Yan Lianke

Väkevä tarina unissakävelijöistä matkalla kohti maailmanloppua.”Tämä romaani on merkittävä ja - niin kuin parhaat tarinat usein ovat - avoin monenlaisille tulkinnoille. Kirjan tapahtumat ovat mielikuvituksellisia; sen tunnelma ja sanoma valitettavan realistisia.” - The ScotsmanLi Niannian asuu vanhempiensa kanssa pienessä vuoristokylässä. Eräänä iltana kukaan naapureista ei hänen ihmetyksekseen vetäydy nukkumaan, vaan he vaeltavat kaduilla ja pelloilla niin kuin aurinko ei olisi laskenutkaan. Tuona yönä sadat kyläläiset unissakävelevät ja toteuttavat salaisimmat, päiväsaikaan piilossa pidetyt halunsa. Koko yhteisö uhkaa luisua kaaokseen, ja Li Niannianin ja hänen vanhempiensa tehtäväksi jää pelastaa kylä ja kyläläiset ennen auringonnousua.Yan Lianke (s. 1958) on niin Kiinassa kuin ulkomaillakin palkittu kirjailija. Länsimaissa hän nousi suuren yleisön suosioon voitettuaan Franz Kafka -palkinnon vuonna 2014, ja Yania pidetään yhtenä Kiinan merkittävimmistä nykykirjailijoista.

From "China's foremost literary satirist" (Financial Times) comes a captivating new novel set at a religious training center in Beijing, focusing on the unlikely love story of a Buddhist nun and a Daoist priestAt the Religious Training Center on the campus of Beijing's National Politics University, disciples of China's five main religions--Buddhism, Daoism, Protestantism, Catholicism, and Islam--gather for a year of intensive study and training. In this hallowed yet jovial atmosphere, the institute's two youngest disciples--Yahui, a Buddhist jade nun, and Gu Mingzheng, a Daoist master--fall into a fast friendship that might bloom into something more.This year, however, the worldly Director Gong has an exciting new plan: he has organized tug-of-war competitions between the religions. The fervor of competition offers excitement for the disciples, as well as a lucrative source of fundraising, but Yahui looks on the games with distrust: her beloved mentor collapsed after witnessing one of these competitions. Gu Mingzheng, meanwhile, has his own mission at the institute, centering on his search for his unknown father. Soon it becomes clear that corruption is seeping ever more deeply into the foundation of the institute under Director Gong's watch, and Yahui and Gu Mingzheng will be forced to ask themselves whether it is better to stay committed to an increasingly fraught faith or to return to secular life forever--and nothing less than the fate of the gods itself is at stake.Illustrated throughout with beautiful original papercuts, animated by Yan Lianke's characteristically incisive sense of humor, Heart Sutra is a stunning and timely novel that highlights the best and worst in mankind and interrogates the costs of division.

'The new masterpiece by eminent Chinese writer Yan Lianke . . . two revolutionaries take matters disastrously into their own hands while conducting a crazed affair' MARGARET ATWOOD on TwitterA breakneck adventure story following the erotic love affair of party cadres Aijun and Hongmei during China's Cultural RevolutionThis is the story of the freewheeling love affair between married soldier Aijun and Hongmei, a beautiful young woman from his village in the Balou Mountains.Intoxicated with one another, Aijun and Hongmei hurl themselves into their town's revolutionary struggle. Spending their days and nights stamping out feudalism, writing pamphlets and organising rallies, they become inseparable: they are the engines of history.But as their political activity reaches new heights, so does the danger of getting caught... 'A blistering tour-de-force... Sensuous and riveting' MADELEINE THIEN, Booker-shortlisted author of Do Not Say We Have Nothing'Fascinating... This tale of an illicit tryst during the Cultural Revolution is a stinging satire' The Times**A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST FICTION IN TRANSLATION BOOK 2021**

Gao Aijun is a son of the soil of Henan's Balou Mountains, and after a service in the Army, he is on his way back to his ancestral village, feeling like a hero. Close to his arrival, he sees a strikingly attractive woman walking barefoot alongside a railway track in the warm afternoon sun, and he is instantly smitten. She is Xia Hongmei and lives up to her name of "beautiful flower." Hiding their relationship from their spouses, the pair hurl themselves into the struggle to bring revolution to their backwater village. They spend their days and nights writing pamphlets, organizing work brigades, and attending rallies, feeling they are the vanguard for the full-blown revolution that is waiting in the wings. Emboldened by encouragement from the Party, the couple dig a literal "tunnel of love" between their homes, where underneath the village their revolutionary and sexual fervor reaches a boiling point. While the unsuspecting villagers sleep, they sing revolutionary songs and compete in shouting-matches of Maoist slogans before making earth-moving love. But when their torrid relationship is finally discovered, and they have to answer to Hongmei's husband, their dreams of a bright future together begin to fray. Will their great revolutionary energy save their skins, or will they too fall victim to the revolution that is swallowing up the country?A novel of rare emotional force and surprising humor, Hard Like Water is an operatic and brilliantly plotted human drama about power's corrupting nature and the brute force of love and desire.

