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Os Quatro Livros
Acclaimed author Yan Lianke's The Four Books is a daring, darkly satirical story of the dog-eat-dog psychology inside a labor camp during China's "three bitter years" of famine. This mythical, symbolic, sometimes surreal tale portrays the absurdity and grotesquerie of this traumatic period, which has been a taboo subject for half a century.
In the ninety-ninth district of a sprawling labor camp, a group of intellectuals are imprisoned to restore their commitment to Communist ideologies. Here, the Musician and her lover, the Scholar—along with the Author and the Theologian—live inside a community where everyone is 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, policing inmates' conduct, and confiscating books. When massively inflated production quotas in steel-making and grain-harvesting rise to an unattainable level, the prisoners exhaust themselves to meet their goals. As famine and inclement weather arrive, the inmates are abandoned by the regime and left on their own to survive. The Four Books captures the universal power of camaraderie, love, and faith against oppression and the darkest odds.
In the ninety-ninth district of a sprawling labor camp, a group of intellectuals are imprisoned to restore their commitment to Communist ideologies. Here, the Musician and her lover, the Scholar—along with the Author and the Theologian—live inside a community where everyone is 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, policing inmates' conduct, and confiscating books. When massively inflated production quotas in steel-making and grain-harvesting rise to an unattainable level, the prisoners exhaust themselves to meet their goals. As famine and inclement weather arrive, the inmates are abandoned by the regime and left on their own to survive. The Four Books captures the universal power of camaraderie, love, and faith against oppression and the darkest odds.
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First published January 1, 2013
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About the author
Yan Lianke
72 books482 followersYan Lianke (simplified Chinese: 阎连科; traditional Chinese: 閻連科; pinyin: Yán Liánkē; Wade–Giles: Yen Lien-k'e, born 1958) is a Chinese writer of novels and short stories based in Beijing. His work is highly satirical, which has resulted in some of his most renowned works being banned.
He started writing in 1978 and his works include: Xia Riluo (夏日落), Serve the People (为人民服务), Enjoyment (受活), and Dream of Ding Village (丁庄梦). He has also published more than ten volumes of short stories. Enjoyment, which was published in 2004, received wide acclaim in China. His literature has been published in various nations, and some of his works have been banned in China.
(Wikipedia)
He started writing in 1978 and his works include: Xia Riluo (夏日落), Serve the People (为人民服务), Enjoyment (受活), and Dream of Ding Village (丁庄梦). He has also published more than ten volumes of short stories. Enjoyment, which was published in 2004, received wide acclaim in China. His literature has been published in various nations, and some of his works have been banned in China.
(Wikipedia)
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September 20, 2020
No Soap Radio
According to Yan, Maoist China was an absurdist paradise. Based on the many other accounts of the period, there is no reason to doubt him. However, if China has been such a place, I find it difficult to accept that this was a passing cultural phase. There seems to be something anti-rational not just irrational in the collective psyche. Else why would it be necessary for someone like Yan to publicise the common practices that were and are well known. What is the point other than to remind the population of its absurdist core?
Reading The Four Books, I was reminded of the 1950’s New York City practical joke craze ‘No Soap Radio.’ Two collaborators engage in the telling of a meaningless funny story in the presence of a third person. The story concludes with an equally meaningless punchline, like ‘no soap radio’, at which point the collaborators laugh hysterically. In almost all cases, the dupe joins in the hilarity. The two collaborators then stop laughing and with deadpan faces ask the third what he finds so funny.
No Soap Radio is a trivial demonstration of the sociological impetus to conform. We all have it to some degree unless we’re been forcibly housed in a mental facility. In a capitalist society, most of of us work for the equivalent of the paper blossoms handed out in the Maoist Re-Ed camps Yan describes so relentlessly. When we get enough of them we, like the camps’ inmates, get promotion, better food, improved accommodation, and, if were really fortunate, we hit the jackpot and can retire. We might even play the lottery, which doesn’t make statistical sense but that doesn’t matter if there’s even a tiny chance to escape from the rat race.
The difference in China is that no matter how many times the No Soap Radio, bait and switch joke is played, everyone behaves as if they’ve never encountered it before. They know the contradiction in which they are living even as they know the absurdity of the observation that “The Yellow River reversed course and began flowing westward.” Yet they continue to act like the comic strip character Charlie Brown when Lucy promises not to knock the football over as he attempts to kick it - for the hundredth time. The ball is always knocked over. What keeps these people in the game? Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity.
In the Western capitalist world, even in the most brutal parts of it, if the odds of promotion (much less survival) were anything as low as those those portrayed by Yan, insurrection, or at least conspiracy to such, would be a certainty. Even the Warsaw ghetto had its uprising, Watts its riots, South Africa its Transition and England’s its Peasants Revolt - all in the context of an overwhelmingly pervasive ideology. What is it, one is bound to ask, that is so uniquely powerful in Chinese culture that prevents rebellious action against even a local leader who lacks both arms and available military support?
It’s as if the residents of Re-Ed Camp Ninety-Nine fear being considered un-Chinese more than they fear being starved or beaten or simply subject to administrative idiocy. Not that they particularly like each other. They inform and spy on and persecute other inmates as a matter of course, mostly because it is an enjoyable break from the daily routine. Any show of human concern for another is suspect and reported. The inmates, almost all professionals with advanced education, are willing to admit to any and all ideological imperfections, not because they will otherwise be tortured, but because they otherwise will contribute less to the national enterprise than they could have done.
The society in which the camps are embedded appears equally insane in a very specific sense: Reality is entirely symbolic; there is nothing behind any representation. So targets for grain and steel production are what is real, not the amount of grain or steel that finds its way to the warehouse. Incredible estimates are not lies but signs of good intention; the more incredible the estimate, the more earnest the intention. One is expected not merely to accept leadership from incompetents, but to also praise leaders most energetically precisely when they are most incompetent.
