Review Ghost Cities by Siang Lu

Ghost Cities, by Siang Lu doesn't seem like a novel but rather a constructed labyrinth of the absurd where the map to provide the path is written in invisible ink.

The story follows a disgraced film director and a low-level bureaucrat, navigating a landscape of "ghost cities"—vast, sprawling metropolitan areas in China built for millions but inhabited by almost no one.

Lu wants us to look at empty buildings where the artificial becomes the only reality and characters navigate replicas of famous landmarks that feel more "real" than the originals.

Lu’s prose keeps the madness from spinning off into total chaos. His wit is sharp, and dry. often using humour to soften the blow of the book's darker themes: identity, the surveillance state, and the loneliness of the digital age.

Absurdity is central to the narrative - it's the operating system."

He mocks the vanity of the film industry and the soul-crushing weight of middle management.

Ghost Cities is not a "light" read, despite its humour. It demands your attention as it skips between the 2nd-century Han Dynasty and a futuristic modern existence.

Memorable moments of humour included - "I'm sorry that I left your party early / I just couldn't find the energy to lie."

"My phone is dead and I don't know where I am / I'm looking at a map like a caveman."

"I bought a treadmill just to feel like I’m going somewhere."

The narrative is messy and clever. An exploration of what happens when the illusion of progress is valued over and above reality. Here society appears to move forward technologically or economically, but the soul or the biological "truth" of life is actually decaying within.

While parts of the narrative suited my humour, much sat so far on the outer edge of absurdity I found it diminished my overall enjoyment of the book.