“The Problem with Me – And Other Essays About Making Trouble in China Today”, by Han Han, translated by Alice Xin Liu and Joel Martinsen

 

240 pages, Simon & Schuster, ISBN-13: 978-1451660036

According to all I have read, Han Han, the author of The Problem with Me – And Other Essays About Making Trouble in China Today (translated by Alice Xin Liu and Joel Martinsen) is China’s most popular blogger, creator of the literary magazine Party, a singer, professional rally car driver and best-selling author, having published five novels to date. In May 2010 he was named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine, while in September of the same year he was listed 48^th in “The World’s 50 Most Influential Figures 2010” by The New Statesman; in June 2010 he was interviewed by CNN as China’s rebel writer who has become the unofficial voice for his generation. And I had never heard of him. So…..

The Problem with Me are a series of essays about any number of topics that spark Han Han’s interest, which turns out to be rather broad, even in totalitarian China. And through it all he seems to be rather honest: about his shortcomings as a husband, as an activist, writer and speaker. He recognizes that, for all his verbal boldness, he really isn’t that radical and is more on the political Right (relatively speaking; it’s China, after all) than his friends would like, and he is, like most people, selfish. And I’m sure the translators struggled with his writings because he isn’t really all that nuanced with Kanye West level arrogance. I guess that’s to be expected, seeing as how successful he’s been at such a young age, but it can grate after a while.

Han Han earned a reputation as a dissident in China because he criticized various institutions – educational and political, but others besides – but only when he was affected by the same, not because of any concrete aims for reform. Most of his writing is simply what passes through his mind, the stuff of diaries and memoirs (school days and rally races and reunions and interviews). Nevertheless, he’s evidently popular, with the entries where he argues with his comment section or debunks conspiracy theories (that he’s merely been installed as an arm of the state, that there is no actual Han Han) bear this out. So: a portrait of a place from a popular critic-incrementalistic, not exactly someone who’s really concerned with “making trouble” or inspiring revolutions.