Cover Image: Shadow of the Hunter

Shadow of the Hunter

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

First of all, thank you to Sinoist Books who offered me a copy in return for an honest review.

Before I started writing this review, I looked to see when I had started reading the book and that's when I noticed it took me about a month to finish it.

After reading the blurp I was genuinely interested in reading the book. I've read a lot of stories about China, but I've got to say that this one was very different.

The book has 3 parts, each of them are about one of the main characters; Baorun, Miss Bai, Liu Sheng and decribe various events that happen in their lives. Which, are connected due to events in the past.

For a long time I was waiting for things to start happening as the story was evolving quite slowly, in my opinion. After learning the main reason why the 3 are connected (Miss Bai / Fairy Princess was raped) everything seems to continue on like nothing happened. We don't learn why the perpetrator commited his crime and how he feels about the situation. Not even later in the book.

The story continued to meander slowly, with few rapids on the way. Towards the end, when we are learning more about Miss Bai things are starting to happen, which got my attention a bit more.

Was this review helpful?

I read the book description on NetGalley before requesting this book and thought it might be interesting. I have to admit that though the translation is no doubt well done - the story was not one I could relate to. I tried skimming ahead to see if later in the story things would change but...it did not happen. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book but it was not a good fit and as I did not read all of it do not feel qualified to write a comprehensive review. (DNF)

Was this review helpful?

In “Shadow of the Hunter” Su Tong takes us to a small provincial hell in which the neighbours know about one another more than they should and aren’t willing to let those memories be forgotten - every grudge and every favour are equivalent to incurring an unspoken debt. In this small town right by Red Toon Street, under the shade of a nearby psychiatric ward, lives Baorun, Liu Sheng and an orphaned girl, who entitled herself the Fairytale Princess. Their fates became irrevocably bound with one another following an assault… which shouldn’t have taken place. The victim, the guilty, and the accused - which of them lied? Who is the prey and who is the predator? And who is the hunter, hidden in the bushes?
The author made a skillful reference to Chuang-Tzu’s tale about a praying mantis, who failed to take notice of a bird, oriole, awaiting the right moment to eat it while the mantis itself was fixated on hunting a cicada. The book is divided into three parts - each dedicated to another character and each differing in its features, on the principle of the further, the darker. (Baorun’s Spring, that is part I, appealed to me with its lovely penmanship and ever-present humour - you can’t possibly imagine how funny it was to see a lively retiree claim he has lost his soul and that he can recover it only with the help of his ancestors, who seem to be doing everything in order to display their resentment upon having their bones buried in the casing of a torch.) The story is entwined with elements of magic realism - they complete the image of this seemingly progressive community, the pragmatism of which didn’t stop it from cultivating old superstitions despite going with the times.
And here’s where the review should end, but I cannot keep quiet about the fact that - in spite of everything I have just written there - the main characters, compared to supporting ones, seem quite superficial, and even Baorun’s grandfather has more depth than his grandson. Because of it I couldn’t care less about the lives of the trio I mentioned, and parts II and III, for me, could simply remain unwritten.
My rating of this book as a whole has suffered because of it - after a phenomenal beginning it morphed into a rather mediocre piece.
I can recommend this book to those who have already developed a strong interest in Chinese literature, because I’m afraid that others could end up simply discouraged to pursue it.
(My thanks to The Sinoist and Alain Charles Asia Publishing for the Advanced Reader's Copy!)

Was this review helpful?

This book is a retelling of an old Chinese tale. But I must admit that I am not a big fan of retellings. My initial thoughts were surprise - I liked it better than I though I would.

It was beautifully written. An easy read. The characters were good and well written. The story was slow, complex and challenging. Great cover.

Ultimately I quite enjoyed this book. Though I found it a bit long and found myself losing interest at times.

Thankyou to netgalley, the publisher and the author for sending me this ARC.

Was this review helpful?

A very simple story, consisting of just 3 central characters (4, if you count the grandfather), and their trajectory in life due to a single incident and its impact on all three.