Set in 1967, at the peak of the Mao cult, Serve the People! is a beautifully told, wickedly daring story about the forbidden love affair between Liu Lian, the young, pretty wife of a powerful Division Commander in Communist China, and her household's lowly servant, Wu Dawang.

A surprising and highly entertaining story of revolutionary vigor and sexual desire, infused with the humor of Yan Lianke's Serve the People , Hard Like Water is an unforgettable portrait of two young revolutionaries whose forbidden love sets them against their small Henan village, but whose communist fervor puts them on the right side of Chinese history. Returning to his village invigorated by success in the army, Gao Aijun sees the beautiful Xia Hongmei walking barefoot alongside the railway track in the warm afternoon sun, and is instantly smitten. Hiding their relationship from their spouses, the pair hurl themselves into the struggle to bring revolution to their backwater village, whose only point of interest is the immense Cheng Temple dedicated to ancient feudal lords. Aijun and Hongmei wait to consummate their relationship until Aijun has managed to dig a literal tunnel of love between their homes, and underneath the village their revolutionary and sexual fervor reaches boiling point. While the unsuspecting villagers sleep, they sing revolutionary songs and shout Maoist slogans to each other before making earth-moving love. But when their relationship is finally uncovered, the couple finds themselves dangerously at odds with the doctrinaire and self-disciplined ideals of party higher-ups--and even Aijun's grandiose plan to destroy Cheng Temple is called into question. Will their great revolutionary energy save their skins, or will they too fall victim to the revolution? Upturning the ideals of socialist realism, Hard Like Water is an operatic and surprisingly moving human drama about power's corrupting nature and the brute force of love and desire.

From one of China's most highly regarded writers, winner of the Franz Kafka Prize and twice finalist for the International Booker Prize, Three Brothers is a beautiful and heartwrenching memoir of the author's childhood and family life during the Cultural RevolutionIn this heartfelt, intimate memoir, Yan Lianke brings the reader into his childhood home in Song County in Henan Province, painting a vivid portrait of rural China in the 1960s and '70s. Three Brothers is a literary testament to the great humanity and small joys that exist even in times of darkness.With lyricism and deep emotion, Yan chronicles the extraordinary lives of his father and uncles, as well as his own. Living in a remote village, Yan's parents are so poor that they can only afford to use wheat flour on New Year and festival days, and while Yan dreams of fried scallion buns, and even steals from his father to buy sesame seed cakes. He yearns to leave the village, however he can, and soon novels become an escape. He resolves to become a writer himself after reading on the back of a novel that its author was given leave to remain in the city of Harbin after publishing her book. In the evenings, after finishing back-breaking shifts hauling stones at a cement factory, sometimes sixteen hours long, he sets to work writing. He is ultimately delivered from the drudgery and danger of manual labor by a career in the Army, but he is filled with regrets as he recalls these years of scarcity, turmoil, and poverty.A philosophical portrait of grief, death, home, and fate that gleams with Yan's quick wit and gift for imagery, Three Brothers is a personal portrait of a politically devastating period, and a celebration of the power of the family to hold together even in the harshest circumstances.

From one of China's most highly regarded writers, winner of the Franz Kafka Prize and twice finalist for the International Booker Prize, Three Brothers is a beautiful and heartwrenching memoir of the author's childhood and family life during the Cultural RevolutionIn this heartfelt, intimate memoir, Yan Lianke brings the reader into his childhood home in Song County in Henan Province, painting a vivid portrait of rural China in the 1960s and '70s. Three Brothers is a literary testament to the great humanity and small joys that exist even in times of darkness.With lyricism and deep emotion, Yan chronicles the extraordinary lives of his father and uncles, as well as his own. Living in a remote village, Yan's parents are so poor that they can only afford to use wheat flour on New Year and festival days, and while Yan dreams of fried scallion buns, and even steals from his father to buy sesame seed cakes. He yearns to leave the village, however he can, and soon novels become an escape. He resolves to become a writer himself after reading on the back of a novel that its author was given leave to remain in the city of Harbin after publishing her book. In the evenings, after finishing back-breaking shifts hauling stones at a cement factory, sometimes sixteen hours long, he sets to work writing. He is ultimately delivered from the drudgery and danger of manual labor by a career in the Army, but he is filled with regrets as he recalls these years of scarcity, turmoil, and poverty.A philosophical portrait of grief, death, home, and fate that gleams with Yan's quick wit and gift for imagery, Three Brothers is a personal portrait of a politically devastating period, and a celebration of the power of the family to hold together even in the harshest circumstances.

