Story of the Stone with Jeannette Ng: Heavenly Bureaucracy

We discuss chapters 1, 3, 5, and 16-18 of Story of the Stone (aka Dream of the Red Chamber) by Cao Xueqin, perhaps THE canonical Chinese novel. All sorts of bizarre and amazing things happen! A stone becomes a boy, a flower becomes a girl, and characters we think will be important totally disappear. We have a very special guest with us this week: Jeannette Ng, author of Under the Pendulum Sun, a book Rachel recommends you read. Jackie re-tells a joke! The truth comes to light, in terms of who cares about Rachel’s opinion. Theo makes a few good zingers. Topics include: frivolity immersion therapy, Chekhov’s spice, definitive endings, historical fanfiction, the debut of Mupp Chat, and Jackie’s new French accent. Content warning: dysphoria, death, sexual assault, and slavery. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★