The Chili Bean Paste Clan by Yan Ge

The Chili Bean Paste Clan by Yan Ge

The Chilli Bean Paste Clan, or in Chinese 《我们家》Our Family, is a novel set in the 21st century in a fictional small town in Sichuan. It is a family drama following the self-proclaimed head of the family, Duan Shengqiang, and his inner thoughts. Interestingly, the story is told from the perspective of his daughter Xingxing, who never appears in the story but is mentioned as being at a mental hospital during the happenings of the story.

The book is told from the perspective of the dad who is incredibly busy running the family chili bean paste factory, going out drinking with friends and customers, and juggling his wife and mistress. When his mother, the matriarch, of the family her 80th birthday is coming up. He and his siblings, with whom he has a strained relationship, start planning a grand birthday celebration at the factory. 

The main character is not likeable, he is misogynist, arrogant, and on top of that not too bright. He is constantly thinking about sex and cursing in his head. Experiencing his life and the constant drinking, cheating, and being charming outwardly while cursing at people in his thoughts can feel tiring. It made the start of the book a bit difficult to get through, but the more family members were introduced into the story, the more interesting it became to see the story unfold through this quite silly man's thoughts. 

Us, the narrator, and all other characters are seemingly way more aware of what is actually going on in the family than Dad, through whose eyes we see everything unfold. Which is an interesting style of writing. Sadly, we never learn much about the all-knowing narrator, who is supposedly the main character's daughter, but is possibly only mentioned once or so by the family. This makes it feel a bit unnecessary and weird even to have her narrate the story as if she was aware of everything her dad was thinking.

The dad is also the least likable person in the story, and never seems to experience any personal growth or reflect on himself, which makes it extra annoying that the whole book focuses on him, while the rest of the family seems way more interesting to delve into a bit more. The book shows how many ways of thinking there seem to exist within several generations of a small-town Chinese family, as well as within the same generation, for example, due to differences in education. I had wished this was explored a bit more in the book. I found it interesting too to read a book written by a female writer from the perspective of a middle-aged man, probably because that feels rare. It also gave a bit of a nostalgic look at growing up in a small town in China, even though I have not had that experience. It was good at conveying an overall vibe of the time the story took place, the 2000s, as well as the main character's youth in the 80's or so. 

Overall, the book was very entertaining, the language used was colorful, and the story was interesting. Although it did leave to be desired, as the story seemed to have been told by and mostly centered around the least interesting member of the family. The narrator isn't explored enough for her to make sense either, making that aspect of the story a bit confusing. And at the end the story is concluded in a bit of a rush.