Translated fiction reviews: the best of China's incredibly deep storytelling tradition

"If ever a nation was forged by literary writers, it was the People's Republic of China", writes Granta editor Thomas Meaney in his introduction to the recent issue dedicated to writing from that country. The Granta selection is an excellent read, yet it lacks the literary heights reached by Ten Thousand Miles of Clouds and Moons (Honford Star, 192pp, £14.99) edited by Zuo Fei, Xiao Yue Shan and Simon Shieh. The stories included in this anthology graft traditions and myths on to innovative forms of storytelling. Within Mass In Dream Of The Red Chamber by Chen Chuncheng, translated by Xiao…