CHINESE CLASSIC STORIES

In English translation, the stories of Lu Xun (1881-1936) are raw psychological close-ups, à la Chekhov, of Chinese people in the era between the World Wars. Some are downright beautiful; all contain insight and compassion. As read by Martin Jarvis, they sound more familiar than exotic, as if about our neighbors who have suddenly taken on strange names. Jarvis gives us all the subtext, all the unspoken resonance of his own appreciation of character and personality. In addition, he subtly changes tone to fit the tale--here wistful, there childlike, here ironic, there tongue-in-cheek. He has not Westernized these stories as much as internationalized them, making the characters and their concerns intelligible and absorbing for English speakers. A perfect companion to the same publisher's CHINESE WOMEN'S STORIES, read by the incomparable Miriam Margolyes. Y.R. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 00]