Promotional Information

The hugely influential book that set Ma Jian on the road to exile from China.

'Outstanding' Irish Times

About the Author

Ma Jian was born in Qingdao, China. He is the author of seven novels, a travel memoir, three story collections and two essay collections. He has been translated into twenty-six languages. Since the publication of his first book in 1987, all his work has been banned in China. He now lives in exile in London

Reviews

Exquisite, earthy stories... Ma writes brilliantly
*Independent*

At the heart of Ma Jian's stories, there is both humanity and a piercing, if painful, literary truth
*Guardian*

Ma Jian...creates a stunning vision of a culture too easily and dangerously airbrushed into the ideals of others
*Scotland on Sunday*

All [these stories] are fascinating windows on the soul of a dying people
*The Times*

Deadpan yet shot through with subtle empathy and flashes of humour, surreal and unearthly yet steeped in a physicality so immediate that I flinched on at least one occasion. Beautiful...lean style...not a single wasted word...oustanding
*Irish Times*

Exquisite, earthy stories... Ma writes brilliantly * Independent *
At the heart of Ma Jian's stories, there is both humanity and a piercing, if painful, literary truth * Guardian *
Ma Jian...creates a stunning vision of a culture too easily and dangerously airbrushed into the ideals of others * Scotland on Sunday *
All [these stories] are fascinating windows on the soul of a dying people * The Times *
Deadpan yet shot through with subtle empathy and flashes of humour, surreal and unearthly yet steeped in a physicality so immediate that I flinched on at least one occasion. Beautiful...lean style...not a single wasted word...oustanding * Irish Times *

Written nearly 20 years ago, this latest offering from Ma Jian (Red Dust; Noodle Maker) to be translated into English consists of five loosely connected stories related by an unnamed Chinese narrator who is traveling in Tibet. The opening piece, "Woman and the Blue Sky," describes the narrator's search to photograph a traditional Tibetan sky burial, in which the body of the deceased is offered up to vultures. In a stroke of luck, he encounters a soldier who invites him to witness the ceremonial burial of his lover, Myima. Tragically, Myima was sold off at the age of six, sexually abused by her adoptive father, married to a pair of brothers, and died as a result of hemorrhaging during childbirth. The stories of tragedy and abuse continue in "Eight-Fanged Roach," where an old man tells of his incestuous relationship with his mother, resulting in the birth of his daughter, Metok. Though he searches for absolution for his sins, he sleeps with his daughter just prior to her running off with a local trader, and she descends into madness. In an afterword, the author notes that his work is controversial among both Tibetans and Chinese. Given their dark and explicitly disturbing nature, these stories will not be appreciated by all readers. But those who have read Xinran's Sky Burial will recognize the irony of hardship placed upon the human spirit set against the striking beauty offered by the Tibetan landscape. Academic libraries, larger public libraries, and those with collections of Asian fiction may want to add this title.-Shirley N. Quan, Orange Cty. P.L., Santa Ana, CA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.