It seems to me that few of these sociological traits are the result of camp life alone, no matter how brutal such life was. Whatever kept that sociology in existence, it wasn’t force of arms, or electric fences, or systematic violence. Something the inmates brought with them and which they shared while never speaking of it has to be the key. But neither Yan, nor any other writer about China during Mao or after, seems able to define what that cultural substance or spirit is (It certainly isn’t the spirit of Sisyphus which Yan interprets as a sort of self-punishment to secretly spite the god of punishment) . It is invisible to those inside the culture, and entirely opaque to those outside. All we can hear is the equivalent of No Soap Radio as the Chinese stare at us with deadpan faces. Is there a joke we’re missing or a joke that never was?
According to Yan, Maoist China was an absurdist paradise. Based on the many other accounts of the period, there is no reason to doubt him. However, if China has been such a place, I find it difficult to accept that this was a passing cultural phase. There seems to be something anti-rational not just irrational in the collective psyche. Else why would it be necessary for someone like Yan to publicise the common practices that were and are well known. What is the point other than to remind the population of its absurdist core?
Reading The Four Books, I was reminded of the 1950’s New York City practical joke craze ‘No Soap Radio.’ Two collaborators engage in the telling of a meaningless funny story in the presence of a third person. The story concludes with an equally meaningless punchline, like ‘no soap radio’, at which point the collaborators laugh hysterically. In almost all cases, the dupe joins in the hilarity. The two collaborators then stop laughing and with deadpan faces ask the third what he finds so funny.
No Soap Radio is a trivial demonstration of the sociological impetus to conform. We all have it to some degree unless we’re been forcibly housed in a mental facility. In a capitalist society, most of of us work for the equivalent of the paper blossoms handed out in the Maoist Re-Ed camps Yan describes so relentlessly. When we get enough of them we, like the camps’ inmates, get promotion, better food, improved accommodation, and, if were really fortunate, we hit the jackpot and can retire. We might even play the lottery, which doesn’t make statistical sense but that doesn’t matter if there’s even a tiny chance to escape from the rat race.
The difference in China is that no matter how many times the No Soap Radio, bait and switch joke is played, everyone behaves as if they’ve never encountered it before. They know the contradiction in which they are living even as they know the absurdity of the observation that “The Yellow River reversed course and began flowing westward.” Yet they continue to act like the comic strip character Charlie Brown when Lucy promises not to knock the football over as he attempts to kick it - for the hundredth time. The ball is always knocked over. What keeps these people in the game? Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity.
In the Western capitalist world, even in the most brutal parts of it, if the odds of promotion (much less survival) were anything as low as those those portrayed by Yan, insurrection, or at least conspiracy to such, would be a certainty. Even the Warsaw ghetto had its uprising, Watts its riots, South Africa its Transition and England’s its Peasants Revolt - all in the context of an overwhelmingly pervasive ideology. What is it, one is bound to ask, that is so uniquely powerful in Chinese culture that prevents rebellious action against even a local leader who lacks both arms and available military support?
It’s as if the residents of Re-Ed Camp Ninety-Nine fear being considered un-Chinese more than they fear being starved or beaten or simply subject to administrative idiocy. Not that they particularly like each other. They inform and spy on and persecute other inmates as a matter of course, mostly because it is an enjoyable break from the daily routine. Any show of human concern for another is suspect and reported. The inmates, almost all professionals with advanced education, are willing to admit to any and all ideological imperfections, not because they will otherwise be tortured, but because they otherwise will contribute less to the national enterprise than they could have done.
The society in which the camps are embedded appears equally insane in a very specific sense: Reality is entirely symbolic; there is nothing behind any representation. So targets for grain and steel production are what is real, not the amount of grain or steel that finds its way to the warehouse. Incredible estimates are not lies but signs of good intention; the more incredible the estimate, the more earnest the intention. One is expected not merely to accept leadership from incompetents, but to also praise leaders most energetically precisely when they are most incompetent.
It seems to me that few of these sociological traits are the result of camp life alone, no matter how brutal such life was. Whatever kept that sociology in existence, it wasn’t force of arms, or electric fences, or systematic violence. Something the inmates brought with them and which they shared while never speaking of it has to be the key. But neither Yan, nor any other writer about China during Mao or after, seems able to define what that cultural substance or spirit is (It certainly isn’t the spirit of Sisyphus which Yan interprets as a sort of self-punishment to secretly spite the god of punishment) . It is invisible to those inside the culture, and entirely opaque to those outside. All we can hear is the equivalent of No Soap Radio as the Chinese stare at us with deadpan faces. Is there a joke we’re missing or a joke that never was?
March 6, 2015
3.5 A camp for re-education during China's Great Leap forward, created a very disturbing read. Have thought about this book on and off for days. None of the characters have actual names, they are called by the profession that landed them in this no mans land. The author, sent to write a tell all book about her fellow internees, the Doctor, the artist and so on, all try to retain parts of their pasts. Books forbidden are hidden in various places, ferreted out and turned in by someone else for a reward. The camp is run by The Child, a very good name for one who throws tantrums and has unrealistic expectations.
This was written in a surreal but matter of fact depersonalized manner. Usually this would keep me from becoming involved in the story but in this case it represented the fact that no individual really mattered, only the collective and what they could produce. Of course, The Child's reward system did reward the individual, turning the camp into a reporters paradise, anyone who reported on anyone else for wrong doings was sometimes allowed a weekend home, even the chance of leaving the camp altogether. The matter of fact tone made this story for me, all the more chilling.
As we know the cultural revolution was a failure, producing famine and starvation which we also learn. A book that I am finding hard to get out of my head. Not for its graphic horror but because of its insidious evil.
ARC from the publisher.
