I Live in the Slums

by Can Xue
I Live in the Slums cover
Good Books rating 4.0
Short Story Collections
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  • ID: 4056
  • Added: 2025-10-21
  • Updated: 2025-10-21
  • ISBN: 9780300247435
  • Publisher: Yale University Press
  • Published: 2020-05-19
  • Formats: 1
  • Reviews: 3

Can Xue's 'I Live in the Slums' is a major new collection of stories that defy conventional plot and characterization, instead exploring a disordered yet poetic state infused with philosophical wonder and emotional rigor. The stories blend Chinese materiality with Western abstract thinking, creating an immersive landscape that merges empirical fact and illusion, the physical and spiritual, and the boundaries between consciousness and oblivion. This enchanting collection invites readers into a familiar yet unmappable world, making them hyperaware of the unreliability of their relationship with reality. Filled with secrets and delightful prose, Can Xue's work shines a light on the forces that shape our perceived reality.

Reviews
Cha Journal · Zalman S. Davis · 2025-03-03
surreal 4.00

The collection is uncompromising and surreal, offering a deep meditation on dislocation and instability. The fluidity of existence is a central theme.

Zalman S. Davis describes the collection as uncompromising and surreal, offering a deep meditation on dislocation and instability. The stories explore the fluidity of existence, making the reader question the nature of reality and identity. The reviewer appreciates the book's ability to challenge the reader's perceptions and to evoke a sense of unease. The stories are not always easy to read, but they are thought-provoking and memorable. The reviewer also notes that the book's themes are universal and resonate with readers from different cultural backgrounds.

Quick quotes

    Can Xue's I Live in the Slums is an uncompromising, surreal, and deeply unsettling meditation on dislocation, instability, and the fluidity of existence.

    The stories explore the fluidity of existence, making the reader question the nature of reality and identity.

    The book's themes are universal and resonate with readers from different cultural backgrounds.

Harvard Review · 2021-03-22
unsettling 3.50

The book evokes a sense of homelessness and disembodiment. The characters' experiences are deeply unsettling and thought-provoking.

The reviewer finds that the book effectively conveys a sense of homelessness and statelessness, which is deeply unsettling. The stories are not just about physical slums but also about the psychological and emotional states of the characters. The characters' experiences are deeply unsettling and thought-provoking, making the reader question the nature of existence and identity. The reviewer appreciates the book's ability to evoke such strong emotions and thoughts, even if the stories are not always easy to read.

Quick quotes

    The book rather more accurately evokes a resounding sense of homelessness, statelessness, and disembodiment from all fixed forms of human existence.

    The characters' experiences are deeply unsettling and thought-provoking.

    The stories are not just about physical slums but also about the psychological and emotional states of the characters.

Where to Kim? · Kim · 2020-05-11
mesmerizing 4.50

The collection is mesmerizing, featuring mysterious and beautiful stories. The prose is accessible and the translation is smooth.

Kim finds the collection mesmerizing, with stories that are both mysterious and beautiful. The prose is accessible and the translation is smooth, making the stories easy to read. The reviewer appreciates the book's ability to transport the reader to a different world and to evoke a sense of wonder. The stories are not always easy to understand, but they are thought-provoking and memorable. The reviewer also notes that the book's themes are universal and resonate with readers from different cultural backgrounds. The reviewer recommends the book to readers who enjoy thought-provoking and challenging literature.

Quick quotes

    I Live in the Slums by Chinese author Can Xue is a mesmerizing short story collection featuring stories that are both mysterious and beautiful.

    The prose is accessible and the translation is smooth, making the stories easy to read.

    The stories are not always easy to understand, but they are thought-provoking and memorable.

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