BRIEF Review

First published in Mandarin in 2005, Decoded is to China what James Bond would be the the UK, if it were more intellectual and less misogynistic. Decoded follows the life of Rong Jinzhen as he navigates the treacherous waters of China's communist party and its army of code-breaking cryptographers. It is a surreal dip into the sociopathy of genius and the depths of authoritarian rule. Though his narrative voice is fairly unassuming, perhaps bordering on unimaginative, it is Mai Jia's delicate and subtle storytelling that allows him to make such a convoluted story seem plausible.