In some ways this is a fictional counterpart to Richard McGregor's The Party. Set within a Chinese provincial government office, the corruption, links with big business, rivalry and powerplay are all here. The notebook of the title is a document forged at the behest of a vice-mayor as part of his campaign against another vice-mayor. But when the anti-corruption department starts its investigation, many people can fall into its net.

The book is narrated in turn by different individuals within the story, each of whom have their own self-justification and take away their own moral from the events. Interspersed with this in the first part of the book are a few chapters narrated by items of office furniture, who like the humans believe that they are the really important items that represent the office: a pen says "The world might be conquered with the barrel of a gun, but it is ruled with the barrel of a pen", while a stapler opines, "You may only be a thin bit of wire, but actually you're a perfect symbol of the civil servant. Your clean silver colour is just like an official's uniform, you all look exactly alike, and when you're put together with me, your leader, you all fall into line. No matter how I bend and squash you, you don't complain; you're made to be shaped and used."

This was an interesting read. It took some time to get going, and the characters weren't very well-rounded as individuals. (But actually this is a problem I always have with modern Chinese fiction; and it mattered less here because there was a real narrative moving the story forward.) There are also quite a lot of explicit references to the theme, with different characters talking about the nature of public service, and much cynicism about how one gets ahead. But it was also a good insight into the back-stabbing and arse-covering within an office where everyone is trying to ally themselves with a future leader.

After I finished the book, I found out that the author himself had once been a secretary to a mayor who was investigated and executed for corruption, and he has written thirteen books on this theme (The Civil Servant's Notebook is the only one translated into English). In fact, there is a whole genre of 'officialdom fiction' in China - with a readership made up half of people interested in current affairs who are looking for the roman à clef elements, and half of would-be civil servants looking for tips to get ahead! ( )