into the maelstrom of a rapidly changing Beijing to chase her dreams. Twenty-one year old Fenfang Wang has traveled one thousand eight hundred miles to seek her fortune in contemporary urban Beijing, and has no desire to return to the drudgery of the sweet potato fields back home. However, Fenfang is ill-prepared for what greets her: a Communist regime that has outworn its welcome, a city under rampant destruction and slap-dash development, and a sexist attitude seemingly more in keeping with her peasant upbringing than the country's progressive capital. Yet Fenfang is determined to live a modern life. With courage and purpose, she forges ahead, and soon lands a job as a film extra. While …

From the author of the 2007 Orange Prize finalist A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers comes a wholly original and thoroughly captivating coming-of-age story that follows a bright, impassioned young woman as she rushes headlong into the maelstrom of a rapidly changing Beijing to chase her dreams. Twenty-one year old Fenfang Wang has traveled one thousand eight hundred miles to seek her fortune in contemporary urban Beijing, and has no desire to return to the drudgery of the sweet potato fields back home. However, Fenfang is ill-prepared for what greets her: a Communist regime that has outworn its welcome, a city under rampant destruction and slap-dash development, and a sexist attitude seemingly more in keeping with her peasant upbringing than the country's progressive capital. Yet Fenfang is determined to live a modern life. With courage and purpose, she forges ahead, and soon lands a job as a film extra. While playing roles like woman-walking-over-the bridge and waitress-wiping-a-table help her eke out a meager living, Fenfang comes under the spell of two unsuitable young men, keeps her cupboard stocked with UFO noodles, and after mastering the fever and tumult of the city, ultimately finds her true independence in the one place she never expected.At once wry and moving, Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth gives us a clear-eyed glimpse into the precarious and fragile state of China's new identity and asserts Xiaolu Guo as her generation's voice of modern China.

2 editions

martattack reviewed Twenty fragments of a ravenous youth by Xiaolu Guo

Review of 'Twenty fragments of a ravenous youth' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I ate. this. book. up! Very interesting perspective, still haven't read that much from women of color (i blame traditional education and a conservative father!!!) so every new book is a great way to shake things up in my brain.

I hustled my way through Beijing with Fenfang, and in a way I related a lot to the emptiness ahead, the void in front of you, being lost in life. Not wanting to go back to where you come from but not knowing what to go towards. Ohhh how I love finding pieces of media that capture my existential dread :))))

A quote that I liked:
"I recalled what Huizi said to me: 'Fenfang, never look back to the past, never regret, even if there is emptiness ahead.' Bue I couldn't help it. Sometimes I would rather look back if it meant that I could feel something in my heart, …

I ate. this. book. up! Very interesting perspective, still haven't read that much from women of color (i blame traditional education and a conservative father!!!) so every new book is a great way to shake things up in my brain.

I hustled my way through Beijing with Fenfang, and in a way I related a lot to the emptiness ahead, the void in front of you, being lost in life. Not wanting to go back to where you come from but not knowing what to go towards. Ohhh how I love finding pieces of media that capture my existential dread :))))

A quote that I liked:
"I recalled what Huizi said to me: 'Fenfang, never look back to the past, never regret, even if there is emptiness ahead.' Bue I couldn't help it. Sometimes I would rather look back if it meant that I could feel something in my heart, even something sad. Sadness was better than emptiness."

WINTERMARY

rated it

July 1, 2015

Subjects

Rural youth -- China -- Beijing -- Fiction
Extras (Actors) -- China -- Beijing -- Fiction