Review:
This is the story of Li Zheng of Longxi, a young civil servant who quits service because he feels he has more to offer the world as a poet. He never becomes famous, however, and eventually leaves his wife, children, and everything else behind, disappearing. Later, his old friend, government inspector Yuan Can of Chenjun, encounters a beast that almost attacks him but races away at the last second. Then Yuan Can hears the voice of his old friend, who tells him that he has become a terrifying beast, a tiger. He had Yuan Can record some of his poetry and asks him to tell his wife and children that he is dead, and to care for them in some way. He admits that his combination of narcissism, fear of failure, and lack of desire to put in strenuous work is what has transformed him into a beast.
This felt very didactic, like reading something out of Der Struwwelpeter. That said, I know absolutely nothing about this story and its author beyond what's presented here, so maybe I'm missing something. It seems pretty simple and sorrowful. Li Zheng was a bit of a dick, and it took turning into a tiger for him to realize it.
As is the case with many of the works in the Maiden's Bookshelf series, the illustrations were this work's primary appeal for me. They were gorgeous, even though they hardly matched the text at all - lots of androgynous youths with tigers, cats, and cat-eared people.
Now I know where Bungo Stray Dogs' Atsushi got his tiger transformation powers from...
No comments:
Post a Comment