She compares India and China in almost every chapter, but avoids falling into the usual cliché-traps or sweeping generalizations that are the norm for journalists. Pallavi Aiyer does a remarkable job here on that front.
It’s hard to write a non-fiction work which is more or less a series of journals you have maintained and make it sound neither tacky nor too sophisticated. The style is witty and humorous and the flow of prose is very impressive. ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ starts in the early 2000s, but there are enough traces from Deng’s or Mao’s rule, and is in a way a continuation from where Jung leaves you. And yes, that is a very recommended read too! The only other non-fiction work on China that I’ve read is ‘Wild Swans’ by Jung Chang, detailing the history of China told through the eyes of three generations of women – the author, her mother and grandmother and covers the period from early 20th century through the Koumintang rule, the ascension of the Communist party, Mao’s cultural revolution finishing with Deng Xiaoping’s rule. In a way, more than anything I expected, I wanted to see if this could stoke some degree of nostalgia and remind me of my stay in China. Incidentally, the period of her stay in China coincided with mine, the start almost the same as the time I landed up there. It had been on my radar, having seen this on Anush’s reading list from last year(Although he read the other Smoke and Mirrors and Chinese Whiskers by Aiyar). I picked this up one Saturday from the IIWC library, surprised to find it nestled in the political science section. The second, the one which will be the subject of this post is a non-fiction work by Pallavi Aiyar detailing her stay in China for five years and her thoughts on the country.
The first was a short story collection by Neil Gaiman dealing almost entirely with the supernatural and fantasy. And both couldn’t be as far from each other as possible. This has been the second Smoke and Mirrors book this year for me.
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