Synopses & Reviews
The author of Red Sorghum and Chinas most revered and controversial novelist returns with his first major publication since winning the Nobel Prize
In 2012, the Nobel committee confirmed Mo Yans position as one of the greatest and most important writers of our time. In his much-anticipated new novel, Mo Yan chronicles the sweeping history of modern China through the lens of the nations controversial one- child policy.
Frog opens with a playwright nicknamed Tadpole who plans to write about his aunt. In her youth, Guguthe beautiful daughter of a famous doctor and staunch Communistis revered for her skill as a midwife. But when her lover defects, Gugus own loyalty to the Party is questioned. She decides to prove her allegiance by strictly enforcing the one-child policy, keeping tabs on the number of children in the village, and performing abortions on women as many as eight months pregnant.
In sharply personal prose, Mo Yan depicts a world of desperate families, illegal surrogates, forced abortions, and the guilt of those who must enforce the policy. At once illuminating and devastating, it shines a light into the heart of communist China.
Review
“Mo Yan . . . brilliantly and fondly re-creates life with visceral writing that reeks of gunpowder, blood, and death.” —
The New York Times Book Review
Praise for the work of Mo Yan:
“Through a mixture of fantasy and reality, historical and social perspectives, Mo Yan has created a world reminiscent in its complexity of those in the writings of William Faulkner and Gabriel García Márquez, at the same time finding a departure point in old Chinese literature and in oral tradition.” —The Nobel Prize Committee
“Mo Yan’s voice will find it’s way into the heart of the American reader, just as Kundera and García Márquez have.” —Amy Tan
Review
Praise for Frog
“Heavily laced with ardent social criticism, mystical symbolism, and historical realism, Mo Yans potent exploration of Chinas most personal and intrusive social control programs probes the horrors and pain such policies inflict.” — Booklist
“Goldblatts translation is inviting, while Yans tale deftly explores the human toll of national policy and historical forces.” — Publishers Weekly
“Harrowing, haunting, poignant . . . Mo Yan proves himself a novelist of the highest calibre.”—Financial Times (UK)
“It's an expansive, fascinating cultural-political history. It skilfully blends high farce with social commentary, domestic drama with deeper themes…Much of the novel is funny, much is sad and moving, and Yan effortlessly moves between the two registers. And you really get a sense of how China and rural Northern Gaomi (Yan's hometown) have changed, almost beyond description, from Maoist times to the current hyper-capitalistic phase.”—Independent (UK)
"There is no denying the ease and beauty of his storytelling . . . this is often difficult subject matter — but never hard to read."— West Australian "Frog has that wonderful sense of flipping between the mundane and the fantastic… Both heartbreaking and absurd… a tragicomic tale."—Adelaide Advertiser
Synopsis
A NEW YORK TIMES TOP BOOK OF 2015
WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK
The author of Red Sorghum and China s most revered and controversial novelist returns with his first major publication since winning the Nobel PrizeIn 2012, the Nobel committee confirmed Mo Yan s position as one of the greatest and most important writers of our time. In his much-anticipated new novel, Mo Yan chronicles the sweeping history of modern China through the lens of the nation s controversial one-child policy.
Frog opens with a playwright nicknamed Tadpole who plans to write about his aunt. In her youth, Gugu the beautiful daughter of a famous doctor and staunch Communist is revered for her skill as a midwife. But when her lover defects, Gugu s own loyalty to the Party is questioned. She decides to prove her allegiance by strictly enforcing the one-child policy, keeping tabs on the number of children in the village, and performing abortions on women as many as eight months pregnant.
In sharply personal prose, Mo Yan depicts a world of desperate families, illegal surrogates, forced abortions, and the guilt of those who must enforce the policy. At once illuminating and devastating, it shines a light into the heart of communist China.
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Synopsis
The acclaimed novel of love and resistance during late 1930s China by Mo Yan, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature Spanning three generations, this novel of family and myth is told through a series of flashbacks that depict events of staggering horror set against a landscape of gemlike beauty, as the Chinese battle both Japanese invaders and each other in the turbulent 1930s.
A legend in China, where it won major literary awards and inspired an Oscar-nominated film directed by Zhang Yimou, Red Sorghum is a book in which fable and history collide to produce fiction that is entirely new—and unforgettable.
About the Author
Mo Yan is the pen name of the Chinese novelist Guan Moye, who is one of the most celebrated writers in the Chinese language. His best-known novels in the West include
Red Sorghum, which was made into an award-winning film;
The Garlic Ballads,
Shifu: You’ll Do Anything for a Laugh; and
Big Breasts and Wide Hips. He was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first resident of mainland China to win the award.