This was written in a surreal but matter of fact depersonalized manner. Usually this would keep me from becoming involved in the story but in this case it represented the fact that no individual really mattered, only the collective and what they could produce. Of course, The Child's reward system did reward the individual, turning the camp into a reporters paradise, anyone who reported on anyone else for wrong doings was sometimes allowed a weekend home, even the chance of leaving the camp altogether. The matter of fact tone made this story for me, all the more chilling.
As we know the cultural revolution was a failure, producing famine and starvation which we also learn. A book that I am finding hard to get out of my head. Not for its graphic horror but because of its insidious evil.
ARC from the publisher.
November 29, 2017
Not a review. This book could have been far more enjoyable, if I wasn't so ignorant about Chinese history. But that last chapter still made the book so worth it. If you too find yourself struggling with symbolism, the following link might be of help:
http://www.rochester.edu/College/tran...
http://www.rochester.edu/College/tran...
June 19, 2019
Mi sentii assalire dalla disperazione, avevo la sensazione che premendo sul mio cuore ne avrei spremuto fuori il fluido putrido di un cadavere.
Questo è un romanzo che mi ha conquistato poco a poco, pagina dopo pagina. All’inizio ero perplessa, lo stile e la storia mi parevano dimessi e lontani, sospesi tra il reale e l’irreale, insomma la tipica sensazione del non capire dove si voglia andare a parare.
Eppure a poco a poco la potenza del racconto mi ha avvinto, mi ha colpito l’efferatezza della violenza qui narrata con uno stile tanto pacato e a tratti surreale: mi ha colpito con tanta forza che a tre quarti del libro ho dovuto chiuderlo, mentre leggevo, e respirare. Il crescendo di intensità con cui il romanzo procede, all'inizio impercettibile, è implacabile, e lo si chiude pieni di sconcerto, di domande, di commozione, con l’orrore negli occhi, con il disgusto in bocca, con un odore nauseabondo nelle narici, con la vergogna di essere quello che siamo, quello che possiamo diventare in condizioni estreme.
Oltre gli elementi surreali e iperbolici, quanto raccontato dal punto di vista di un “campo di rieducazione per intellettuali”, non è che il grande balzo in avanti cinese, il piano economico e sociale della Repubblica Popolare Cinese che intendeva trasformare un paese prevalentemente rurale in uno altamente industrializzato - un disastro economico totale seguito da una carestia che causò milioni e milioni di morti.
Ma la forza di questo romanzo è davvero il modo in cui tutto viene raccontato.
Devo dire che questi cinesi hanno una vena poetica, un gusto per l’orrido, una sensibilità così originale, il tutto miscelato in modo così armonico e intenso al tempo, da lasciarmi stupefatta e spiazzata, eppure più che mai ammirata. Mi spiace non saperlo dire meglio.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_...
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_...
Questo è un romanzo che mi ha conquistato poco a poco, pagina dopo pagina. All’inizio ero perplessa, lo stile e la storia mi parevano dimessi e lontani, sospesi tra il reale e l’irreale, insomma la tipica sensazione del non capire dove si voglia andare a parare.
Eppure a poco a poco la potenza del racconto mi ha avvinto, mi ha colpito l’efferatezza della violenza qui narrata con uno stile tanto pacato e a tratti surreale: mi ha colpito con tanta forza che a tre quarti del libro ho dovuto chiuderlo, mentre leggevo, e respirare. Il crescendo di intensità con cui il romanzo procede, all'inizio impercettibile, è implacabile, e lo si chiude pieni di sconcerto, di domande, di commozione, con l’orrore negli occhi, con il disgusto in bocca, con un odore nauseabondo nelle narici, con la vergogna di essere quello che siamo, quello che possiamo diventare in condizioni estreme.
Oltre gli elementi surreali e iperbolici, quanto raccontato dal punto di vista di un “campo di rieducazione per intellettuali”, non è che il grande balzo in avanti cinese, il piano economico e sociale della Repubblica Popolare Cinese che intendeva trasformare un paese prevalentemente rurale in uno altamente industrializzato - un disastro economico totale seguito da una carestia che causò milioni e milioni di morti.
Ma la forza di questo romanzo è davvero il modo in cui tutto viene raccontato.
Devo dire che questi cinesi hanno una vena poetica, un gusto per l’orrido, una sensibilità così originale, il tutto miscelato in modo così armonico e intenso al tempo, da lasciarmi stupefatta e spiazzata, eppure più che mai ammirata. Mi spiace non saperlo dire meglio.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_...
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_...
February 22, 2019
This is truly a masterpiece. I bet, even as late as halfway, that Yan could not sustain this incredible satire. Satire should be short. I was wrong. Instead of short, this satire is simple and repetitive in very effective ways, and it moves with circumstances, which change slowly (often seasonal), just in time to keep the reader from being frustrated by this slow, measured novel, preserving its form as it becomes darker and darker. In fact, measurements are important to this novel, measurements always left in Chinese, which works because they are essentially meaningless. Numbers are given great meaning by the characters in the novel, but they actually have little intrinsic meaning. This is one of Yan’s brilliant ways to characterize ideas.
This is a satire on what happened in the Re-Education (labor) camps of the Great Leap Forward (late 50s, early 60s), but in today’s New York Times, there is mention of current Re-Education camps for over a million Uighurs, Muslims in western China.
I can't recommend this novel enough. It's not for everyone, especially the last section, which is calmly horrifying. But this is a great novel (for its structure, its tone, its story, and its characterization of ideas) that deserves to be a classic.
This is a satire on what happened in the Re-Education (labor) camps of the Great Leap Forward (late 50s, early 60s), but in today’s New York Times, there is mention of current Re-Education camps for over a million Uighurs, Muslims in western China.
I can't recommend this novel enough. It's not for everyone, especially the last section, which is calmly horrifying. But this is a great novel (for its structure, its tone, its story, and its characterization of ideas) that deserves to be a classic.
