Thumbs up for When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East by Quan Barry. Literature.
A young monk-to-be is sent on a quest across Mongolia to look for the reincarnation of a previous religious master. With him is his twin brother, who was himself named as a reincarnated master as a child, but dropped out of religious life in favor of women and cigarettes. Also, the twins can read each other’s minds. (I was going to say this is the only magical realism bit – but I guess that depends on your feelings about reincarnation). Each short chapter of about two pages is a small, jewel-like story of its own, though they are not vignettes. You will feel like you are, yourself, a young monk questioning his path while traveling Mongolia. One of the best books I’ve read this year.
The cue ball goes spinning erratically off the eight, a comet colliding with an asteroid. Collectively we watch the white ball roll toward a pocket. Life is suffering. Everywhere mercy and the power of mercy. I exhale and the cue ball falls in. The men cheer. My opponent smiles. Very nice game, he says. Because I am a monk, as a formality he offers me back my ₮2,000, but I bow and he stuffs the bill in his shirt.
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