{"id":275936,"date":"2010-02-06T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-06T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wdev.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent-dev\/2010\/02\/06\/theres-nothing-i-can-do-when-i-think-of-you-late-at-night-by-cao-naiqian-btba-2010-fiction-longlist\/"},"modified":"2018-04-16T14:39:40","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T14:39:40","slug":"theres-nothing-i-can-do-when-i-think-of-you-late-at-night-by-cao-naiqian-btba-2010-fiction-longlist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/2010\/02\/06\/theres-nothing-i-can-do-when-i-think-of-you-late-at-night-by-cao-naiqian-btba-2010-fiction-longlist\/","title":{"rendered":""There's Nothing I Can Do When I Think of You Late at Night" by Cao Naiqian [BTBA 2010 Fiction Longlist]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the next ten days, we’ll be highlighting a book a day from the Best Translated Book Award fiction longlist.<\/a> Click here<\/a> for all past write-ups.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

There’s Nothing I Can Do When I Think of You Late at Night<\/em><\/a> by Cao Naiqian. Translated from the Chinese by John Balcom. (China, Columbia University Press)<\/b><\/p>\n

Below is a guest post from translator and librarian Wendy Hardenberg<\/a> about Cao Naiqian’s entry on the 2010 BTBA<\/span> fiction longlist. All thanks to Wendy for helping me get through all of these write-ups before the 2\/16 announcement of the ten finalists.<\/em><\/p>\n

Back in November, as I took my second turn around the ALTA<\/span> Conference book exhibit \u201cjust to make sure there was nothing I really wanted\u201d (ha!), I found myself drawn to a very dark-looking book with a very long title. It just so happened that my tastes that day were inclined towards a combination of the odd and the short (thus my purchase of two separate volumes of microfiction by Ana Mar\u00eda Shua, translated by two different people), so when the book jacket for There\u2019s Nothing I Can Do When I Think of You Late at Night<\/em> told me it was a \u201cgenre-defying expos\u00e9 of rural communism\u201d that consisted of \u201ca series of vivid, interlocking vignettes,\u201d I thought, why not? And I bought it, too.<\/p>\n

John Balcom\u2019s introduction, \u201cThe Austere Lyricism of Cao Naiqian,\u201d is a handy place to begin, especially if you\u2019re not at all familiar with modern Chinese fiction. It turns out that Cao Naiqian started writing at age 37 as the result of a bet and it isn\u2019t even his full time job. Balcom compares There\u2019s Nothing I Can Do<\/em> to the writings of Sherwood Anderson, William Faulkner, and Erskine Caldwell, and goes on mention that \u201cCao once commented that the entire book is concerned with the basic instincts for food and sex.\u201d Given that description and a cast of characters which consists entirely of rural Shanxi peasants, you might expect the book to be a bit earthy. You\u2019d be right. For one thing, the residents of the village of Wen Clan Caves (based on an actual village the author worked in during the Cultural Revolution) certainly know how to curse, and the details Cao chooses are frequently tactile and visceral\u2014types of food are always explicitly named, bodily functions are not at all hidden or hurried. But a more important aspect is the evocation of the peasants\u2019 stifled emotional and intellectual lives, which is just heart-breaking. The Communism that is supposedly lifting them up really only exists in the persons of the Brigade Leader and the Accountant, who in forcing people to \u201cstruggle\u201d the old landlords are clearly just imposing a new oppressive system:<\/p>\n

\n

Old Zhao nudged the Brigade Leader with his elbow; the Brigade Leader walked toward Old Guiju.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cHave you thought about it thoroughly?\u201d asked the Brigade Leader.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cYes,\u201d replied Old Guiju.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

The Brigade Leader turned to Old Zhao and said, \u201cAll right.\u201d Old Zhao said to the Accountant, \u201cStart the meeting.\u201d The Accountant took the flashlight that he always carried with him from his belt, stood up, held it with both hands in the air, and flashed it. After pressing several times, he said, \u201cOkay! We will continue with the meeting now. All right! Bring in Wen Hehe of the landlord class.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Everyone fixed their eyes on the opening in the pen. Three people filed in through the opening. They lined up in front of the table facing the commune members.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Old Zhao, the cadre who had been sent to the countryside, motioned for the two people holding red-tasseled spears to stand aside. A tall, thin man around forty was left standing there. It was Wen Hehe of the landlord class whom the Accountant had summoned. The sweat on his head glistened under the gas lamp above him.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cAll right,\u201d the Accountant said, \u201cthe masses will speak freely tonight. He who wishes to speak, go ahead and speak up.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

As on the first night, everyone lowered their heads, afraid that the Accountant would shine his flashlight on them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There are certainly moments of levity among the thirty stories, but generally the goings-on are not for the faint of heart. One of the central problems for the entire village is the young men\u2019s lack of access to women. Traditionally, no one is supposed to have sex unless married, but marriage is very expensive and the people of Wen Clan Caves are very poor. Shenanigans obviously abound, but they do little to improve anyone\u2019s condition. The story called \u201cParty\u201d perfectly juxtaposes an ostensibly celebratory occasion for the \u201cnot-so-young unmarried men\u201d with the sad motivation behind it:<\/p>\n

\n

All that could be heard in the room was the sound of slurping. If you didn\u2019t know what they were doing, you would have assumed they were all sobbing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

After three bowls each, they looked at the slop pot. It was still half full. Only then did they relax and slow down.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cYou said they had eight bowls and eight plates in the commune film. Now that must have been a real feast.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cYou bet.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cYou said it must have been a party.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cYou bet.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cYou said the men and women kissing were really kissing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cYou bet.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cYou said the actors playing the man and wife were really doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cYou bet.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cShut up! Let\u2019s hear about how big your fucking dicks are,\u201d swore Leng Er, standing up suddenly and tapping his bowl with his chopsticks. After cursing this way, he walked over to the pig-slop pot and scooped out another bowl.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cFuck you,\u201d swore Leng Er furiously. After swearing this way, he went and squatted in the corner by an urn and began slurping his food.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

After that bout of swearing, no one said a thing. It wasn\u2019t that they were afraid of Leng Er, they just didn\u2019t say anything or joke after his rant. They all lowered their heads and began slurping up the contents of their bowls. They slurped until sweat was running down their noses. Maybe the sweat was mixed with the tears of the unmarried men.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Slurp, slurp.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Slurp, slurp.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

The room was filled with the sound of slurping.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Slurp, slurp.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Slurp, slurp.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

The whole cave was filled with a slurping sound that resembled sobbing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I initially liked the title of this book because it sounded so frankly and resolutely hopeless, like the end of a sad love story. Empathetic readers beware: it\u2019s fitting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the next ten days, we’ll be highlighting a book a day from the Best Translated Book Award fiction longlist. Click here for all past write-ups. There’s Nothing I Can Do When I Think of You Late at Night by Cao Naiqian. Translated from the Chinese by John Balcom. (China, Columbia University Press) Below is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":292,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67476],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-translated-book-awards"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":334756,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275936\/revisions\/334756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}