May 10, 2019
non ci sono parole per descrivere la meraviglia di questo libro, che ti scaraventa nell'efferatezza del campo 99 e ti mette di fronte alla banalità del male.
e quindi mi limito a fare la ola, in un tripudio di fuochi d'artificio e mortaretti.
e quindi mi limito a fare la ola, in un tripudio di fuochi d'artificio e mortaretti.
March 10, 2016
"Of the four texts that make up this manuscript, Criminal Records was initially published in the 1980s as a collection of historical documents, while the Author's nearly five-hundred page historical account, Old Course, was not published until around 2002, by which time circumstances had changed to the point that it was greeted with almost complete silence. A copy of Heaven's Child, meanwhile, was purchased several years ago in a secondhand book stall. It had been published by China's Ancient Books and Records Press, and where the author's name normally appeared there was instead only the word Anonymous. The only one of these four texts that was never published was the philosophical manuscript titled A New Myth of Sisters, which the Scholar worked on for many years but never finished. This text contains three chapters and eleven sections, and it is said that it is on account of the Scholar's eccentric and abacus views on the survival of human society that the manuscript was never published. I happened upon it in the National Centre for the Study of Philosophical Literature, and readers may be able to gain some murky understanding of it from the introduction."
The Four Books by Yan Lianke, ably translated into English by Carlos Rojas, is a surreal and partly allegorical tale of the Great Leap Forward in China, which followed Mao Zedong's speech in Moscow in 1957: "Comrade Khrushchev has told us, the Soviet Union 15 years later will surpass the United States of America. I can also say, 15 years later, we may catch up with or exceed the UK." The campaign that followed, to "transform the country from an agrarian economy into a socialist society through rapid industrialisation and collectivism." [Wikipedia] is now often cited as the leading cause of the Three Years of Great Chinese Famine of 1959-61, although this period is officially referred to as the "Three Years of Natural Disasters", making Lianke's book highly controversial (and censored) in his native China.
In Lianke's story, the Author, the Musician, the Scholar, the Theologian and the Technician (only ever referred to by these titles) are undergoing compulsory Re-Education, under the supervision of the Child in the 99th district "there were 127 criminals, of whom 95% were intellectuals", the remainder being "national cadres and high officials."
As the opening quote, taken from the end of the novel suggests, the story is told through parallel excerpts from four different books
The Author introduces himself: "I was already over fifty years old and, in addition to five novels, more than twenty novellas, and several hundred short stories, I had also published several essay collections. My fiction had been translated into English, Russian, German, French and Italian, as well as Korean and Vietnamese. Movies translated from my novels had become household names, and won prizes at international film festivals."
He is commissioned by the Child to write Criminal Records , an official account of the Red-Ed of the "criminals": sample line "on the surface everyone was undergoing labour reform, but in reality the capitalists were secretly cursing and plotting against the proletariat."
But he also writes Old Course, is own private account, named after the location of the Re-Ed camp on silted ground where the Yellow River had once run.
The bulk of the novel's text consists of excerpts from Old Course and from the anonymous "Heaven's Child" which is written in the form more of a biblical text. For example, Heaven's Child explains the creation of the Re-Ed camp in creationist terms :
"The higher-ups said, Let's designate the people, land and crops scattered along the Yellow River as a Re-Ed region. In that way Re-Ed came into existence. The higher-ups said, Let's assign all the people in the region a number and re-educate them through hard labour. Heaven will look after the earth, and the earth will look after the people. Let them labour day and night, so that they may therefore be re-formed and re-made. Regardless of where they were originally located - the capital, the south, in the provincial seat or a local area - and regardless of whether they were originally professors, scholars, cares, teachers or painters, they must come hear and work and create, to educate and become a new people.
So it came to pass. This is how there came to be labour, and how there came to be Re-Ed."
and begins its account with the Child's Ten Commandments - although in the style of an extract we only get 7 in the novel, including the important:
"5) All books and ink shall be collected. Thou shall not read or write unnecessarily, nor think unnecessarily."
This theme, of censorship of the written and spoken word, is one key thread. The Child confiscates most of the books in the camp, in part to read them himself (his preference is for simple children's bible stories) but largely to burn as firewood: "They all burn just the same. Regardless of how good the illustrations may be, they are still printed on paper and will burn like any other."
Another character is the Linguist, sent for Re-Ed after he turned up late for a work unit meeting because he was limping due to absent-mindedly putting his shoes on the wrong feet: "The Linguist was the former director of the National Centre for Linguistic Research and had overseen the editing of dictionaries throughout the country, but now found himself lost for words."
The Great Leap Forward comes as the Child pushes them to produce more and more from their grain fields:
"On average, peasants can produce about two hundred jin of wheat per mu, but all of you have cultural ability and therefore I ask you to produce at least five hundred jin per mu. In two or three years, heaven and earth will be overturned as we catch up with England and even surpass the United States."
In Old Course, the Author initially laments that "if everyone hadn't insisted that a mu of farmland definitely wouldn't be able to yield six hundred jin of grain, then virtually everyone would be able to read whatever books they wanted, and think about whatever they wanted." but in reality the targets spiral fictitiously as they are driven by competition both with other districts and amongst themselves:
"everyone started reporting like crazy. Some reported five thousand jin, others reported ten thousand, and one person even reported having produced fifty thousand jin per mu. They were shouting and waving their hand. One person loved his country so much he reported production of a hundred thousand jin per mu."
Within the 99th District competition is driven by a simple reward system based on paper blossoms. Five entitle the recipient to a medium sized blossom, and five of these a pentagonal star, "once you have five stars, you will be permitted to return home to your family, your work unit and your lectern. You'll return to your laboratory and your library, and won't ever have to come back here to be re-educated with the other criminals." As the Author observes "to tell the truth, the Red Blossom and Pentagonal Star system that the Child implemented was a stroke of genius and it encouraged everyone to enter a self-governing track"
The biggest rewards are for informing on others: "Whoever reports someone else for stealing blossoms will be awarded one or two medium sized blossoms." and the Author himself uses Criminal Records to make accusations against his fellows.
