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Description

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

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Summary

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)

Memorable Quotes

  • “It’s personal interests, that motivate the individual and therefore generate the dynamics of history.”

First Sentence

Everybody was surprised when Professor Yang suffered a stroke in the spring of 1989.

Authors & Contributors

  1. Ha Jin (Author)
 

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