A good story. I would've liked to know more about Baorun's time in prison. I don't know how accurate the translation is (because I don't know Chinese language), I also had a bit of trouble understanding the year/ decade Red Toon Street was set in, at the beginning.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

Here's a great collection of unlikable characters that you can't help but continue reading to see how everything hashes out. They're all shades of grey and suitably complex. Through them the author explores the dark and cruel corners of human nature. Equal parts dark and disturbing, while also being fascinating all they way to the end. However, if you're not into dark and twisted tales or characters with a dash of surrealism, this book may not be for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and Alain Charles Asia Publishing for an eARC of this book, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Was this review helpful?

Wow, this was a long and tough ride! I read on this book for so long (10 days) that I didn't expect it to end someday. 😃 The book itself is separated into three parts, which each focus on one of the main characters. So in the first part, we meet Baorun and his family. The story starts with the focus solely on his grandfather, who loses his soul and in an attempt to get it back, he starts digging up the whole street, because he buried a remainder of his ancestor's bones (which may help in restoration of his soul) someday but can't remember where. He then gets put into a psychiatric ward—this is when the focus shifts to Baorun, who seemingly grows up very fast and has to take care of his grandfather besides getting the hang of life in general and girls in special. So we get to know his frenemy (sort of), who organizes a date for Baorun with a (very unfriendly) girl named Fairy Princess, and this is pretty much the starting point for everything going to hell in the following 20 years.

I liked the first part of SHADOW OF THE HUNTER very much and would have loved to hear even more about Baorun's grandfather and the culture of the inhabitants of Red Toon street. But as we get to the second part, the sole focus lays on the early adulthood of his frenemy, and honestly I couldn't care less. At the end of part 1, he does something that is beyond my imagination and he feels no remorse whatsoever about that. So I didn't care much about him and his bad luck that comes with shifty business.

The last part then finally focuses on Fairy Princess, which I quite enjoyed. Not that she (or any of the others) is a very likeable character, but she seems to develop at least a bit, even if she doesn't show any reflective behavior. Speaking of which, all three characters were somehow distant and I couldn't connect to them most of the time. The author's neutral/cold narrative voice adds to that, I think.

All in all, I would like to recommend this 20 years spanning tale of three people who have come to get mixed up in each other's lives, even if they don't like each other at all. Red Toon street resembles a place we surely all know—suburbian and with people who talk with everybody about everybody and seem to have eyes and ears everywhere. This setting with a Chinese background turned out to be a very intriguing read. My only critique point is the length of this book. 480 pages doesn't seem long at first, but as we're coming to the second part (which I didn't like as much as the other two), the book really seems to drag on. But twenty years' time is a lot to cover, hence the book is getting longer.

Was this review helpful?

* warning includes subjects such as rape and upsetting representation of mental health illnesses maybe triggering
never read anything like this so I’ll definitely remember it. Interesting characters and setting in the book not particularly a happy one though. Objectively this book was a strong book with good structure language and character development. However the ending was rather abrupt and happened very suddenly. The way mental health was managed could have been a lot better. I felt the author stereotyped people who struggle with mental health. The author should have also given more sympathy towards fairy princess.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Netgalley, Alain Charles Publishing and Su Tong for this e-copy in return for my honest review. I found this story tough going to begin with, but I'm glad that I stuck with it as it's definitely a strange yet, enchanting story. Well written and definitely worth a read.

Was this review helpful?

"It was to be a spring of accidents". "It's burst-my soul is escaping...blue green smoke...my head is empty, completely empty!". "If our heads can be thought of as rich, fertile fields, Grandfather's was a stretch of pillaged wilderness and a scene of desolation...The news that Grandfather had lost his soul swept through Red Toon Street".

