Listen to a sample
What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
CONTEMPORARY BEIJING FROM A YOUNG LITERARY STAR
‘So elegant and poised, so tuned to the great mysteries of love and loss. Braised Pork is a major debut’ -- John Freeman
One morning in autumn, just after breakfast, Jia Jia finds her husband dead in the bathtub of their Beijing apartment.
Next to him is a piece of folded paper, a sketch of a strange creature from his dream. He has left her no other sign.
Young, alone, and with many unanswered questions, Jia Jia sets out on a journey. Starting at her neighbourhood bar, fuelled by anger, bewilderment, curiosity and love, she travels from nocturnal Beijing to the high plains of Tibet, deep into her past in order to arrive at her future.
Cinematic, often dreamlike, Braised Pork is an exploration of myth-making, loss, and a world beyond words, which ultimately sees a young woman find a new and deeper sense of herself.
© An Yu 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020
Critics Review
-
An elegant, dreamlike tale of a woman’s self-realisation in contemporary Beijing. Yu’s writing has an arresting, unadorned lyricism
Daily Telegraph
-
A seductive, sharply observed tale of love, loss and hope that moves from high-rise Beijing to rural Tibet and the mysterious, magical ‘world of water’
Daily Mail
-
A startlingly original imagination... Braised Pork is a sensitive portrait of alienated young womanhood as it is set free
Guardian
-
Rich and strange … Braised Pork is a debut that gets under your skin
Observer
See more reviews See fewer reviews
-
Braised Pork is mesmerising, incisive and utterly disarming. An Yu writes beautifully about loneliness, the experience of isolation — from others, from one’s own past — and the possibility of human connection, however fragile.
Rosie Price
-
So elegant and poised, so tuned to the great mysteries of love and loss. Like a breeze on a still day, An Yu’s is a voice I didn't know I needed until I felt it. Braised Pork is a major debut
John Freeman
-
Bold yet understated, Braised Pork is the debut of a supremely confident and gifted writer.
Katie Kitamura
-
What a singular, slippery, transfixing novel this is. An Yu achieves a hypnotizing emotional clarity as she takes her narrator ever further from a stifling life in Beijing into a watery realm unlike any I've read before.
Idra Novey
-
Yu’s novel has a cool, poised elegance that only adds to its enigmatic allure
Economist
-
A dizzying read… An Yu writes with style and in a way that is hard to resist
Sunday Times
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- An Yu
- Narrator
- Vera Chok
- Duration
- 5 hours 16 minutes
- Release Date
- 9 January 2020
- ISBN
- 9781473578661
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Narrative theme: Interior life, Narrative theme: Sense of place, Narrative theme: Coming of age, Family life fiction
Synopsis
Brought to you by Penguin.CONTEMPORARY BEIJING FROM A YOUNG LITERARY STAR'So elegant and poised, so tuned to the great mysteries of love and loss. Braised Pork is a major debut' -- John FreemanOne morning in autumn, just after breakfast, Jia Jia finds her husband dead in the bathtub of their Beijing apartment.Next to him is a piece of folded paper, a sketch of a strange creature from his dream. He has left her no other sign.Young, alone, and with many unanswered questions, Jia Jia sets out on a journey. Starting at her neighbourhood bar, fuelled by anger, bewilderment, curiosity and love, she travels from nocturnal Beijing to the high plains of Tibet, deep into her past in order to arrive at her future.Cinematic, often dreamlike, Braised Pork is an exploration of myth-making, loss, and a world beyond words, which ultimately sees a young woman find a new and deeper sense of herself.© An Yu 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.