The Four Books by Yan Lianke
In the ninety-ninth district of a sprawling labour camp, the Author, Musician, Scholar, Theologian and Technician 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 treasured books.
"Arch and playful.. [Yan Lianke] deploys offbeat humour, anarchic set pieces and surreal imagery to shed new light on dark episodes from modern Chinese history... A brave, brilliant novel" -- David Evans * Financial Times *
"It’s a Chinese novel hailed across the planet as a masterpiece, and I’m normally the first to resist such an imposition before I’ve even opened the thing – but for once, the hype doesn’t go far enough... a devastating, brilliant slice of living history" -- Kate Saunders * The Times *
"No other writer in today's China has so consistently explored, dissected and mocked the past six and a half decades of Chinese communist rule... it is an extraordinary novel" -- Isobel Hilton * Observer *
"One of the masters of modern Chinese literature" -- Jung Chang
"Stark, powerful and compelling... A privilege" * Independent *
"It’s a Chinese novel hailed across the planet as a masterpiece, and I’m normally the first to resist such an imposition before I’ve even opened the thing – but for once, the hype doesn’t go far enough... a devastating, brilliant slice of living history" -- Kate Saunders * The Times *
"No other writer in today's China has so consistently explored, dissected and mocked the past six and a half decades of Chinese communist rule... it is an extraordinary novel" -- Isobel Hilton * Observer *
"One of the masters of modern Chinese literature" -- Jung Chang
"Stark, powerful and compelling... A privilege" * Independent *
Yan Lianke was born in 1958 in Henan Province, China. He is the author of numerous novels and short-story collections, including Serve the People!, Dream of Ding Village, Lenin's Kisses, The Four Books and The Explosion Chronicles. He has been awarded the Hua Zhong World Chinese Literature Prize, the Lao She Literary Award, the Dream of the Red Chamber Award and the Franz Kafka Prize. He has also been shortlisted for an array of prizes including the International Man Booker Prize, the Principe de Asturias Prize for Letters, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the FT/Oppenheimer Fund Emerging Voices Award and the Prix Femina Etranger. The Day the Sun Died won the Dream of the Red Chamber Award for the World's Most Distinguished Novel in Chinese. He lives and writes in Beijing.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780701186982 |
| ISBN 10 | 0701186984 |
| Title | The Four Books |
| Author | Yan Lianke |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Vintage Publishing |
| Year published | 2015-03-19 |
| Number of pages | 352 |
| Prizes | Long-listed for The International Man Booker Prize 2016 (UK) |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |