The Artisans; a Vanishing Chinese Village
Title of the book: The Artisans; a Vanishing Chinese Village (original title? 一个一个人
申赋渔)
Publisher: Astra House
Publishing Date: 2022 (2015)
ISBN:9781662600760
Summary:
Evoking Studs Terkel, Shen Fuyu delivers a rollicking deep dive into working life in a small village in rural China, tracing the last 100 years of history.
Born in Shen Village in Southeast China, Shen Fuyu grew up in a family of farmers. Years later, Shen, now a writer, returned to his hometown to capture the village’s rich history in the face of industrialization.
Through his own childhood memories and those of his ancestors, Shen resurrects the working life of Shen Village through interlinked stories of fifteen artisans as their lives intersect over the course of a century. While Shen’s view of his hometown and his heritage is tinged with nostalgia, he does not romanticize it. Nor does he sugarcoat the backbreaking difficulty of life in rural China, but he still captures its small satisfactions and joys of loving one’s work with a great deal of care.
In an acerbic, earthy and unsparing style that swings from poignancy to comedy, sometimes within a single paragraph, Shen evokes the spirits of these workers–a bamboo-weaver and his beloved bull, a carpenter’s magical saw, the deserter who became the village lantern-maker and a rebellious woman who beats up her own kidnapper.
A reflection on the vicissitudes of small-town life during the epic shift from agricultural to industrial civilization, The Artisans vividly details the hardships, friendships, and communal mythmaking of a disappearing community.
(From goodreads)
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Personal Opinion:
I don't know how to start this review, besides the fact I loved the book to pieces (my 9 year old son who has a Chinese heritage also loved listening to the summaries) but I think I will start with my own anecdote. Not far from where I live is a historical farm that I visit once a year or so and right across from the historical buildings is a road with modern day cars driving through as well as numerous shops. First time I saw it, there is something poignant in seeing modern day when one is on historical grounds, and that moment continues to haunt me still. While intimate with anecdotes about various villagers that lived and made their homes within the village, there is the same emotion of poignancy watching progress and seeing the community begin to disappear. The past doesn't appear with rose colored glasses in THE ARTISANS, but knowing the progress and the future doesn't make it anymore sadder. Something else I appreciated about THE ARTISANS is learning Chinese culture and hoping that one day my 9 year old will read it and see the China of his ancestors.
This was given for review
5 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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