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The Four Books Audiobook by Yan Lianke, Carlos Rojas - translator
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Title: The Four Books
Author: Yan Lianke, Carlos Rojas - translator
Narrator: George Backman
Format: Unabridged
Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
Language: English
Release date: 03-03-15
Publisher: Audible Studios
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 9 votes
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher's Summary:
From master storyteller Yan Lianke, winner of the prestigious Franz Kafka Prize and a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize, The Four Books is a powerful, daring novel of the dog-eat-dog psychology inside a labor camp for intellectuals during Mao's Great Leap Forward. Yan is a renowned author in China and among its most censored; his mythical, sometimes surreal tale cuts to the bone in its portrayal of the struggle between authoritarian power and man's will to prevail against the darkest odds through camaraderie, love, and faith.
In the ninety-ninth district of a sprawling reeducation compound, freethinking artists and academics are detained to strengthen their loyalty to Communist ideologies. Here, the Musician and her lover, the Scholar, along with the Author and the Theologian, are forced to carry out grueling physical work and are encouraged to inform on each other for dissident behavior. The prize: winning a chance at freedom. They're overseen by preadolescent supervisor the Child, who delights in reward systems and excessive punishments. When agricultural and industrial production quotas are raised to an unattainable level, the ninety-ninth district dissolves into lawlessness. And then, as inclement weather and famine set in, they are abandoned by the regime and left alone to survive.
Members Reviews:
I liked the fact that the characters did have personalities but ...
A fascinating, original story. The novel wasn't at all what I expected and that was gratifying. I liked the fact that the characters did have personalities but were, at the same time, types. The stupidity and rapacious nature of the leadership during the great famine in China was believable. A satisfying if tragic story
A better choice
A decent, well crafted novel, but the author's nameless characters (the Author, the Scholar, the Musician, the Child) never resonated with me. Instead, they left me feeling hammered by the symbolism. If you are unfamiliar with contemporary Chinese authors (as I am) and are looking for a hugely satisfying novel about the wrenching events in 20th century China, choose instead Life and Death are Wearing Me Out by 2012 Nobel Laureate Mo Yan.
A Painful Read but an Excellent Book
This is a very painful book to read, about a difficult early period in Maoist China. It's a good example of totalitarian "thought reform" among intellectuals and how oppressive conditions play on the minds (and souls) of various intellectuals. Extremely interesting, but hard to read! Written in a "primitive" style by one of the members of a Re-Education camp. I fully recommend it, if you have a strong stomach.
Living in a Re-Education camp during the Cultural Revolution in China
It takes several chapters to understand who is against whom (mostly everybody). Eventually during the famine people become united under dire conditions and start cooperating in order to survive
Left me breathless
The novel, probably the last chapter explains it all, our life and death and sufferings we bear in between. In the end the morbidities fade away, what remains is excerpts of soul.
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Title: The Four Books
Author: Yan Lianke, Carlos Rojas - translator
Narrator: George Backman
Format: Unabridged
Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
Language: English
Release date: 03-03-15
Publisher: Audible Studios
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 9 votes
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher's Summary:
From master storyteller Yan Lianke, winner of the prestigious Franz Kafka Prize and a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize, The Four Books is a powerful, daring novel of the dog-eat-dog psychology inside a labor camp for intellectuals during Mao's Great Leap Forward. Yan is a renowned author in China and among its most censored; his mythical, sometimes surreal tale cuts to the bone in its portrayal of the struggle between authoritarian power and man's will to prevail against the darkest odds through camaraderie, love, and faith.
In the ninety-ninth district of a sprawling reeducation compound, freethinking artists and academics are detained to strengthen their loyalty to Communist ideologies. Here, the Musician and her lover, the Scholar, along with the Author and the Theologian, are forced to carry out grueling physical work and are encouraged to inform on each other for dissident behavior. The prize: winning a chance at freedom. They're overseen by preadolescent supervisor the Child, who delights in reward systems and excessive punishments. When agricultural and industrial production quotas are raised to an unattainable level, the ninety-ninth district dissolves into lawlessness. And then, as inclement weather and famine set in, they are abandoned by the regime and left alone to survive.
Members Reviews:
I liked the fact that the characters did have personalities but ...
A fascinating, original story. The novel wasn't at all what I expected and that was gratifying. I liked the fact that the characters did have personalities but were, at the same time, types. The stupidity and rapacious nature of the leadership during the great famine in China was believable. A satisfying if tragic story
A better choice
A decent, well crafted novel, but the author's nameless characters (the Author, the Scholar, the Musician, the Child) never resonated with me. Instead, they left me feeling hammered by the symbolism. If you are unfamiliar with contemporary Chinese authors (as I am) and are looking for a hugely satisfying novel about the wrenching events in 20th century China, choose instead Life and Death are Wearing Me Out by 2012 Nobel Laureate Mo Yan.
A Painful Read but an Excellent Book
This is a very painful book to read, about a difficult early period in Maoist China. It's a good example of totalitarian "thought reform" among intellectuals and how oppressive conditions play on the minds (and souls) of various intellectuals. Extremely interesting, but hard to read! Written in a "primitive" style by one of the members of a Re-Education camp. I fully recommend it, if you have a strong stomach.
Living in a Re-Education camp during the Cultural Revolution in China
It takes several chapters to understand who is against whom (mostly everybody). Eventually during the famine people become united under dire conditions and start cooperating in order to survive
Left me breathless
The novel, probably the last chapter explains it all, our life and death and sufferings we bear in between. In the end the morbidities fade away, what remains is excerpts of soul.