The Invisibility Cloak - Ge Fei
Ge Fei, the pen name of Liu Yong, is one of contemporary China’s most acclaimed and innovative novelists. Born in Jiangsu Province in 1964, Ge Fei emerged in the 1980s as a leading figure of the Chinese avant-garde, quickly gaining recognition for his experimental and intellectually rich fiction. His early works, such as “Remembering Mr. Wu You” and the novella A Flock of Brown Birds, are celebrated for their labyrinthine narratives and abstract, contemplative style—earning him comparisons to Borges and placing him at the forefront of literary experimentation in China.
Ge Fei’s writing often explores themes of memory, utopia, and the complexities of modern Chinese identity, blending Western literary influences with Chinese lyric and metaphysical traditions. His magnum opus, the Jiangnan Trilogy—beginning with Peach Blossom Paradise—offers a sweeping vision of historical transformation and personal longing, and won him the prestigious Mao Dun Literature Prize. Alongside his fiction, Ge Fei is also a respected literary scholar and professor at Tsinghua University, further shaping the landscape of Chinese literature through both his teaching and his writing.
Reserved and deeply thoughtful, Ge Fei continues to be recognized as a founder of contemporary Chinese literature, with several of his works now available in English translation, including The Invisibility Cloak and A Flock of Brown Birds
“That kid is too smart. If there ever comes a day when capitalism really does return, I’m afraid the two of you will end up working for him.” We didn’t pay attention to her; deep in our hearts, we were absolutely certain that, no matter what happened on this earth, capitalism would never return. ~ Mr. Cui (The invisibility Cloak)
So a month and a half ago or around that time i took a quiz i found online called what color reader are you?1 and it turns out I am a purple reader2, and as the description goes THE UNBOUND INNOVATOR and i kinda think they got me on that i always wanted to read infinite jest, cloud atlas, the road but never did. However most of the things they said about the purple reader i sympathize with but maybe its because that is what i want to believe or idk, so i wanted to try if their recommendation is accurate and try it so from week 53 - i found that the invisibility cloak by ge fei was recommended and so i picked it up.
I literally knew nothing about the book when i picked it up except the blurb given under the recommendation pick
“In contemporary Beijing, a down-on-his-luck sound technician becomes entangled in a strange job that grows stranger by the chapter.”
and oh boy did i enjoy reading this book, the book spans around 126 pages, coming in hard to quench my thirst of reading more contemporary works. The story is written so simply and moves forward that makes it easier to read (which i read in a hour after finishing prophecy).
In the book we are following Mr. Cui who is an audiophile and a custom stereo amplifier builder living in contemporary Beijing. He is portrayed as a down-at-heel Every man who lives with his sister and faces eviction from their apartment. Cui is cynical about the intellectuals and businessmen who buy his equipment, and he navigates a challenging social and economic environment with a mix of resignation and subtle resistance. The whole story unfolds through his perspective where sometimes it seems as if he is talking straight to us or we are this lingering ghost following his through his daily life.
The say Cui lives through his daily life reminds me of the protagonist from the saver by edeeth ravel (second mention btw) we also get to see his thought process and the confusion and humor that takes place in his life.
Ge Fei makes social criticism, political commentary all through the eyes of Cui who i would love to call is the perfect depiction of the 21st century man - the “invisibility cloak” metaphorically relates to a pair of hexagonal Autograph speakers Cui acquires from a deceased celebrity tycoon, Mou Qishan, which symbolize a kind of social invisibility and the elusive nature of identity and presence in the modern city giving magnitude to the that Cui is a reflection of the society we currently linger in.
Through out the story no matter how short the events may be we see how every decision and thought can alter and shape the human experience and intellect as we see our protagonist Cui goes through a sort of metamorphosis - reshaping his views of the world and opinions of the society he is a part of. There are even scenes clearly where we see his idea of beauty was shaped on the basis of societal norms and then we see him transcend those boundaries (if you know you know ). The evolution of change is clearly put to place and cemented to us the reader at the end of the novel when Cui ends with the following line
“Do you mind if I contribute my thoughts to this one? If you could just stop nitpicking and dissecting every little thing, if you could learn to keep one eye closed and one eye open, and quit worrying about everything and everybody, you might discover that life is actually pretty fucking beautiful. Am I right?”
While this sorts of stories leave the reader to swim in the lakes of philosophical analysis and contemplation i think this is enough for a sort of review and to be honest i really loved the book and enjoyed every second i spent reading it, simple and short, easy language. i would honestly recommend it to most of my friends and anyone interesting in dabbling around contemporary works of Chinese literature (this is my first lol), and tbh i am still going to be wondering about Ding Caichen and his coffee cup and his exhausted look at the edge…
Somethings that caught my eye…
“My experience dealing with professors has taught me that educated people have the ability to demean a person with a single glance.”
“Something is definitely wrong with this world.”
” Today’s DJs seem to be more interested in talking—I’m not sure why. They babble on and on, sometimes punctuating their banter with fake laughter or applause, as if they were tickling themselves in front of the microphone. Pathetic.”
“Honestly, what I wanted most was for my mother to be proud of me.”
“Heaven gives you no dead ends, as they say; sometimes, right when you think you can’t take it, you just grit your teeth and put your head down, and suddenly you’re through. And it wasn’t such a big deal in the first place.”
“To be fair, there are times when high-minded discourse can really open your eyes; other times, it will only drive you insane.”
“being relatively poor wasn’t something to be embarrassed about; being poor and parroting the habits of the rich, however, was embarrassing.”
” Over-cautiousness clearly becomes a bad habit that needs to be fixed.”
“The moment capitalism takes root, it creates its own hero. When that hero emerges in the National Socialist Party, it’s Hitler. When it emerges within a new capitalist economy, it’s an all-devouring monster. And when it emerges in music, it’s Beethoven.”
“He thought the biggest contributor to global warming wasn’t car exhaust nor industrial pollution, but cow farts.”
” That a person should live his entire life without the opportunity to enjoy such beautiful music would be a shame!”
“If you ask me, I think he jumped because he finally figured it out. He should’ve jumped a long time ago”
