Ma Jian

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Public notes, reviews, lists, and conversations around Ma Jian.

ListDec 2, 2025

read in 2025

A reader-curated list

@jeamdlChina Dream

ReviewSep 18, 2024

Surveillance & Claustrophobia With a Side of Satire

I read Ma Jian’s China Dream 2 years before I read The Noodle Maker. I found that I much preferred the latter. The premise itself did it for me. A professional writer and a professional blood donor meet weekly to discuss life, philosophy, and the people they…

@annaThe Noodle Maker

ReviewSep 18, 2024

China D̶r̶e̶a̶m̶ Nightmare

Ma Jian's China Dream is a brutal satire on Xi Jinping's 'China Dream' more than it's a story of a man's complete descent into madness. Fact and fiction bleed into each other seamlessly in this stunning book. The seemingly distant but actually close dystopia…

@annaChina Dream

ListAug 12, 2024

Chinese Lit

I made this one mostly for a friend and then immediately found a better list lol: https://www.lit.salon/lists/captain_starry_vere/vJHliO9nXODPc6YdZpjB/Chinese%20lit

@kindiRed Dust: A Path Through China

Around the salon

read in 2025

Surveillance & Claustrophobia With a Side of Satire

China D̶r̶e̶a̶m̶ Nightmare

Chinese Lit

Ma Jian

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Books

Ma Jian

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Books

Around the salon

read in 2025

Surveillance & Claustrophobia With a Side of Satire

China D̶r̶e̶a̶m̶ Nightmare

Chinese Lit