Soft Burial by Fang Fang
Soft Burial is one of the most remarkableand most controversialrecent works of Chinese literature. Part mystery, part historical fiction, and part social expose, the novel intercuts different generations, regions, and time periods.
A riveting read and an illuminating one* The Atlantic *
Fang Fang’s Soft Burial beautifully evokes the intergenerational trauma stemming from the Land Reform Movement in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This is a fantastic novel, an excellent translation, and an important contribution to modern Chinese literature and world literature. -- Levi S. Gibbs, author of Song King: Connecting People, Places, and Past in Contemporary China
Fang Fang is a powerful voice in contemporary Chinese literature, recognized for her steadfast attention to the underdogs of society. Through poignant and compassionate storytelling, she delves into the depths of the human condition, challenging readers to confront difficult truths with empathy and understanding. -- Zhang Ling, author of Where Waters Meet
Soft Burial questions the value of information and the ways in which it is delivered and received, acknowledging the pain of the past yet quietly suggesting that remembrance is critical to an honest civilization. * Necessary Fiction *
Soft Burial is an absorbing look at an important period of modern Chinese history, with Fang poking her finger into an open wound, determined to make the reader reexamine what they think they know. * Tony's Reading List *
Soft Burial’s force arises from its insistently interconnected threads. Lives that form a unity never fully glimpse the ways they have been knotted together... The subject is the individual self molded, remolded, surviving, or being consumed by cataclysmic change. * New York Review of Books *
Fang Fang’s Soft Burial beautifully evokes the intergenerational trauma stemming from the Land Reform Movement in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This is a fantastic novel, an excellent translation, and an important contribution to modern Chinese literature and world literature. -- Levi S. Gibbs, author of Song King: Connecting People, Places, and Past in Contemporary China
Fang Fang is a powerful voice in contemporary Chinese literature, recognized for her steadfast attention to the underdogs of society. Through poignant and compassionate storytelling, she delves into the depths of the human condition, challenging readers to confront difficult truths with empathy and understanding. -- Zhang Ling, author of Where Waters Meet
Soft Burial questions the value of information and the ways in which it is delivered and received, acknowledging the pain of the past yet quietly suggesting that remembrance is critical to an honest civilization. * Necessary Fiction *
Soft Burial is an absorbing look at an important period of modern Chinese history, with Fang poking her finger into an open wound, determined to make the reader reexamine what they think they know. * Tony's Reading List *
Soft Burial’s force arises from its insistently interconnected threads. Lives that form a unity never fully glimpse the ways they have been knotted together... The subject is the individual self molded, remolded, surviving, or being consumed by cataclysmic change. * New York Review of Books *
Fang Fang is the pen name of Wang Fang, one of contemporary China’s most celebrated writers. Her books in English include The Running Flame, also translated by Michael Berry. Fang Fang’s account of the COVID-19 lockdown in her hometown, Wuhan Diary, was translated into twenty languages and garnered critical acclaim from major media outlets around the world.
Michael Berry is professor of contemporary Chinese cultural studies and director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. A Guggenheim Fellow, he is the author of several books, including Jia Zhangke on Jia Zhangke (2022) and Translation, Disinformation, and Wuhan Diary (2022). He is also the translator of numerous books, including Fang Fang’s Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City (2020).
Michael Berry is professor of contemporary Chinese cultural studies and director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. A Guggenheim Fellow, he is the author of several books, including Jia Zhangke on Jia Zhangke (2022) and Translation, Disinformation, and Wuhan Diary (2022). He is also the translator of numerous books, including Fang Fang’s Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City (2020).
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780231214995 |
| ISBN 10 | 0231214995 |
| Title | Soft Burial |
| Author | Fang Fang |
| Series | Weatherhead Books On Asia |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Columbia University Press |
| Year published | 2025-03-18 |
| Number of pages | 416 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |