Muos travelling couch carnegie library of pittsburgh. To free yin ben, miu is forced to make a deal, whereby he will use his new. Muos travelling couch by dai sijie overdrive rakuten. Having enchanted readers on two continents with balzac and the little chinese seamstress, dai. Muos travelling couch by dai sijie the denver post. Dai sijie rose to international prominence a few years ago with the publication of his first novel. Muo does, moving inelegantly between past and present, relying heavily on flashbacks, and rather too frequently. With sammi cheng, dawei tong, shuangbao wang, yuhan kang. His hero is sigmund freud and armed with his handbooks, his little blue suitcase and his bicycle, mr muo proceeds to interpret dreams. Muo is a classic picaresque tale, following its hapless hero in his misadventures psychoanalytic, sexual, and otherwise as he travels through sichuan and yunnan provinces in southwestern china. Muos travelling couch by dai sijie translated, from the french, by ina rilke knopf, 287 pp.
Volcano of the old moon and we think moon unit zappa is strange unjustly imprisoned by the evil but bribable judge di. Muos travelling couch by dai sijie, ina rilke kirkus. Muos travelling couch, by dai sijie seven circumstances. Following his runaway best seller, balzac and the little chinese seamstress, dai sijie gives us a delightful new tale of east meets west. The french title of the novel is a play on le complexe doedipe, or the oedipus complex. Muos quest will take him from a chengdu mortuary to a rural panda habitat, from an insane asylum to the haunts of the marauding lolo people. Muo returns to china after years in paris studying the theories of freud and lacan. Chinese author sijie, whose balzac and the little chinese seamstress was an international bestseller, now introduces readers to mr. Fresh from studying freud in paris, miu datong returns to china to. Travelling on a day train a few days agolikewise in a carriage with hard seatshe had just. Muos travelling couch is, specifically, a commentary on contemporary china hence also the need for muo to see so much of it.
But it is his hidden purposeto liberate his university sweetheart, now a political prisonerthat leads him to the sadistic local magistrate, judge di. His film of the book was chosen to open the cannes film festival in 2002. A chinese don quixote, tangled in myth, misadventure the. Mar 17, 2020 whimsical to the point of being nonsensical, mr. I did not enjoy it and forced myself to finish it because i was reading it for book club. This may prove difficult in a china that has embraced western sexual mores along with capitalismespecially since muo, while indisputably a romantic, is no ladies man. Ina rilke its over ten years since muo has visited his native china.
The introduction, discussion questions, suggestions for further reading, and author biography that follow are intended to enhance your groups conversation about mr. Muos travelling couch by sijie dai 2006, paperback. It became an immediate bestseller and won five prizes. The novel was translated into english in 2005 by ina rilke and published as mr. Muos travelling couch, dai sijies imaginative work about the lengths we go to in pursuit of love. I thought the whole premise of a virginal freudian scholar in a quest for a virgin as sacrifice to appease the voracious appetite of the corrupt judge is highly entertaining. But it is his hidden purpose, to liberate his university sweetheart, now a political prisoner, that leads him to the sadistic local magistrate, judge di. Fresh from 11 years in paris studying freud, bookish mr. An unlikely hero resists injustice while introducing the interpretation of dreams to china, in this fey successor to sijies hugely successful balzac and the little chinese seamstress 2001 the eponymous protagonist is a chineseborn apprentice in psychoanalysis recently returned from france, where he absorbed the teachings of freud and lacan, and presumably the resolve to liberate. Muo returns home to introduce the blessings of psychoanalysis to twentyfirstcentury china. Muo returns home to introduce the blessings of psychoanalysis to 21stcentury china. Muos traveling couch lacks the storytelling discipline and tart finish that made dais 2001 debut, balzac and the little chinese seamstress. Muos travelling couch, freudian psychoanalysis crashes headlong into chinese communism, and also bumps up against some slightly creepy.
Muos travelling couch is a novel by dai sijie published in 2003. Muo, an ugly little chinese man, returns to his hometown in modern china to get his imaginary girlfriend out of jail and travel the country while doing psychoanalysis of peoples dreams. Muo returns to china to spread the gospel of psychoanalysis. Muos travelling couch cast psychiatrists and professionals in related mental health fields in a strange light indeed. Muo returns home to bring the benefits of psychoanalysis to twentyfirstcentury china and to somehow free his college sweetheart, now a political prisoner, a quest that leads him to the sadistic local magistrate, judge di, who demands a virgin. From novelist bebe moore campbell, author of three new york times bestsellers and a woman who has been active in nami, i had expected a fine, sensitive product.
