Messenger's Letter (Stories by Contemporary Writers from Shanghai) - Tapa blanda

This collection of Chinese short novels features two works by one of China's most prolific writers. The Messenger's Letter is a poetic novella that defies categorization. Taking its inspiration from the surreal imagery of writers such as Franz Kafka, the story describes the Messenger's epic attempt to deliver his letter in the strange and sinister Whispering City, where he encounters the mysterious six-fingered people. The author explores the twin themes of trust and doubt with dark humor and conviction. The story reveals itself as an intricate puzzle with no easy answers and is a sustained meditation on the absurdities of existence. The Messenger's Letter has won widespread acclaim for its bold and unconventional style. Remembering the Lady of Qin is the story of a young boy growing up in a matriarchal family in Shanghai. The boy's mother and grandmother offer the emotional security he craves as a child, but it is a chance meeting with a headstrong and attractive family friend that starts the young man on a passionate and turbulent journey. The story is a coming of age drama, where the boy's intellectual longing to write and develop as an artist is spurred on by a mysterious and seductive woman, who is at once so close, and yet always unfathomable and unattainable.

Sun Ganlu is currently a member and director of the Shanghai Writer's Association, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Culture and Arts Committee of China Association for Promoting Democracy, and Chief Strategist at the Shanghai Weekly. He is a former winner of the Shanghai Youth Literature Award, and the Shanghai Literature Award. His works have been chosen for inclusion in a collection of outstanding novels from the past fifty years, and have been included in a list of the top 50 Chinese novels (1977u2000).