Decadence in Modern Chinese Literature and Culture. A Comparative and Literary-Historical Reevaluation by Hongjian Wang (review)

and tying up loose ends. Smith then states, “These seemingly random fragments, spliced up and reconstructed, form a new kaleidoscopic pattern that frustrates and disrupts logical consistency, exemplifying Woolf ’s paratactic method more intensely than nearly any of its other manifestations that we have examined” (134). Fragmented details and thoughts are critical when considering Modernist literature, which is why scholars of Joyce, Eliot, and Stein would also appreciate this groundbreaking work.