Te-Ping Chen's "Land of Big Numbers" is a collection of short stories about people in both modern-day China and Chinese people living abroad. A number of the stories in Land of Big Numbers definitely pushed into the magical realism realm, and it presents a setting and a series of characters that are a welcome difference from the fiction I have been reading lately. I really liked how Chen's, which take place mostly in unnamed urban and rural areas of China, really make the reader think about how globalization impacts all corners of the earth. I really enjoyed this book!

Whether it's written realistically as a slice of life piece or has some fantastical elements, whether it takes place in mainland or abroad, every single one of these beautifully written tales comes pregnant carrying several layers on what it means to live as part of China in the modern-day. Te-Ping Chen has definitely emerged onto the fiction stage with an absolute bang that has definitely put me on the lookout for more from her in what I hope is a not-too-far future.

China is the most populated country in the world, and it has been so but a number of years. So the title is just absolutely fitting.

Obviously, the author focuses in specific stories from a small group of characters in these ten stories. I have to say in advance that I usually like short stories, and collections books with a concept or a link between these short stories, (be it topic, genre, character, plots, atmosphere...) do appeal to me. It is a mixture of plausible every day stories which suddenly have a turn to the weird and melodramatic.

I read at another webpage that the author is a journalist who lives in the USA, and I could feel it so. Her outlook is modern and very urban. I specially liked this aspect in the story about people trapped in an underground station. I linked it to Latin American magical realism. The story of La Autopista del Sur by Julio Cortázar is the biggest reference. In the story of the Argentinian, it was a huge traffic jam which made realistic life stories unravel. I also linked it to Buñuel's movie El discreto encanto de la burgesía, one of my favourite movies every. On it, people cannot leave a house for some reason after a dinner feast.

All these references from the Spanish-speaking world show how I read these short stories. Chinese culture is something foreign to me, so I had to look for referents that spoke to me. After all, and that is my conclusion, people are people, and we all are the same, made of the same materials. Did I catch every cultural reference? Probably not, but I enjoyed the stories all the same. If the author says that events would happen like that, I have no reason to suspect her of lying.

My second favourite story is Lulu. I liked the big contrast between the escapism of a teenager who uses video gaming as a way out to the realism of the twin, who uses the same media to expose corruption in an ever-reaching Communist party who has become cruel, dictatorial, and surrealist, all at the same time. Different paths can be natural responses to the same events.

All in all, I would recommend it to anybody who wants to know about the modern experience of being Chinese, or for somebody who likes literary works in general. Each short story has been taken care of individually. All of them have been beautifully written, and several endings caught me by surprised, which I appreciated a lot.

Just like its characters within the short stories, this book cannot simply be put on one shelf. Multidimensional and poetic, "Land of Big Numbers" is a beautiful collection of short stories which will stick with me for a long time.

I have a very keep academic and personal interest in China and it's culture, so this collection was a full on feast for me. Unlike many other contemporary writers, the author understand that today's China is not confined to its borders, but rather that it's global through its spreading culture and migrants. As I was reading one story a day, I found myself thinking about the particular segment and its characters throughout my day at work and elsewhere, which to me is testament to how good the writing and plot are.

Without revealing anything, I just want to say that my favorites were "Lulu," "Hotline Girl" and "Land of Big Numbers," although it's a close call because actually all 10 were thought-provoking, very entertaining and educational in a subtle way. While I'm not usually one to read short stories, this book was definitely an instant favorite.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Land of Big Numbers is a series of speculative short stories that touch on different aspects of Chinese culture and history, in a very broad scope. Each story is a like a brief vignette the lives of the characters and often end abruptly, leaving you to wonder what will happen to the characters as they move on in their lives. Personal favorites were New Fruit, Land of Big Numbers, and Gubeikou Spirit.

I really enjoyed the speculative aspect of these stories. Each one is a bit different. Some have more obvious connections to an element of Chinese history/government, and others have a more broad insight into the Chinese spirit (if that's one way to put it) and human nature.

I think some of the elements of Chinese culture can be hard to pick up for someone who is not Chinese, however, the stories all touch on different elements of human nature that can be enjoyed by everyone.

These stories have a slice of life feel, but in a slightly dark and melancholic way, with a dose of speculative settings. The feel of these stories actually remind me a bit of Makoto Shinkai's anime movies.