As the story progresses, the creation myth morphs into something much more apocalyptical. The Author literally waters his crops with his own blood, and a frenzied steel smelting campaign combined with the aggressive over-farming leads to environmental destruction and famine:
"The wind was strong enough to uproot entire trees, but there were no trees left. It was strong enough to blow away the grass, though all of the grass within an extended radius of the district had already been eaten by famished criminals. Therefore, all the wind could do was blow the sand and dust into vast clouds, like an enormous pile of bedding in the sky. The sun and moon disappeared from view, and everyone's mouths were filled with sand."
Overall a powerful novel blending Communist, Confucian and Christian symbolism and providing a daring account of an underexplored period of history, although the rather surreal nature of the story and abstract identity of the characters can serve to (I imagine accidentally) undermine the brutal reality of what really happened in China in the period.
My other reservation is that the execution of the Four Books concept isn't entirely successful. In reality 90% of the text comes from two of them (Criminal Records and Heaven's Child), the distinction even between these two blurs as the tale becomes increasingly fantastical, and the idea that we are reading extracts from larger books (three are apparently 400 pages long yet the overall novel is only around 300 pages) is conveyed simply by page numbers on each extract but is otherwise unconvincing.
The Four Books by Yan Lianke, ably translated into English by Carlos Rojas, is a surreal and partly allegorical tale of the Great Leap Forward in China, which followed Mao Zedong's speech in Moscow in 1957: "Comrade Khrushchev has told us, the Soviet Union 15 years later will surpass the United States of America. I can also say, 15 years later, we may catch up with or exceed the UK." The campaign that followed, to "transform the country from an agrarian economy into a socialist society through rapid industrialisation and collectivism." [Wikipedia] is now often cited as the leading cause of the Three Years of Great Chinese Famine of 1959-61, although this period is officially referred to as the "Three Years of Natural Disasters", making Lianke's book highly controversial (and censored) in his native China.
In Lianke's story, the Author, the Musician, the Scholar, the Theologian and the Technician (only ever referred to by these titles) are undergoing compulsory Re-Education, under the supervision of the Child in the 99th district "there were 127 criminals, of whom 95% were intellectuals", the remainder being "national cadres and high officials."
As the opening quote, taken from the end of the novel suggests, the story is told through parallel excerpts from four different books
The Author introduces himself: "I was already over fifty years old and, in addition to five novels, more than twenty novellas, and several hundred short stories, I had also published several essay collections. My fiction had been translated into English, Russian, German, French and Italian, as well as Korean and Vietnamese. Movies translated from my novels had become household names, and won prizes at international film festivals."
He is commissioned by the Child to write Criminal Records , an official account of the Red-Ed of the "criminals": sample line "on the surface everyone was undergoing labour reform, but in reality the capitalists were secretly cursing and plotting against the proletariat."
But he also writes Old Course, is own private account, named after the location of the Re-Ed camp on silted ground where the Yellow River had once run.
The bulk of the novel's text consists of excerpts from Old Course and from the anonymous "Heaven's Child" which is written in the form more of a biblical text. For example, Heaven's Child explains the creation of the Re-Ed camp in creationist terms :
"The higher-ups said, Let's designate the people, land and crops scattered along the Yellow River as a Re-Ed region. In that way Re-Ed came into existence. The higher-ups said, Let's assign all the people in the region a number and re-educate them through hard labour. Heaven will look after the earth, and the earth will look after the people. Let them labour day and night, so that they may therefore be re-formed and re-made. Regardless of where they were originally located - the capital, the south, in the provincial seat or a local area - and regardless of whether they were originally professors, scholars, cares, teachers or painters, they must come hear and work and create, to educate and become a new people.
So it came to pass. This is how there came to be labour, and how there came to be Re-Ed."
and begins its account with the Child's Ten Commandments - although in the style of an extract we only get 7 in the novel, including the important:
"5) All books and ink shall be collected. Thou shall not read or write unnecessarily, nor think unnecessarily."
This theme, of censorship of the written and spoken word, is one key thread. The Child confiscates most of the books in the camp, in part to read them himself (his preference is for simple children's bible stories) but largely to burn as firewood: "They all burn just the same. Regardless of how good the illustrations may be, they are still printed on paper and will burn like any other."
Another character is the Linguist, sent for Re-Ed after he turned up late for a work unit meeting because he was limping due to absent-mindedly putting his shoes on the wrong feet: "The Linguist was the former director of the National Centre for Linguistic Research and had overseen the editing of dictionaries throughout the country, but now found himself lost for words."
The Great Leap Forward comes as the Child pushes them to produce more and more from their grain fields:
"On average, peasants can produce about two hundred jin of wheat per mu, but all of you have cultural ability and therefore I ask you to produce at least five hundred jin per mu. In two or three years, heaven and earth will be overturned as we catch up with England and even surpass the United States."
In Old Course, the Author initially laments that "if everyone hadn't insisted that a mu of farmland definitely wouldn't be able to yield six hundred jin of grain, then virtually everyone would be able to read whatever books they wanted, and think about whatever they wanted." but in reality the targets spiral fictitiously as they are driven by competition both with other districts and amongst themselves:
"everyone started reporting like crazy. Some reported five thousand jin, others reported ten thousand, and one person even reported having produced fifty thousand jin per mu. They were shouting and waving their hand. One person loved his country so much he reported production of a hundred thousand jin per mu."
Within the 99th District competition is driven by a simple reward system based on paper blossoms. Five entitle the recipient to a medium sized blossom, and five of these a pentagonal star, "once you have five stars, you will be permitted to return home to your family, your work unit and your lectern. You'll return to your laboratory and your library, and won't ever have to come back here to be re-educated with the other criminals." As the Author observes "to tell the truth, the Red Blossom and Pentagonal Star system that the Child implemented was a stroke of genius and it encouraged everyone to enter a self-governing track"
The biggest rewards are for informing on others: "Whoever reports someone else for stealing blossoms will be awarded one or two medium sized blossoms." and the Author himself uses Criminal Records to make accusations against his fellows.
