Braised Pork

An intriguing, mesmerizing, mystical journey of self discovery, of going from "floating through life" to actually having purpose.

Braised Pork begins with Jia Jia discovering her husband dead in the bath, and from there readers go on a dreamlike journey as she breaks free from the constraints of her previous life, and into the world of water.

It's real and surreal all at once, an uneasy tension resting under everything; An Yu's writing is sparse but envelops through isolation, independence and mysticism. The mystique of the fish-man is interesting, yet the main draw is the reserved and intriguing protagonist as she gradually embraces a new freedom. 

This is a book I started late at night just to see how it was and really didn't want to put down. Sharp writing, strange and brilliant book; it flows in unexpected ways. A unique read.

I was sent a copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, the title is odd and a bit obscure and the description was intriguing but gave little away. I have to say though I was pleasantly surprised at every turn, from the shocking opening, the emotional twists and turns leading from that and right on through the quasi-mystical journey our protagonist goes on.

The book as a whole is very deftly written, talking plainly where necessary, alternately delving deeply or skimming over issues and situations as they arise, based on how the narrative is best served and the central mystery of the story is at once compelling, satisfying, and never fully revealed.

It’s just a thoroughly enjoyable book to read, highly recommended, I can’t fault it.

Set in present day Beijing, this is a story about a woman who finds her husband drowned in the bathtub. Jia Jia's husband was a very wealthy businessman but he leaves all his money to his family apart from the apartment he shared with his wife, which is the only thing he leaves to her, apart from a strange drawing of a half-man half-fish, scribbled on a piece of paper and left by the bathtub.  Jia Jia falls into despair after her husbands death.  His family disown her and she worries how she will manage for money as her husband never allowed her to work.  And Jia Jia gradually becomes more and more intrigued by the fish man drawing, obsessed even.  Why did her husband leave such a strange thing for her when he died?
This is a slow burning and sometimes surreal tale about finding oneself, with a touch of folklore and superstition.   A slightly weird but quite wonderful little story.

Braised Pork is an unusual book, detached and contemplative in equal measures. Not all that much happens, but the storytelling is rich with metaphor and emotions the characters struggle to understand or define.

There were moments when the narrative became a little too impenetrable, but on the whole I found Jia Jia to be an interesting and empathetic navigator. I particularly enjoyed the reflective passages: there are some wonderful evocations of loneliness and finding yourself when all else is lost.

Braised Pork is a strange and beautiful book. It's captivating with its dream-like storytelling and emotive use of magical realism, as immersive as the world of water Jia Jia strives to find.

Dark and strange and wonderful and mysterious - a book to think about a long time after you've finished reading it.

‘We explain things that we don’t understand by using other things that we don’t understand.’

When Wu Jia Jia finds her husband dead in their bathroom, bent over the bath with his head submerged (we never find out if it is suicide or an accident), her life is totally changed. Left with only the apartment they shared and a small amount of money, she frequents a local bar where she meets Leo, has a brief affair, and ultimately moves in with her aunt and grandmother to save money. All this time she is haunted by an enigmatic drawing left by her husband in the bathroom, a fish with a man’s head. She is tormented by dreams where she finds herself immersed in the ‘world of water’, and as she struggles to sketch what she sees we are drawn into a world where the surreal, the magic realist, mingles with what we assume is real.

Following in her husband’s footsteps, Jia Jia takes a trip to Tibet, and from here the story unravels in a series of remarkable inter-connections where memory and reality become blurred with this myth (or vision) of the fish-man, whose connections with Jia Jia go deeper then even she could imagine. Along the way she meets Ren Qi, who is searching for his missing wife, and Grandpa, an enigmatic old man who has some connection to the fish-man carvings in a small Tibetan village. 

This wonderful book reminds me of the world of the magic realists mixed with the cinematic vision of Guillermo del Toro. As Jia Jia’s story becomes a quest to find the truth about the world of water, it also becomes a search for who we are, about family, and about finding ‘home’. The braised pork of the title refers to a small incident late in the book where Jia Jia has a meal with her estranged father, who finally reveals the truth behind the fish-man story. The simple act of eating braised pork, her favourite meal as a child, releases a wave of emotion for Jia Jia that signifies a re-connection with her past, her memories and her family.

Quietly understated, full of slightly elusive imagery and metaphors, An Yu’s novel is a complex and moving story of one woman’s search for meaning. There is sheer beauty in her use of language, finding depth in simplicity: ‘She could not remember the details, only the existence of details’. This is not a novel that shows you the answers, only the questions. It is a novel to make you think and rethink the issues of loss and grief, of family and the intangible space between our ‘normal’ world and what lies beyond. Elegant and profoundly moving, this is a stunning debut from this Chinese-American author, and clearly signals an important new voice in fiction. 5 stars, no question.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

An Yu's novel is a poignanty quiet and contemplative tale of family and finding oneself with a bit of magical realism mixed in; the main protagonist, Jia Jia dreams and/or hallucinates about the 'world of water', and this dream-realm proves crucial to her identity as well as being a key part of her background.

An understated and rather beautiful novel - nothing much happens, but I was captivated - the atmosphere reminded me of "The Garden Of Evening Mists." A tale of relationships, family and self and an effective exploration of character.