Entertainment
'Spooksteden' is a modern farce filled with hilarious sitcom dialogues and surprisingly philosophical asides
Siang Lu’s novel Spooksteden intertwines a medieval fable about Emperor Lu Huang Du, a paranoid despot who executes courtiers and bans chickens, with the modern story of translator Xiang Lu. In Sydney, Lu loses his job for relying on Google Translate and is hired by filmmaker Baby Bao to star in a film set in the populated ghost town Port Man Tou. The narrative contrasts these absurd, satirical plots to critique incompetent, narcissistic autocrats.
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