Author: admin

Ouyang Yu is an award-winning poet and novelist. His first novel, The Eastern Slope Chronicle, won the 2004 South Australian Festival Award for Innovation in Writing. His third novel, The English Class, won the 2011 NSW Premier's Award, and his 14th collection of poetry, Terminally Poetic (2020), won the Judith Wright Calanthe Award for a Poetry Book in the 2021 Queensland Literary Awards. He was shortlisted for the Writer’s Prize in the 2021 Melbourne Prize for Literature and won the Fellowship from Creative Australia in late 2021 for writing a documentary novel, now complete in three volumes. And his eighth novel, All the Rivers Run South, was published in December 2023 by Puncher & Wattmann, which is also publishing his ninth novel, The Sun at Eight or Nine in mid-2024, and his first collection of short stories, The White Cockatoo Flowers, is out in early 2024 with Transit Lounge Publishing.

最后的馈赠，消息在此

本人拟在本财政年度2024年6月30号之前，馈赠我的以下书籍：

《愤怒的吴自立》（长篇小说）（原价24.95澳元，现价为零）

《限度》（诗集）（原价29.95澳元，现价为零）

《西方性爱诗选》（翻译诗集）（原价34.95澳元，现价为零）

《来自澳大利亚的报告》（诗集）（原价49.95澳元，现价为零）

《澳中文学交流史》（史书）（原价39.95澳元，现价为零）

《非法分子》（杨邪诗集）（原价29.95澳元，现价为零）

《杂事与火花》（徐江诗集）（原价29.95澳元，现价为零）

After the Rush: Regulation, Participation, and Chinese Communities in Australia 1860-1940（原乡出版社出版的英文文集）（原价29.95澳元，现价为零）

Beyond the Yellow Pale: Essays and Criticism（欧阳昱英文文集）（原价69.95澳元，现价为零）【全球最后一本】

Terminally Poetic（欧阳昱英文诗集）（原价29.95澳元，现价为零）

Foreign Matter & Other Poems（欧阳昱英文诗集）（原价29.95澳元，现价为零）

Thought is Free（欧阳昱英文文集）（原价29.95澳元，现价为零）

条件规定有二，由读者任选：

1. 对澳大利亚读者，赠书分文不取，但要收取邮费。

2. 对海外读者，全球不收邮费，但要收取书费。

本馈赠活动定于2024年7月1日结束，谢谢。

First review of my novel, All the Rivers Run South (Nov. 2023)

Book Review of All the Rivers Run South by Ouyang Yu

Li Xinxin and Huang Zhong

Ouyang Yu’s latest novel, All the Rivers Run South (ARRS), is a literary tour de force that deftly weaves elements of metafiction, historical narrative and cultural critique. Through shifting narrative voices and a non-linear storyline, Ouyang Yu offers readers a multifaceted exploration of identity, migration, and the complex interaction between the East and West.

At the heart of ARRS are two intertwining narratives. The first follows Zhang Baohui, a PhD student in creative writing, who is working on a novel about Chinese gold diggers in Australia during the gold rushes of the 1850s. The second narrative delves into the life of Ah Sin, the protagonist of Zhang’s novel, whose experiences as a Chinese immigrant in Australia shed light on the harsh realities of cultural displacement, language barriers and racial discrimination. Through Ah Sin’s story, the romanticised allure of gold-digging is shattered, revealing the struggles and tribulations early Chinese immigrants to Australia have experienced.

Zhang Baohui’s narrative is both introspective and critical, offering a meta-commentary on the act of writing and construction of cultural narratives. Sensational tales from ancient Chinese books, Chinese history and Ah Sin’s narratives blend with shifting voices, creating a complex labyrinth of texts that both confuse and captivate readers.

ARRS addresses a broad array of themes, from the personal to the philosophical. One of the central themes is the search for identity and belonging. Both Zhang and Ah Sin grapple with their sense of self in a foreign land, navigating the tension between their cultural heritage and the demands of their new environments. Ouyang Yu uses the motif of river to symbolise the characters’ journeys, both literal and metaphorical, towards self-discovery and reconciliation.