As the story progresses, the creation myth morphs into something much more apocalyptical. The Author literally waters his crops with his own blood, and a frenzied steel smelting campaign combined with the aggressive over-farming leads to environmental destruction and famine:
"The wind was strong enough to uproot entire trees, but there were no trees left. It was strong enough to blow away the grass, though all of the grass within an extended radius of the district had already been eaten by famished criminals. Therefore, all the wind could do was blow the sand and dust into vast clouds, like an enormous pile of bedding in the sky. The sun and moon disappeared from view, and everyone's mouths were filled with sand."
Overall a powerful novel blending Communist, Confucian and Christian symbolism and providing a daring account of an underexplored period of history, although the rather surreal nature of the story and abstract identity of the characters can serve to (I imagine accidentally) undermine the brutal reality of what really happened in China in the period.
My other reservation is that the execution of the Four Books concept isn't entirely successful. In reality 90% of the text comes from two of them (Criminal Records and Heaven's Child), the distinction even between these two blurs as the tale becomes increasingly fantastical, and the idea that we are reading extracts from larger books (three are apparently 400 pages long yet the overall novel is only around 300 pages) is conveyed simply by page numbers on each extract but is otherwise unconvincing.
June 7, 2017
I have a few conflicting feelings in regards to this book.
It was interesting and definitely kept me hooked to the end but still, I was lost during the entire book.
I think this was in part due to the reason that I have minuscule knowledge when it comes to the history of China. So when I went into this book, all I knew was that it is based on a true event that actually did occur but I knew nothing about this event until I read the book. The other issue was that there were a lot of biblical references in this book and not being Christian, most of the allegory went over my head. In hindsight, I probably should have researched a bit about the history before delving into the book but que sera sera.
So what were the pros?
Well, despite having the allegory go over my head, I know that Lianke knew what he was doing. The amount of satire and allegory put into this book was clearly something that was planned and masterfully written. It's just a shame that I wasn't able to pick up on it.
Another thing is the characters. You could, I guess, say that there were no main characters. You could also say that there was only 1 that being the man only known as author. These characters that are shown, however, are all people of high learning and position. They are all put into this almost prison camp to work hard labour. It's an interesting breakdown of human behaviour as if Lianke is trying to show that despite being well educated, man is still man. And when put up against nature, nature wins as the mask that man wears breaks down in order to survive. Also, it shows how easy it is to fend for yourself and betray others. We in our "modern" world and society are often shocked by reading about humans creating chaos in the world but is it really shock-worthy? Are we so unaware of our true nature? It may surprise you to see how easily people will turn on you in order to survive and this book is filled with that. Everyone hides and hurts each other but not in an obvious or physical way. It's subtle and really explains why trust is often the hardest thing to gain in a human being.
Now let's move on to the cons.
Well like I said, there were a lot of references and allegory that went over my head. It made it hard to enjoy the book because I wasn't getting the full meal it had to offer.
Another thing is that there is this one character who is only known as Child. He is basically the coordinator. Now in the preface before the book, he was described as dictator-like in behaviour. Having read the book I honestly don't feel that way. I kind of feel bad for him. I also don't even know how old he is. At first I thought he was a short old guy with a baby face but apparently he's a very young teen because the book mentions much much later that he has fuzz as a mustache? He never abused or harmed the "criminals" (which they were referred to as). He did his best to motivate and push the people into doing the work. If someone didn't feel like it or showed anger he never beat them. In fact the only weird thing was that when he asked them to do something and they didn't want to he would always say, "Then just kill me if you don't want to.". Now I can see why the didn't want to as 1. They didn't want to be murderers. 2. They knew he was their only ticket to food and freedom. But he treated all the criminals humanly. So I don't understand why he was described as such. He also develops a fascination with reading the banned books and rewards their hard work with blossoms that he developed a system for in order to free the workers.
I still don't understand why he chose the path he did at the end of the book ; in fact this is another issue that I had with most of the characters. Overall, I felt that because Lianke never went into detail with his character, we missed out an a very interesting character.
The other issue I had was that the motives of many of the characters were unclear. I don't understand why they thought the way they did or how they mind started to change as their health and lifestyle deteriorated. A lot of the characters didn't really act their age. Author, is 50, but really doesn't seem like it. His frailty only shows as the grows weak from the lack of food but that's not something that occurs until 3/4 of the book. It's very hard to have a grasp on any of the characters. Who they are. Why they act the way they do. How their behaviour and mindset affects their actions and thoughts. It's not something that Lianke focused on and I feel as if the characters really suffered because of this as there was no distinction between voices. They all could have been 1 character and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Finally, the plot. It was both hooking and confusing. It was supposed to be told as segments of 4 different stories. Two were written by the same person, Author. One was technically written by I think, Child. The final by a character named Scholar. First of all, the reason why author has 2 books is because one was for the higher ups and one was supposedly the "truth" of the on goings of the camp. But they were not distinct from one another. It felt like it was just one book. The stuff he writes in one book is the same that he writes in the other. I didn't understand what was suppose to be the "truth". There is also this random farming simulation in the middle of the book where I really question the author's mental health. It's random and makes me wonder why that was included. I could see it's relevance later in the plot but by then there are a bunch of other questions popping up that it just further confuses rather then elaborates.
In the end, I really don't know how I'm supposed to feel about this book. Maybe it's something you will understand if you know the political history of China or were alive and aware of the news back when this even occurred.
It was interesting and definitely kept me hooked to the end but still, I was lost during the entire book.
I think this was in part due to the reason that I have minuscule knowledge when it comes to the history of China. So when I went into this book, all I knew was that it is based on a true event that actually did occur but I knew nothing about this event until I read the book. The other issue was that there were a lot of biblical references in this book and not being Christian, most of the allegory went over my head. In hindsight, I probably should have researched a bit about the history before delving into the book but que sera sera.
