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Description edit
A New York Times Notable Book A Washington Post, Los Angeles times, and San Jose Mercury News Best Book of the Year Ha Jin’s seismically powerful new novel is at once an unblinking look into the bell jar of communist Chinese society and a portrait of the eternal compromises and deceptions... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
Set against the backdrop of the Tianamen Square uprising, a Chinese literature professor suffers a stroke and relives his suffering in the Cultural Revolution through his dementia. His star pupil and future son in law is tasked with caring for him but is disturbed at what he learns from the... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Quotes edit
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“It’s personal interests, that motivate the individual and therefore generate the dynamics of history.”
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I was crazed, unable to think logically, and was possessed by an intense desire to prove that I was a man capable of action and choice.
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In his first twenty years, Man lives a monkey’s life. He capers around and climbs trees and walls, doing things at will. This period, his happiest, passes quickly. Then comes the next twenty years, in which Man lives a donkey’s life.
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his brain becomes too full and cannot but burst. It’s like a pressure cooker which is so full that the safety valve is blocked up, but the fire continues heating its bottom. As a consequence, the only way out is to explode.”
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After this period Man has reached forty, and human life begins. By now his body is worn out, his limbs are feeble and heavy, and he has to rely on his brain, which has begun deteriorating too,
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Many of us have been poor all our lives, but we are rich in our hearts, content to be a Don Quixote.”
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Setting & Locations edit
First Sentence edit
Everybody was surprised when Professor Yang suffered a stroke in the spring of 1989.
Table of Contents edit
Chapters 1 - 35
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: William Heinemann
Country: UK
Publication Date: 2002
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: Add the page count.
Publisher: William Heinemann
Country: UK
Publication Date: 2002
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: Add the page count.
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 813
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