One of the greatest story of all time simply told.I had come across this story way back in 1980s when I was privileged to see the Bengali theatre adaptation "Jagannath".Almost immediately I borrowed a selection of his stories in Bengali "LU HSUNer nirvachit galpo" edited and translated by Sandip Sengupta (Katha o Kahini) and read all the stories. The very first story in the book was 'dairy of a madman' and the seventh story was 'the true storey of Ah Q'.Thereafter I bought every LU XUN (or LU HSUN as he was known then) books I could lay my hands on. Of course courtesy Foreign Languages Press, Peking (Beijing), they were affordable (not as affordable as the Progress Publishers books, but still, affordable for students earning on the sly with one or two tutions).His stories, prose poems, essays all are so simply written that even bad translators couldn't kill their flavour. In variably, the English translations were barely passable, but the Bengali translations used to be pretty good. I don't know Chinese and don't know if any of the Bengali translators knew Chinese.Having a look at the LU Xun books on my self, I find: (FLP - Foreign Languages Press, E - English)1. Call to Arms (FLP - E)2. Old Tales Retold (FLP - E)3. Wild Grass (FLP - E)4. Wandering (FLP - E)5. Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk (FLP - E)6. Selected Stories of LU HSUN (FLP - E)7. Selected Essays (Ed. Samar Ghosh, BENGALI)8. Selected Stories (BENGALI)I had read all his available books. All these books still remain with me - literally and figuratively!!!
The True Story of Ah Q was not difficult for me to read in terms of understanding the text. Although, the first time I read this novel I took everything that happened to Ah Q at face value. I understood that there were many underlying themes within the story, I was not able to understand all of them because I did not know much about Chinese social and political history. After further analyzing the short novel, I was able to see that Lu Xun wrote this story to bring about social awareness among Chinese people. There are many issues of moral apathy and mob mentality in the writing that spin a tale of sadness. It is my understanding that Ah Q was meant to represent the "every man" of China during the time the novel was written, and these ideas of mob mentality and the extreme close mindedness of his neighbors lead to his demise.
Do You like book The True Story Of Ah Q (2003)?
A remarkable short story, about a man who is relentlessly proud of his 'spiritual victories', after he gets beaten up, humiliated, and gets his head sliced off while trying to think of a line from Chinese opera to quote. Thick with allegory. Need to get more from this author.
—Hadrian
This piece is an eye opener to the Chinese culture, although it comes in the form of a Fiction novel. The novel takes place in the country side of China, and follows the character named Ah Q from the time of his adulthood until death. Ah Q is considered as nobody amongst the town people and he is very much complacent with that, until he gets the opportunity to make a name for himself and reputation. The novel gives way to the struggle and standard that the Chinese are held up to, in order to be considered a success.
—Stephanie
Divertida historia de este peculiar personaje. A Q (cuyo apellido no se puede confirmar) es el payaso del pueblo que siempre intenta ser mejor que los demás. Intentos que lo ponen en situaciones donde siempre terminal muy mal parado y la mayoria de las veces golpeado.Esta breve historia de tan singular personaje tiene de marco los últimos días del imperio chino y los inicios de la revolución, pero estos aunque afectan de manera dramática a los personajes, son más un eco que una confrontación directa.Con gran detalle narra las interacciones sociales en esta aldea y como por conveniencia el trato personal puede cambiar de un día a Otro.Es una historia divertida, interesante y sumamente corta que vale la pena leer.
—Jose Vera
