There’s no point in trying to navigate the thick of the story on your own as a long-nose, even if you have the latest navigation devices available. You could do that in Davide Morosinotto’s novel, “The Rebels of Salento”, recently reviewed here. But now, in “Shi Yu – The Indomitable”, the historical novel made of fantasy and a piece of reality, which was awarded the renowned “Premio Strega Ragazze e Ragazzi”, that’s not possible.
Morosinotto borrows her story from that of the greatest privateer to ever ravage the Chinese seas, the pirate Ching Shih (1785-1844).
One would inevitably get lost in the tangle of islands off the coast of the South China Sea if one did not put oneself trustingly in the hands of the narrator and the main character, Shi Yu. The story told – again excellently translated by Cornelia Panzacchi – is the fictional life story of Shi Yu, a woman from the poorest of backgrounds who grew up as a maid in a seedy bar in Canton before fleeing at the age of nine. Morosinotto borrows her story from that of the greatest privateer to ever ravage the Chinese seas, the pirate Ching Shih (1785-1844). In the 500-page novel, the author masterfully plays with the expectations, images and fantasies of his audience of all ages. So you always feel at the side of the heroine, as if you were one of her familiars, such as Dancing Lotus, Celestial Helmsman, Blue Tiger, Little Wrath or Wandering Mountain. Without actually knowing on which degree of latitude and longitude one is sailing on board the “Red Messenger of Death”, which dreamlike islands are just passing by on the port side, how many junks one has already successfully boarded or how many injuries are left from the fighting.
Above all, one is drawn into the story by a magic that seems to transfer effortlessly into other media. . Anyone who has ever seen Ang Lee’s martial arts film “Tiger & Dragon” knows about the power of magical imagery. With astonished eyes, one is drawn into the traditions of Chinese martial arts against a picturesque natural backdrop. As if there were nothing more natural than gifted students of a gifted master who, after intensive study, can concentrate their chi – their life force – on an inner point in such a way that nothing is impossible anymore. In the case of Shi Yu, reverently called “Flying Blade” in adulthood, the art is called “Wushu of Air and Water”: the art of running up trees or vertical walls, the art of jumping from the top of the mizzen mast with the grace of a dancer to fly over the sea (“Heron wing hanging in the sky”) and to walk over the water (“Water lily gliding over the water”). Shi Yu masters that and of course the art of fighting like in a dream, which of course doesn’t stop fate from plunging her into deepest suffering.
Who would doubt Shi Yu’s magical artistry given the ease with which the great storyteller and stylist Morosinotto recalls forty-five years of a pirate’s life? Who would doubt that Shi Yu can float across bright turquoise seas in a red wedding dress? Who would doubt the words of a master who carries the age-old message of the righteousness of pirates in a world of corruption? And after all, who would doubt that the legend of the good privateer will come to an end at the latest when the imperial court recognizes the advantages of global trade? On to the last stand! (young adults)
Davide Morosinotto: Shi Yu – The Indomitable. Translated from the Italian by Cornelia Panzacchi. Thienemann 2022. 508 pages, 20 euros