Letters and Blogs

This novel is a slow burner

Comment on "Not easy to read China" (Sept 8, 2009, China Daily)

The article claims that the reason why Jiang Rong's book Wolf Totem hasn't been selling as well as expected internationally is that Western readers fail to understand the cultural nuances in this work. In my view, Wolf Totem is one of the greatest literary masterpieces of all time and will, eventually, be recognized as such. While Jiang writes in a style that is unmistakably Chinese, even in its English translation, and the story is embedded in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, like all great literary masterpieces it transcends culture, time and place. Wolf Totem's many subliminal messages are eternal yet relevant to the current human predicament.