Ghost Cities

Siang Lu’s protagonist, Xiang Lu, is fired from his job as a Mandarin–English translator at Sydney’s Chinese Consulate on account of his not being able to speak Mandarin. This, the opening joke of the novel, becomes more and more serious with each retelling. There are two narratives at play throughout – that of Xiang, in his strange new employment as an internet phenomenon, and a tale of emperors and betrayals in China’s distant past. It does not take long before the characters of these seemingly disparate tales begin to reflect and collapse upon one another.

There are a great many moments of humour here. Lu’s sharp wit is writ large across the worlds of this book, where myths and ideas become truth simply by virtue of being acted upon. There are moments where the prose is cuttingly self-referential. For all the verve of Lu’s satire, the glimpses of what lies beneath farce were what made this novel truly memorable. As his characters feel their way carefully in the dark, seeking the truths of themselves, Lu reveals a precious layer of vulnerability and care.

This is a work of duality, of the simultaneous existence of contradictory realities whose conflicts spark greater truths than a consistent system could ever conjure. The experience of reading the book suits this also. Lu has created a work of such densely layered references and meanings that, in the hands of another, might have slowed the reader’s journey and lessened their enjoyment. However, his words and stories tumble forth with such force of life that I couldn’t help but be swept up in tides of joy, sorrow, anger and love. Lu has created a surprising work of overwhelming meaning and feeling, which has left me with much to reflect on and retrospectively parse – much like the experience of life itself.