Loss of one's soul creates a loss of self-respect. Grandfather was advised to burn incense and make offerings at the tomb of his ancestors to beg for the return of his soul. Here's the rub...the graveyard had been bulldozed. "...the ancestors become lonely souls and wandering ghosts". Grandfather managed to find two ancestral bones at the gravesite, but, where did he bury the bones for safekeeping? He must dig...dig...dig everywhere to find the bones and reclaim his soul. His sudden appearance with his spade offended the residents of Red Toon Street. After turning his own room into an excavation site, he was whisked away to Jingting Hospital. He continued to dig...holly trees...yellow poplars. Something needed to be done to curb this aberrant behavior. "In the face of Grandfather's mania...the baton of responsibility had passed to Baorun". [the grandson] Staying at Yingting Hospital as Grandfather's caregiver, Baorun "researched and innovated...developed consummate skills...". Baorun became a hospital celebrity! This celebrity would have its price. It would play out through the actions of three protagonists...Baorun, Fairy Princess [aka Miss Bai], and Liu Sheng. Each one had a story to tell. An act of violence...revenge...Who is the hunter? Who is the prey? Roles keep reversing. Is forgiveness possible? Can a debt be considered paid in full?

The lives of Baorun, Miss Bai and Lui Sheng are intertwined through their actions on the grounds of Jingting Hospital and at Red Toon Street. Fairy Princess was the adopted daughter of old gardener, the chief architect of the Jingting Hospital's greenification project. She had no friends, was arrogant and rude. The only creatures she valued were her rabbits. Lui Sheng, the butcher's son , was a prominent celebrity on Red Toon Street. "If you ate meat, there was no avoiding the Lui family". Lui Sheng visited Baorun at Jingting Hospital to request a favor. The dark side of human behavior was exhibited as these protagonists clashed through their actions and accompanying vitriol. Some actions were fed by ancestral beliefs and superstitions. Beliefs, however, were starting to change as society was evolving and modernizing.

"Shadow of the Hunter" by Su Tong is a fascinating literary novel, a snapshot of Chinese culture and folklore. Highly recommended!

Thank you Alain Charles Asia Publishing, Sinoist Books and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

This is one of those books that constantly made me feel that I am simply not clever enough to read it, let alone understand what's going on. Every time I felt I could grasp what is going on, I could just moments later feel it all slipping through my fingers. Sadly not a book for me.

Was this review helpful?

Will return to this one later and try again as the plot really interested me, but for now a DNF for me unfortunately. I lost interest in this story and could not finish. Maybe this book (being my first of Chinese literature) was just not what I was expecting.

Was this review helpful?

This just wasn't for me. I found it hard to read as the characters were so unlikable and the story was filled with dark trauma that never felt like it was appropriately addressed in the characters' responses. The writing is well done, but I just didn't gel with the plot or characters.

Was this review helpful?

trigger warning
<spoiler> ableism, mental illness </spoiler>

Do you know these books that are totally different from what you expected yet exactly as the blurp told you?
I've had this problem with this book and am now dnf-ing at 18%.

Shadow of the Hunter starts with the protagonist's grandfather who lives with the protagonist and his parents in a single house. The protagonist's mother wants to get rid of him, and that the grandfather becomes dotty and starts a quest for his soul which he believes to have lost provides a reason to dump hin in a psychiatric hospital.

See, grandfather digs holes in order to find a flashlight he borrowed decades ago, but due to memory loss and serious changes to the landscape, he can't find it and the ancestor-bones that are supposedly contained within. He starts to randomly dig, even in the hospital, and the family has to decide between either paying fees for the destroyed garden or babaysit him. While he's in the hospital.
It ends with the protagonist developing a kink for bondage while tying people up.

At the first labotomy joke I drew the line.
Sorry, no. Yes, you told me it's set in the 20th century in a mental hospital, but no, you didn't tell me it would be like this. I am sure it's very literary and metaphoric and stuff, but as a person still suffering from mistreating in the psychiatric sector, I can't do this.
I wish I were able to laugh about it, but I'm not. So maybe go and read another review if the blurp sounded interesting to you.

I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I don't read much Chinese literature hence I was skeptical to read this initially. At the start, I did find it quite an effort trying to get through the book as it kept mentioning about losing one's soul. It was kinda hard to trudge on and when it reached the 80 yuan bickering between Baorun with Fairy Princess, it slowly progressed to a more bearable story-line.