Yan Lianke has secured his place as contemporary China's most essential and daring novelist, "with his superlative gifts for storytelling and penetrating eye for truth" (New York Times Book Review). His newest novel, The Day the Sun Died--winner of the Dream of the Red Chamber Award, one of the most prestigious honors for Chinese-language novels--is a haunting story of a town caught in a waking nightmare. In a little village nestled in the Balou mountains, fourteen-year-old Li Niannian and his parents run a funeral parlor. One evening, he notices a strange occurrence. Instead of preparing for bed, more and more neighbors appear in the streets and fields, carrying on with their daily business as if the sun hadn't already set. Li Niannian watches, mystified. As hundreds of residents are found dreamwalking, they act out the desires they've suppressed during waking hours. Before long, the community devolves into chaos, and it's up to Li Niannian and his parents to save the town before sunrise. Set over the course of one increasingly bizarre night, The Day the Sun Died is a propulsive, darkly sinister tale from a world-class writer.

Yan Lianke has secured his place as contemporary China's most essential and daring novelist, "with his superlative gifts for storytelling and penetrating eye for truth" (New York Times Book Review). His newest novel, The Day the Sun Died--winner of the Dream of the Red Chamber Award, one of the most prestigious honors for Chinese-language novels--is a haunting story of a town caught in a waking nightmare. In a little village nestled in the Balou mountains, fourteen-year-old Li Niannian and his parents run a funeral parlor. One evening, he notices a strange occurrence. Instead of preparing for bed, more and more neighbors appear in the streets and fields, carrying on with their daily business as if the sun hadn't already set. Li Niannian watches, mystified. As hundreds of residents are found dreamwalking, they act out the desires they've suppressed during waking hours. Before long, the community devolves into chaos, and it's up to Li Niannian and his parents to save the town before sunrise. Set over the course of one increasingly bizarre night, The Day the Sun Died is a propulsive, darkly sinister tale from a world-class writer.

Yan Lianke-"China's most feted and most banned author" (Financial Times)-is a master of imaginative satire, and his prize-winning works have been published around the world to the highest honors. Now, his two most acclaimed novellas are collected here in a single volume-masterfully crafted stories that explore the sacrifices made for family, the driving will to survive, and the longing to leave behind a personal legacy.Marrow is the haunting tale of a widow who goes to extremes to provide a normal life for her four disabled children. When she discovers that bones-especially those of kin-can cure their illnesses and prevent future generations from the same fate, she feeds them a medicinal soup made from the skeleton of her dead husband. But after running out of soup, she resorts to a measure that only a mother can take.In the luminous, moving title story, The Years, Months, Days-a bestselling, classic fable in China, and winner of the prestigious Lu Xun Literary Prize-an elderly man stays behind in his small village after a terrible drought forces everyone to leave. Unable to make the grueling march through the mountains, he becomes the lone inhabitant, along with a blind dog. As he fends off the natural world from overtaking his hometown, every day is a victory over death.With touches of the fantastical and with deep humanity, these two magnificent novellas-masterpieces of the short form-reflect the universality of mankind's will to live, live well, and live with purpose.

Yan Lianke is one of the most acclaimed writers of contemporary China--twice a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize, as well as the winner of the prestigious Franz Kafka Prize--and he has been lauded for his imaginative satire and perceptive cultural critique. The Explosion Chronicles tells the unforgettable tale of rival families competing in a greed-fueled race to convert their sleepy, rural community into a thriving super metropolis. With the Yi River on one side and the Balou Mountains on the other, the remote village of Explosion was founded more than a millennium ago by refugees fleeing a seismic volcanic eruption. But in the post-Mao era, the name takes on surprising significance as the villagers aspire to transform their poor province into a bustling city of millions. Behind this explosive expansion are the four Kong brothers, whose loyalty is tested when they set out to fulfill their individual destinies; Zhu Ying, a wealthy businesswoman and the daughter of the former village chief; and Cheng Qing, a secretary climbing the ranks to become an influential political figure. Linked together by a web of lies, vice, and ambition, they are the driving force behind their hometown's transformation. And when Explosion's progress begins to take a lethal toll, they are forced to confront the sacrifices they have made for power and money. Brimming with absurdity, intelligence, and wit, The Explosion Chronicles is a riotous exploration of the high stakes of unbridled authority, the consequences of corruption, the polarizing dynamics of love and hate, and the seemingly unstoppable excesses of capitalist culture.