Muos travelling couch, his latest work following the surprising success of his first novel, balzac and the little chinese seamstress. Fans of dai sijies balzac will adore this enchanting adventure story. In case you miss the point, you are twice told that cervantes is the inspiration for the book. Muo returns home to introduce the blessings of psychoanalysis to twenty. Sijie dai sijies second novel is a chinese take on don quixote that follows the peripatetic misadventures of mr muo, chinas first psychoanalyst, as he searches for a virgin girl as a bribe for a corrupt. Couch because mr muo is chinas first fully trained.
Muos quest will take him from a chengdu mortuary to a rural. Muos travelling couch to be a disjointed, vaguely plotted book. Muos traveling couch by dai sijie having enchanted readers on two continents with balzac and the little chinese seamstress, dai sijie now produces a rapturous and uproarious collision of east and west, a novel about the dream of love and the love of dreams. Muos travelling couch, when he wrote, hard is the journey so many turnings and now where am i. Hes been in paris, exploring his subconscious and devouring the works of freud and lacan.
Mr muos, traveling couch is a modern retelling of don quixote. Muos search for one of these endangered specimens broadens his horizons agreeably, as he surrenders his own sexual innocence while laboring to satisfy the greedy magistrates creepy demands. His second novel, mr muo s travelling couch, became a bestseller in its first french edition. The item youve selected was not added to your cart. Muos travelling couch hurtles toward its end, one incredible encounter after another forces muo and the reader to reconsider the logic underpinning not only psychoanalysis but modern. Jun 25, 2005 mr muos travelling couch by dai sijie, translated by ina rilke 224pp, chatto. His first novel, balzac and the little chinese seamstress. Mr muo s, traveling couch is a modern retelling of don quixote. Ina rilke it s over ten years since muo has visited his native china. Tender, laughoutloud funny, and unexpectedly wise, mr. Muos travelling couch by dai sijie following his runaway best seller, balzac and the little chinese seamstress, dai sijie gives us a delightful new tale of east meets west.
Muos travelling couch by dai sijie, paperback barnes. Muo s travelling couch, when he wrote, hard is the journey so many turnings and now where am i. Muos travelling couch, follows some of the same themes as his bestselling debut, 2001s balzac and the little chinese seamstress, it loses much of the simple, fablelike quality that made seamstress so potent. Sijie explicitly compares muo to cervantess famous knight, don quixote. His second novel, mr muos travelling couch, became a bestseller in its first french edition. Muos travelling couch, dai sijies imaginative work about the. Muos travelling couch introduces a hero as endearingly inept as inspector clouseau and as valiant as don quixote. All he needs to bribe judge di for her freedom is a virgin which might have been easier to find twenty or so. Muos travelling couch by sijie dai 2006, paperback, large type at the best online prices at ebay. It followed the lives of two students forced to work as manual labourers during the cultural revolution of the 1970s. Chinese author dai sijies first novel, balzac and the little chinese seamstress, did well as a film. If you are the publisher or author of this book and. Sijies debut was about ideas and emotions that cross national and even chronological boundaries. Fresh from studying freud in paris, miu datong returns to china to spread the word of psychoanalysis, but instead discovers that his radical thinking love, yin ben, has become a political prisoner under the control of the sinister judge di.
Muo returns from the streets of paris with the specific purpose of securing his loves release from prison, where she has been incarcerated for distributing pamphlets during the cultural war. Having enchanted readers on two continents with balzac and the little chinese seamstress, dai sijie now produces a rapturous and uproarious collision of east and west, a novel about the dream of love and the love of dreams. Muo s travelling couch, his latest work following the surprising success of his first novel, balzac and the little chinese seamstress. Muos traveling couch lacks the storytelling discipline and tart finish that made dais 2001 debut, balzac and the. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone.
Mr muos travelling couch by dai sijie penguin books. Toby litt cant decide if dai sijies picaresque, mr muos travelling couch, is clever, or just odd. Muos travelling couch is a wonderfully amusing short novel that chronicles the adventures and misadventures of mr. Muos travelling couch, follows some of the same themes as his bestselling debut, 2001s balzac and the little. Muos travelling couch follows the experiences of the title character as he goes back to china after studying psychoanalysis in france. He s been in paris, exploring his subconscious and devouring the works of freud and lacan. Muos travelling couch by dai sijie penguin random house. Couch because mr muo is chinas first fully trained psychoanalyst, and travelling because, when we join him at the start of dai sijies novel, he. Muo left china in 1989, and missed the entire 1990s first the repression, and then the rapid modernisation and muos observations about and encounters with what has changed and what hasnt do give a good. Having enchanted readers on two continents with balzac. Muos travelling couch having enchanted readers on two continents with balzac and the little chinese seamstress, dai sijie now produces a rapturous and uproarious collision of east and west, a novel about the dream of love and the love of dreams.
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