cover image A Floating Life: The Adventures of Li Po, an Historical Novel

A Floating Life: The Adventures of Li Po, an Historical Novel

Simon Elegant. Ecco Press, $23 (312pp) ISBN 978-0-88001-559-2

Homeric lists and passionate lyrics adorn this beautiful, erudite picaresque of medieval China. Trapped on the boat that is to take him into exile, drinking nonstop, raving against the authorities (in the form of Confucianism and academic poetry), China's most celebrated and beloved bard takes plenty of poetic license as he recounts his history to an awestruck young scribe. The resulting document is an exciting adventure story full of T'ang Dynasty esoterica. Euphonic specifics of period arts (e.g. bird-catching, astrology, pharmacology, cosmetics) and glorious descriptions of the Chinese mountainscapes make Elegant's account of Li Po's odyssey from sous-butcher to damsel-rescuer, tavern musician and imperial advisor sound as if it were cribbed from the man himself. Long a source of legend, the romantic poet's romantic life presents every would-be-chronicler with a surplus of material; Elegant (A Chinese Wedding) has selected among the traditions with Byronic wit and a cinematographer's eye. Even when his dialogue slips out of the novel's reigning lyrical register into Hollywood predictability, the pictures that he gives of the era--and of a self-willed genius in rebellion against it--bring Li Po's China to life. (Oct.) FYI: Hong Kong-based Elegant is arts editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review.