Te-Ping Chen

"A debut story collection offering a kaleidoscopic portrait of life for contemporary Chinese people, set between China and the United States"--

Stories

Land of Big Numbers

amari

I don't know why he's always so fixated on getting Mother Nature by herself, anyway, like he's a guy at a party trying to corner a pretty girl.

It's late in the day, yellow panels of light in the trees. I tell him we're probably going to miss the sunset. "There'll be another one tomorrow," I say.

Natalie

Short stories that read like a newspaper correspondence, capturing in journalistic prose stories about people in a rapidly changing, authoritarian country: the desires and ambitions, the haves and have nots. Highly recommended for its humanistic insight on contemporary China.

Garrett Jansen

It's a nice, light read with the ability to push up against the framing of a modern Chinese experience both in China and America. This one will definitely be in my mind for quite a bit.

Katie Chua

really really disliked the first two stories. the stories that are more "realist" or set in china were a disappointment. felt like a very negative and one-note portrayal of china (repressive government!! no freedom!! no democracy!!!). however, the ones with "magical realism" in them or set outside of china ("New Fruit" & "On The Street Where You Live" & "Gubeikou Spirit") were like 10/10 short stories that i will probably think of for a really long time so .... as most collections often are — it was a mixed bag

Emily C

this was beautifully and skillfully written— each story was very thought-provoking and unique (and oftentimes open ended, which sometimes I was like blah cause I wanted to find out what would happen lol)

it gives a glimpse into contemporary Chinese culture, beliefs, etc. and I found that to be very fascinating— I wish there were more stories to read and I found myself becoming attached to the characters despite the stories being so short

Vivian

Land of Big Numbers is a collection of 10 captivating and thought-provoking short stories depicting people in modern-day China and Chinese diaspora in the US. My personal favorites are New Fruit and Gubeikou Spirit. Beautifully written, Chen paints a vivid picture of contemporary China personal and political realities that are eerily on point. 

As Chinese diaspora, I feel bittersweet about this kind of books. They should be published in China, Chinese people are the ones who need this kind of critical voice about their motherland the most, but it’s not possible in current political climate. Books like this are only published in the west and they uphold western scrutiny of Chinese oppressive and authoritarian regime, which is true, albeit only half of the picture. Because anything praising China is automatically deduced to propaganda. I saw this book on Obama’s 2021 summer reading list and that made me wonder: how well do US presidents think they know China if they only get their insights from west sympathizers? Let alone average Americans. Confirmation bias hello?

I was also curious about the author’s background. She is ethnically Chinese but her grandparents moved to the US from China already, and Chen learned Chinese growing up and lived in China for a few years as a correspondent for WSJ. I found her acute observations and social insights on Chinese mentalities quite impressive for an American.

Natalie Sypeck 

Listened to audiobook: this is good because I'm pretty sure that I would have DNF if I was physically read it.  
I did really enjoy the writing style, which made this audiobook good for background noise, but just giving my full attention to the stories sometimes caused my brain to drift.
I think there were only 2/10 stories that I enjoyed (One about a guy building a plane and another about a neighborhoods obsession with a new type of fruit.)
Overall, I can't say that I understand the life of a Chinese person any better than I did before, and I spent 6 hr being kind of bored

Josefina

3.5
it's difficult to rate a collection of short stories, given that some of them might be great, while others not so much. i didn't find any story particularly bad, at worst just average, but i would definitely recommend this book especially for these two stories: New Fruit and Gubeikou Spirit

baelgia

I tend to gravitate toward hopeful stories because I like being happy. Yeah, there are other reasons, but a lot of it comes down to personal preference. With that said, Land of Big Numbers and the downward trajectory of its many lives was kinda hard for me to get into. Lulu took me a week to finish because I skimmed ahead (my toxic reader trait!), and when I realized what was lying in wait for me, thought that if I never finished it I could be happily in denial forever. 

So why 5 stars? Because I got to read Hotline Girl and be blown away by how well Chen captured the dynamic between Bayi and her ex-boyfriend-abuser. I was scared for her! And triggered on so many levels! And I got to read New Fruit. To use the first person we and pull it off is revolutionary, showstopping, stunning. Flying Machine reminded me of my dad. It left me feeling tender, and I'm glad this one, at least, (view spoiler)[ended on a hopeful note (hide spoiler)]. Beautiful Country reminded me of myself. What it's like to settle into a new culture. How hard it is to let go of what might be a doomed relationship when there's some good left in it. And, by extension, how easy it is to forget that there's any good with hindsight, and punish oneself for staying. Loved Gubeikou Spirit, too, though not for the relatability. Hate that it's even mildly relatable, actually.

Anyway, I think it is an Important Book. A "Must Read." An authentic portrait of lives. Give it a shot, and remember to jump on the train when it comes to pick you up.

Torrey

This is a collection of short stories, most of which are based in China. I haven't read many short story collections but this is definitely my favorite. These stories were able to grab my attention from the very beginning. It was very easy to switch between stories about different characters and it didn't feel jarring. The stories were quite creative and very enjoyable to read. My favorites were Hotline Girl, Flying Machine, and On the Street Where You Live. Many of the stories were complex enough to start in present day and then go back and forth between the past and present day to explain how the characters ended up where they were in present day. Considering the stories were between 20-30 pages, I found the characters to be pretty complex.

The only complaint I had about this books is how some of the short stories ended. All of the stories wrapped up in a fairly neat way. I wish some of the stories had a bit of a cliffhanger, or without a lot of the loose ends tied up. 

Overall I found this a very enjoyable read. There was a nice mix between incredibly realistic stories and stories that had some magical realism. I highly recommend if you are looking to get into reading short story collections!

*This was an arc that was sent to me to read and review, however all opinions are my own*

Allison Urban

Lulu: 4 stars
Hotline Girl: 4 stars
New Fruit: 5 stars
Field Notes on a Marriage: 5 stars
Flying Machine: 2 stars
On the Street Where You Live: 3 stars
Shanghai Murmur: 2 stars
Land of Big Numbers: dnf 
Beautiful Country: 4 stars
Gubeikou Spirit: 4 stars

Michael Chen

Christine Liu

I read most of this book in one sitting. It's a collection of ten contemporary short stories, mostly set in China across a variety of settings. Te-Ping Chen is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and it definitely shows in her seemingly effortless ability to capture brief but emotionally rich glimpses of humanity.

These stories revolve around multi-layered characters all striving for something and are told in clear, deliberate, evocative prose that feels so authentic. If you like Emily St. John Mandel's writing, you would probably enjoy this book. Some of the stories end abruptly and feel unfinished, but I think that also adds to the overall mood of change and distance and alienation.

What I liked about these stories is that they often subverted my expectations. I would start a story thinking I had a good idea what it was about, only to be surprised when it took a turn that I didn't see coming. My favorites are "New Fruit", a story with a touch of magical realism about a fruit that affects the emotions of its consumers, and "Gubeiko Spirit", an almost Kafkaesque tale about a group of strangers stranded in a train station.

Land of Big Numbers Stories

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Highlights