An alienated youth in China kills a classmate to stave off boredom, then plays cat-and-mouse with the police, in A Yi's A Perfect Crime.
Yi's book reminded me of Camus' The Stranger, but with the social and political undertones of modern China. How media and society tries to understand the teenager, and then how corruption influences that view, makes up a big part of the novel.
A Yi writes in a very straightforward style that, with the protagonist's banal descriptions and lack of emotion, actually makes the storytelling harder to take rather than easier.
An interesting character study, with unpleasant passages, and an insider's sketch of contemporary China. Recommended for those interested in international crime stories.
I got this for Christmas from my daughter and read it quickly.
Yi's book reminded me of Camus' The Stranger, but with the social and political undertones of modern China. How media and society tries to understand the teenager, and then how corruption influences that view, makes up a big part of the novel.
A Yi writes in a very straightforward style that, with the protagonist's banal descriptions and lack of emotion, actually makes the storytelling harder to take rather than easier.
An interesting character study, with unpleasant passages, and an insider's sketch of contemporary China. Recommended for those interested in international crime stories.
I got this for Christmas from my daughter and read it quickly.
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