So what were the pros?
Well, despite having the allegory go over my head, I know that Lianke knew what he was doing. The amount of satire and allegory put into this book was clearly something that was planned and masterfully written. It's just a shame that I wasn't able to pick up on it.
Another thing is the characters. You could, I guess, say that there were no main characters. You could also say that there was only 1 that being the man only known as author. These characters that are shown, however, are all people of high learning and position. They are all put into this almost prison camp to work hard labour. It's an interesting breakdown of human behaviour as if Lianke is trying to show that despite being well educated, man is still man. And when put up against nature, nature wins as the mask that man wears breaks down in order to survive. Also, it shows how easy it is to fend for yourself and betray others. We in our "modern" world and society are often shocked by reading about humans creating chaos in the world but is it really shock-worthy? Are we so unaware of our true nature? It may surprise you to see how easily people will turn on you in order to survive and this book is filled with that. Everyone hides and hurts each other but not in an obvious or physical way. It's subtle and really explains why trust is often the hardest thing to gain in a human being.
Now let's move on to the cons.
Well like I said, there were a lot of references and allegory that went over my head. It made it hard to enjoy the book because I wasn't getting the full meal it had to offer.
Another thing is that there is this one character who is only known as Child. He is basically the coordinator. Now in the preface before the book, he was described as dictator-like in behaviour. Having read the book I honestly don't feel that way. I kind of feel bad for him. I also don't even know how old he is. At first I thought he was a short old guy with a baby face but apparently he's a very young teen because the book mentions much much later that he has fuzz as a mustache? He never abused or harmed the "criminals" (which they were referred to as). He did his best to motivate and push the people into doing the work. If someone didn't feel like it or showed anger he never beat them. In fact the only weird thing was that when he asked them to do something and they didn't want to he would always say, "Then just kill me if you don't want to.". Now I can see why the didn't want to as 1. They didn't want to be murderers. 2. They knew he was their only ticket to food and freedom. But he treated all the criminals humanly. So I don't understand why he was described as such. He also develops a fascination with reading the banned books and rewards their hard work with blossoms that he developed a system for in order to free the workers.
I still don't understand why he chose the path he did at the end of the book ; in fact this is another issue that I had with most of the characters. Overall, I felt that because Lianke never went into detail with his character, we missed out an a very interesting character.
The other issue I had was that the motives of many of the characters were unclear. I don't understand why they thought the way they did or how they mind started to change as their health and lifestyle deteriorated. A lot of the characters didn't really act their age. Author, is 50, but really doesn't seem like it. His frailty only shows as the grows weak from the lack of food but that's not something that occurs until 3/4 of the book. It's very hard to have a grasp on any of the characters. Who they are. Why they act the way they do. How their behaviour and mindset affects their actions and thoughts. It's not something that Lianke focused on and I feel as if the characters really suffered because of this as there was no distinction between voices. They all could have been 1 character and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Finally, the plot. It was both hooking and confusing. It was supposed to be told as segments of 4 different stories. Two were written by the same person, Author. One was technically written by I think, Child. The final by a character named Scholar. First of all, the reason why author has 2 books is because one was for the higher ups and one was supposedly the "truth" of the on goings of the camp. But they were not distinct from one another. It felt like it was just one book. The stuff he writes in one book is the same that he writes in the other. I didn't understand what was suppose to be the "truth". There is also this random farming simulation in the middle of the book where I really question the author's mental health. It's random and makes me wonder why that was included. I could see it's relevance later in the plot but by then there are a bunch of other questions popping up that it just further confuses rather then elaborates.
In the end, I really don't know how I'm supposed to feel about this book. Maybe it's something you will understand if you know the political history of China or were alive and aware of the news back when this even occurred.
March 18, 2015
I've read Wild Swans. And loved it. But there isn't a lot of material out there that shows us what happened inside China's Cultural Revolution, about those sent for 're-education'. This book helps with that.
It felt insane enough to be compared to books such as Catch-22, the absurdity of it all. It felt brutal and demeaning and somehow hilarious at the same time.
Inside a huge labour camp set up to house and re-educate 'criminals' (i.e. intellectuals such as teachers and writers), one group becomes our focus, those of the 99th district. Forced away from jobs and families to slave away for the state, the Musician, Theologian, Scholar and Author are each part of the unnamed group watched by a faceless Child, their gaoler, who has the power to bestow red flowers and stars that can send them home. The Child sets them to work, growing (or declaring) increasingly ridiculous quotas of crops, or smelting steel. Informing on each other brings reward, spying on each other brings rewards. The criminals themselves write about each other (and their own true feelings) to make up the four books of this story. Eventually famine arrives and we see just how a state does or doesn't take care of its people.
So ridiculous you hardly believe it could ever have happened, and all the more shocking when you realise that it did. The ideology is terrifying, the 99th's experiences incredibly moving and appalling. It's an eye-opening read.
The Child is a sinister creation, who wouldn't be the same as a character if he was an adult - mature yet childlike in his delight at punishing and rewarding, his story did confuse me somewhat, the arc it took.
I wasn't always sure which of the four books I was reading, and who was narrating, but the story flowed seamlessly despite this, and I really wanted to see what would happen to the group. It's not a beach read.
If you are interested in (Chinese) social history, this may interest you. It's not comfortable reading but there is no extreme violence. It's horrific only because it is based on life.
Darkly funny but bleak, I'm glad I read this. A good choice for book groups with plenty to discuss.
Review of a NetGalley advance copy.
It felt insane enough to be compared to books such as Catch-22, the absurdity of it all. It felt brutal and demeaning and somehow hilarious at the same time.