Thankfully, this is a well translated book with a simple yet poetic justice approach that made this book work. However, I did find there were too many fillers that sort of lengthen the book itself hence it is a rather thick read. It had me flipping through a lot wondering when it will end. Aside from that, it was illustrated nicely of the surroundings and plots with a straight worded descriptive prose.

Overall, the book shares the indifference in culture, filial piety and civic consciousness of a small town. Most believing in their upbringing, praying to the God and respecting their ancestors and elderly. Bad luck and untoward wrath will come upon those who ignore. It sure seems like a book of mindful teaching with a philosophical approach to me, with Confucius, Buddhism and Christianity addled into this book.

I would recommend this book to someone who can patiently read through the story and understanding the moral of it all. It may be dark but it sure has lots of hidden messages and teachings to be digested. All in all, it eventually became a nice book to dwell on. I especially liked the third part, Fairy Princess' perils and dilemma. The ending was truly unexpected yet worth the effort to finally finished reading it. That twist though... so reminded me of Murakami's style of writing.

Was this review helpful?

Shadow of the Hunter is a strange novel. The strength of the book is in its quirky and perfectly unlikeable characters. For the first third of the book I was sucked in. After that, I lost my interest. I found the story went on and on without leaving much to be desired.

This review is based on NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

Was this review helpful?

This is my first time reading Chinese literature and it was an an interesting story. Somewhere in the middle I almost gave up on the book but somehow stick till the end and I'm glad I did it.
The story is divided into 3 parts, each in the POV of our 3 main characters - Baorun , Liu Sheng and Miss Bai- each of them interconnected by a heinous act.

Was this review helpful?

This is an epic tale of three characters, Baorun, Liu Sheng and the "Fairy Princess," who live in a small town in China. Each section of the book focuses on one character but their stories are interwoven throughout. The three were childhood acquaintances (not really friends) who had a pivotal encounter one day that affected their lives. Now they all owe some type of debt to each other. Each choice that is made, affects a new course in life. Baorun has an obsession with knot tying which lands him in trouble. Liu Sheng comes from a well-to-do family but has problems with self-control. The "Fairy Princess" came from very humble beginnings but has always believed she was destined for greater things. Baorun's grandfather is also a main character throughout who thinks that he has lost his soul through an injury in the top of his head. Did he really lose his soul? Or is it old-age dementia....mental illness? There are many references to ancestral ghosts who come back to haunt the living. Or is it just the characters' own consciences gnawing at their own souls? You'll find some humor as well as darkness in this book. Su Tong was a joint winner of the Mao Dun Literature Prize for this novel in 2015. I did have trouble following some of the English translation since it was very much a British English translation. The word choice and phrasing was a little stiff and unusual for an American reader.

Was this review helpful?

This was a difficult book for me to rate. While I felt it was good overall, it was a bit long and confusing at times. It was looking to teach a lesson which I sometimes felt it left some potholes in its wake. I am not a huge fan of magical realism in books that are historical... but I actually really enjoyed that aspect of this book. It was definitely well written... maybe to the point where it went over my head at some points.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you for the ARC.

It’s always good to see more Su Tong in translation. Wives and Concubines (which I came to know thanks to a VHS of Raise the Red Lantern from the cupboard-sized local video rental shop I used to browse while waiting to pick up an Indian takeaway as a teenager) was a formative work for me in developing a love of Chinese literature. Only now I see how embarrassingly young Su Tong was when he wrote it. Before Petulia’s Rouge Tin finally appeared in translation in 2018 I feel it had been a long time since there had been a new Su Tong; now just two years later we have Shadow of the Hunter translated by James Trapp. It has been a relatively quick turnaround from the Chinese release, helped no doubt by the book winning the 2015 Mao Dun award.

