Sombras chinescas

On 1972, when Belgium opened its embassy in Beijing, Simon Leys was sent as a cultural attaché to tour the country for six months and prepare detailed reports on its artistic treasures. Unable to limit himself to the task of observing the "dead China", Leys recorded eloquent scenes from daily life, economic data, works in bookstores, contents of school programs, diplomatic banquets, political proposals ... The result was this book , which first came to light in 1974: denouncing the Maoist lie at a time when there seemed to be a "conspiracy of silence" across Europe made Leys one of the most truthful voices of his generation. As Jean-François Revel pointed out, the passage of the years, far from having condemned Chinese Shadows to oblivion, has reserved its rightful place: ?You have to reread Leys's book over and over again to verify that even in the century of lies, the truth managed to raise its head and laugh