In the ninety-ninth district of a sprawling reeducation compound, freethinking artists and academics are detained to strengthen and affirm their loyalty to Communist ideologies. Here, in this isolated part of Henan province, 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 political favor and the chance at freedom. They're overseen by preadolescent supervisor, the Child, who delights in draconian rules, reward systems, and excessive punishments, such as confiscating treasured books. But when the higher-ups raise the agricultural and industrial production quotas to an unattainable level, the ninety-ninth district dissolves into lawlessness and the intellectuals are soon abandoned by the regime to survive on their own. With his incisive, lyrical prose, Yan Lianke melds political satire and allegory in this riveting, formidable tale that portrays the absurd and grotesque oppression of the Great Leap Forward.

In the ninety-ninth district of a sprawling labour camp, the Author, Musician, Scholar, Theologian and Technician - and hundreds just like them - are undergoing Re-education, to restore their revolutionary zeal and credentials. In charge of this process is the Child, who delights in draconian rules, monitoring behaviour and confiscating books.

A mystifying climatic incongruity begins the award-winning novel Lenin's Kisses--an absurdist, tragicomic masterpiece set in modern day China. Nestled deep within the Balou mountains, spared from the government's watchful eye, the harmonious people of Liven had enough food and leisure to be fully content. But when their crops and livelihood are obliterated by a seven-day snowstorm in the middle of a sweltering summer, a county official arrives with a lucrative scheme both to raise money for the district and boost his career. The majority of the 197 villagers are disabled, and he convinces them to start a traveling performance troupe highlighting such acts as One-Eye's one-eyed needle threading. With the profits from this extraordinary show, he intends to buy Lenin's embalmed corpse from Russia and install it in a grand mausoleum to attract tourism, in the ultimate marriage of capitalism and communism. However, the success of the Shuanghuai County Special-Skills Performance Troupe comes at a serious price. Yan Lianke, one of China's most distinguished writers--whose works often push the envelope of his country's censorship system--delivers a humorous, daring, and riveting portrait of the trappings and consequences of greed and corruption at the heart of humanity.

A FINALIST FOR THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZEDeep within the Balou mountains lies a small rural town populated by disabled people. With the money, he intends to buy Lenin's embalmed corpse from an ailing Russia and install it in a splendid mausoleum in the mountains to attract tourism to this sleepy district.

Banned in China, Dream of Ding Village is acclaimed Chinese novelist Yan Lianke s most important and controversial novel to date a passionate and steely critique of the rate at which China is developingand what happens to those who get in the way."

Part memoir and part literary nonfiction, The Women captures the harsh and unequal experience of being a woman in 1970s and 80s rural China. Written by the award winning author Yan Lianke, the book is both a tribute to the women who shaped his life and a sociological critique of China's treatment of women. "In the countryside, the human being is a worker," but rural women's work is diminished, their hardship ignored. Through humor and tragedy, Lianke shares their story and reveals a side of Chinese life rarely accessed by the West.

Millainen hinta edistyksestä on maksettava? Raastava romaani Kiinan köyhimpiä yhteisöjä 1990-luvulla riepotelleesta verenluovutusbuumista. Dingin kylään on langennut hiljaisuus. Sen asukkaat näivettyvät hiljaa kodeissaan muistellen kymmenen vuoden takaista nousukautta. Silloin veriplasma virtasi ja johtajat juhlivat liikeideaansa - eikä kukaan välittänyt hygieniasta tai kummallisesta taudista, joka levisi ulkomailla. Menestyksestä jäi kylään jäljelle vain AIDS, ja yhteisön raivon sai rankimmin tuntea 12-vuotias Xiao Qiang. Nyt Xiaon isoisä vierailee pojanpoikansa haudalla ja kirjaa ylös uniaan. Kuoleman kuristusotteessakin unet jatkavat kulkuaan. Yan Lianke (s. 1958) on niin Kiinassa kuin ulkomaillakin palkittu kirjailija. Länsimaissa hän nousi suuren yleisön suosioon voitettuaan Franz Kafka -palkinnon vuonna 2014, ja Yania pidetään yhtenä Kiinan merkittävimmistä nykykirjailijoista. Veren ja unien kylää ei ole koskaan julkaistu Manner-Kiinassa. * ”Merkkiteos [Lianken] uralla... Järkyttävä kritiikki Kiinan hallinnasta karanneesta kehityksestä.” - The Guardian

En kväll i början av juni, i en stad djupt inne i Baloubergen, anar fjortonårige Li Niannian att något inte står rätt till. Invånarna, som borde dra sig tillbaka för natten, börjar i stället att strömma ut på gator och fält. Överallt syns människor som rör sig i sömnen. Drömvandrarna är fångade i vardagens sysslor som om solen aldrig gått ner. Snart drabbas allt fler, och i nattens mörker brakar kaoset lös. Dagen då solen slocknade är en mörk och fängslande skildring där natten ställs mot den optimistiska kinesiska dröm som frammanas av landets makthavare. I berättelsens centrum står Li Niannian och hans far, som kämpar för att rädda sin stad undan undergången – och för att väcka den livgivande solen på nytt.