Shadow of the Hunter is a contemporary setting (which is somewhat unusual for Su Tong), focused on three inhabitants of ‘poverty-stricken, run-down’ Red Toon Street: Baorun, Liu Sheng and Fairy Princess (later Miss Bai). The book tells the story in three parts, with each character taking it in turn to be the focus of perspective. The three are linked by the Jingting Mental Hospital, at which Baorun’s grandfather is a patient after ‘losing his soul’ (a metaphor used throughout – madness is never far from the surface). Through looking after his grandfather, the lonely and repressed Baorun discovers a knack – or is it a fetish? – for tying people up. Fairy Princess, who was raised in the grounds of the hospital by the hospital’s gardener (the patients would give her their pills in the place of candy), is wilful and naturally hostile. Liu Sheng is a notorious local butcher who initially asks Baorun to tie up his wayward sister. At the end of the first part in a tense encounter between the three characters, Liu Sheng rapes Fairy Princess (and cooks her rabbits), blaming Baorun who is sent to prison for ten years, and the three characters continue to circle each other, inescapably bound together and to Red Toon Street.

The plot is quick and propulsive, although somewhat aimless until the event that defines the three characters. The tone, too, is highly changeable – at times cynical and funny, at times horrifying, and ultimately melodramatic. It derives its motion entirely from the agency and reagency of the three characters that Su Tong has convincingly built – each of them acts as you would expect, and each of them is fully realised. As well as usually writing in a historical 20th century setting, Su Tong usually focuses his stories on women and is often lauded for his portrayals of women. I was surprised at first, then, to find Baorun and Liu Sheng the focus of the early events, but as the plot develops it becomes clear that Su Tong is exploring male sexual violence and Miss Bai, who later becomes pregnant by a Taiwanese businessman, becomes the most developed, most complicated character as she navigates an unwanted pregnancy and the shadow of Baorun and Liu Sheng’s violence. The book is so rich in observations, with even minor characters (such as the Taiwanese businessman’s wife) not just well-rounded and memorable but substantial.

I spent the early parts of the book alert for allusion or deeper meaning, either about human nature or about contemporary China, but I think the book can be taken at face value as a character-driven story about the suddenness and the burden of violence. Some other themes are ever-present: madness, for instance, ghosts, and the vicissitudes of the modern world (e.g., “There’s no shame in losing your soul; the way the world is going now, it’s happening to lots of people”, and the Taiwanese businessman referring to Miss Bai’s foetus as a ‘futures deal’). I happened to have read Crime and Punishment shortly before reading this and there are a lot of parallels for all three characters about the burden of crime and violence. It is like an existentialist Mexican stand-off, and the overall impact is deeply affecting.

The translation is exemplary – the plot and the characters are deeply intertwined and Trapp is able to keep the pace quick while able to reflect the appropriate tone and convey the characters comprehensively, and provide vivid, meaningful descriptive context (‘The sunlight summed the dust in the room; dust so old it wavered unsteadily, and moved only very slowly, making several vague attempts to coalesce, before it finally succeeded in forming a grubby rainbow that slanted lazily across the room’). I am a little unconvinced by the decision to include the occasional explanation or annotation through in-line brackets (‘”Just who do you think you are? Gong Li (a famous Chinese film actress)?”’). It’s better than footnotes but breaks the narrative voice, and surely could have been included in the narrative.

I am also sceptical of the translation of the title. Shadow of the Hunter has a glancing relationship with the Chinese title 黄雀记 (‘Yellowbird Story’, which I’ve also seen translated as ‘Beware of the Siskin’), which is a reference to the Zhuangzi story about the praying mantis stalking a cicada and being unaware of the bird stalking it (螳螂捕蝉黄雀在后). If you know the Zhuangzi it’s easy to see how this is reflected in the three main characters, and this story sensibly also forms part of the cover design and the blurb copy (though I can’t say I care for the cod-mystical framing ‘The people of China tell of an ancient tale…’ but hey, they’ve got a book to sell). The title makes sense knowing the context but it is too far removed from it, and in itself it absolutely suggests a thriller, as does the publicity line ‘Prey, Predator, Predator, Prey. On this street, the hunters are also the hunted’. I just found that it jarred with the content and tone of the book.

Was this review helpful?