Synopses & Reviews
In his latest novel, Mo Yan, arguably China's most important contemporary literary voice, recreates the historical sweep and earthy exuberance of his much acclaimed novel
Red Sorghum.
In a country where men dominate, this epic novel is first and foremost about women. As the title implies, the female body serves as the books most important image and metaphor. The protagonist, Mother, is born in 1900. Married at 17 into the Shangguan family, she has nine children, only one of whom is a boy, the narrator of the book, a spoiled and ineffectual child who stands in stark contrast to his eight strong and forceful female siblings. Mother, a survivor, is the quintessential strong woman, who risks her life to save the lives of several of her children and grandchildren. The writing is full of life picturesque, bawdy, shocking, imaginative. Each of the seven chapters represents a different time period, from the end of the Qing dynasty up through the Japanese invasion in the 1930s, the civil war, the Cultural Revolution, and the post-Mao years. In sum, this stunning novel is Mo Yans searing vision of 20th-century China.
Review
"In a sprawling saga that spans a century, the noted Chinese author chronicles the lives of the Shangguan family, graphically illustrating his country's violent past and corrupt present....Ambitious, if at times prolix." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Complex and confrontational, Mo's book is far from an easy read...Those familiar with Li Qiao's Wintry Night and the writings of Gao Xingjian will not be surprised by the darkness here." Library Journal
Review
"In replacing the patriarchy with his bosomy matriarchy, in giving bumps and curves to the smooth, airbrushed, authoritarian façade of Communist China, Mo Yan is mounting a barely veiled protest against the failures of China's oppressive, still male-dominated political Establishment and its sanitized account of the recent past. Whether or not this conceit makes for a good novel with a convincing feminist message is less obvious." Julia Lovell, the Times Literary Supplement (read the entire Times Literary Supplement review)