The novel also delves into the theme of cultural representation. Through Zhang’s writing and Ah Sin’s storytelling, Ouyang Yu explores how narratives about China are constructed and consumed by Western readership. The depictions of China in ARRS range from the exotic and despotic to the ‘wise’ and elegant, reflecting the complexities and contradictions inherent in cross-cultural perceptions.

The characters in ARRS are richly developed and deeply humane. Ah Sin’s journey from China to Australia and back to China is marked by loss, resilience and a quest for understanding. His relationship with his wife, Ciara, and their daughter, Na Za, adds emotional depth to his narrative, highlighting the personal cost of migration and cultural integration.

The character of Zhang Baohui is equally compelling, serving as a lens through which Ouyang Yu examines the act of storytelling itself. Zhang’s struggles with his PhD thesis, his reflections on writing and marketing, and his eventual tragic decision to end his life show a stark contrast with Ah Sin’s story which ends with hope and expectation.

Ouyang Yu’s prose is both lyrical and incisive, capturing the nuances of his characters’ inner lives and the broader cultural landscapes they inhabit. His use of metafictional techniques, such as shifting narrative voices and a non-linear timeline, adds layers of complexity to the story, inviting readers to engage critically with the text.

The novel’s bilingual elements—shifting between Chinese and English—showcase the characters’ linguistic and cultural negotiations. Ouyang Yu’s masterful use of the Chinese language creates a ‘defamiliarising’ effect that not only adds an exotic touch to the narrative but also challenges the hegemony of standard English.

ARRS offers a nuanced portrayal of China, oscillating between a land of ancient wisdom and a country of brutal despotism. Through Ah Sin’s storytelling, readers are introduced to a range of Chinese cultural practices, from opium smoking and foot-binding to traditional folktales and Confucian philosophy. These elements serve to both exoticise and humanise China, challenging simplistic Western stereotypes while acknowledging the country’s time-honoured history.

The historical context of Chinese migration to Australia during the gold rushes provides a poignant backdrop for the novel, highlighting the challenges faced by early Chinese immigrants as well as their contributions to Australian society. Ah Sin’s experiences reflect the broader historical narrative of Chinese diaspora, marked by resilience, adaptation and cultural exchange.

All the Rivers Run South is a great novel that offers a rich, multifaceted exploration of identity, migration and cultural representation. Ouyang Yu’s remarkable ability to weave together historical narrative, metafiction and cultural critique makes ARRS a compelling and thought-provoking read. His lyrical prose and insightful commentary on cultural narratives invite readers to reflect on their own perceptions and assumptions about identity and cultural stereotyping. All the Rivers Run South is not just a story about individual journeys but a profound meditation on the interconnectedness of human experiences across time and space.

The White Cockatoo Flowers: stories

‘He looked down at his watch and saw that the long hand was overlapping the short, pointing towards twelve. The old year had passed and the new year had begun. He was swept by a feeling of loss and attachment to a past that was no longer there: If I were in China now, I would be …’

A father and son muse on the value of fame and fortune and the path of chu jia or receding from the world by becoming a monk. On Christmas Eve a lonely immigrant travels from his deserted outer suburb to the city in search of life. Spouses navigate their adult son’s need to ‘rebrand’ himself with an English name. Between Shanghai and Montreal, a Chinese student and a Canadian man who has fallen in love with him exchange correspondence. Haunted by the sounds of piano and violin and the long-lost friend who returns only to him in dreams a man confronts the past. Can we ever really trust a car salesperson or those friends who say we must catch up soon but never do?

Ouyang Yu’s first collection of stories in English is both assured and tender and at times surprisingly funny. It includes stories set in China and Australia that revel in the truth and candour of lived experience and the joys and constraints of language. In The White Cockatoo Flowers Ouyang Yu deftly peels back the layers on what it means to move from one culture to another, and what it means to be a writer, a husband, a parent and a stranger on foreign and familiar ground.