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The cover of Subway. [Global Times] |
Science-fiction writer and Xinhua journalist Han Song has released his latest novel - Subway. Dubbed "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio in the age of technology" and "the Franz Kafka for the electronic age" by his publisher, the book is an urban suspense and horror fantasy consisting of five separate medium-length novels, connected by hidden clues in between.
Yan Feng, Associate Professor of the Department of Chinese in Fudan University, commented that the Chinese anti-utopian novel is rare and no doubt an alternative extension of avant-garde literature in the new era.
Han said the series comes from his daydreams and illusions when he took the crowded subway to work and home during the 1990s to early 2000s. "The stories were never popular," he said. The draft was first turned down by a well-known publishing house because they worried about sales and "the stories were heavy, not for entertainment."
Gruesome thoughts emerge from the combination of exterior harmony with the sense of security brought by state-of-art technology. Indeed, at the end of Subway, Han lists the world's major subway disasters and compiles a Metro Emergency Guide, noticing that there are more beggars as well as security at stations.
Seeing those fellow passengers who squeeze into the subway with twisted faces, he fears that the subway terror attacks in Tokyo, London and Moscow could one day happen in China.