Inside a huge labour camp set up to house and re-educate 'criminals' (i.e. intellectuals such as teachers and writers), one group becomes our focus, those of the 99th district. Forced away from jobs and families to slave away for the state, the Musician, Theologian, Scholar and Author are each part of the unnamed group watched by a faceless Child, their gaoler, who has the power to bestow red flowers and stars that can send them home. The Child sets them to work, growing (or declaring) increasingly ridiculous quotas of crops, or smelting steel. Informing on each other brings reward, spying on each other brings rewards. The criminals themselves write about each other (and their own true feelings) to make up the four books of this story. Eventually famine arrives and we see just how a state does or doesn't take care of its people.
So ridiculous you hardly believe it could ever have happened, and all the more shocking when you realise that it did. The ideology is terrifying, the 99th's experiences incredibly moving and appalling. It's an eye-opening read.
The Child is a sinister creation, who wouldn't be the same as a character if he was an adult - mature yet childlike in his delight at punishing and rewarding, his story did confuse me somewhat, the arc it took.
I wasn't always sure which of the four books I was reading, and who was narrating, but the story flowed seamlessly despite this, and I really wanted to see what would happen to the group. It's not a beach read.
If you are interested in (Chinese) social history, this may interest you. It's not comfortable reading but there is no extreme violence. It's horrific only because it is based on life.
Darkly funny but bleak, I'm glad I read this. A good choice for book groups with plenty to discuss.
Review of a NetGalley advance copy.
October 7, 2016
A very cleverly written book covering 1958-1962 in China, the reeducation camps, the shambolic quest to make steel-making a village industry and the resulting famines.
The inmates have no names and are known by their occupations - author, theologian, doctor, musician. The camp commandant is young, uneducated and ignorant and is known as the Child. There are ludicrous agreements for crop targets, a joint belief that steel can be made from sand and a motivational scheme based on winning paper flowers and stars.
The book is one long satire on what the government did to the country. My only issue was it was a bit repetitive but maybe that was part of the structure of the book to reveal how repetitive life was for those being reeducated.
The inmates have no names and are known by their occupations - author, theologian, doctor, musician. The camp commandant is young, uneducated and ignorant and is known as the Child. There are ludicrous agreements for crop targets, a joint belief that steel can be made from sand and a motivational scheme based on winning paper flowers and stars.
The book is one long satire on what the government did to the country. My only issue was it was a bit repetitive but maybe that was part of the structure of the book to reveal how repetitive life was for those being reeducated.
January 14, 2020
أما�� الانتقادات الدولية والحقوقية التي تواجهها حكومة الصين بسبب معسكرات إعادة "التربية"/غسيل الأدمغة التي تحتجز فيها مئات الآلاف من مسلمي الإيغور، يرد المسؤولون الصينيون بالتجاهل، أو الاندهاش والاستغراب، أو كما قال مسؤول حزبي في الصين: "لماذا كل هذا الضجيج؟".
فما يبدو للعالم المعاصر ضرباً من البشاعة المرعبة، هو جزء من تاريخ الصين ومن بنية النظام الحاكم. التجربة الصينية ما هي إلا سلسلة متتابعة من عمليات غسيل الأدمغة وإعادة برمجة ملايين البشر باستمرار، تبعاً لأجندة الحزب الحاكم. أن معسكرات العمل/أو إعادة "التثقيف" و"التربية"، ليست سجوناً، بل أبشع تجربة انسانية إجتماعية. فالسجن في النهاية مؤسسة عقابية، لكن معسكرات إعادة التثقيف هي عملية الغرض منها إعادة صياغة البشر نفسياً وعضوياً. فعلى سبيل المثال، كشفت قصص وفحوص الناجين من معسكرات الإيغور المسلمين، قيام الصين بجعل النساء عقيمات من خلال إجبارهن على تناول أدوية وعقاقير لم تفصح أبداً عن طبيعتها.
بدأ استخدام معسكرات إعادة التثقيف في الصين، مع ما عُرف بالقفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام (1958-1961) والتي يتراوح تقدير ضحاياها بين 18 و45 مليون إنسان لقوا حتفهم قتلاً أو تعذيباً في معسكرات العمل الشاقة، أو في المجاعة التي تسببت فيها القفزة العظيمة المزعومة.
اعتمدت استراتيجية القفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام، على هدف وضعه ماو تسي تونغ باللحاق بانكلترا وأميركا خلال 15 عاماً. واعتمد استراتيجية الحزب الصيني وقتها، على نزع الملكيات واستغلال التعداد السكاني الضخم لتوظيف السكان جميعاً في مشاريع زراعية وصناعية وإجبارهم على العمل فقط في المشاريع التي تخطط لها الدولة. لكن قبل إطلاق خطته، أعلن ماو عن حملة "المئة زهرة" بهدف تشجيع حرية الرأي والتعبير داخل الحزب وفتح الباب للمناقشات، وهو ما حدث بالفعل حيث انتعش النقاش داخل المجتمع الصيني وسمحت مساحة الحرية الصغيرة بظهور موجة الأدب والفن الستيني الصيني. لكن اتضح أن حملة "المئة زهرة" لم تكن سوى فخ، أعده ماو لرصد المعارضين، وانتهت الحملة بإلقاء القبض على كل المثقفين والعلماء والفنانين الذين أبدوا آراء معارضة لسياسات ماو.
ذات مرة في حديث مع الكاتبة الصينية "يان جي Yan ge"، وصفت المشهد الأدبي الصيني بأنه غابة مظلمة داخلها مجموعة من العميان. في حزن، أوضحت أن الذاكرة الجماعية شبه ممسوحة، فإحدى تقنيات النظام هي حذف التاريخ أو تشويهه، وبالتالي ففي مرحلة مثل "القفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام" لا يمكن أبداً الإطلاع على الوثائق الرسمية أو معرفة ما حدث بشكل قاطع، بل روايات متعارضة ومتباينة. لكن، في هذه الغابة المظلمة، تبرز أهمية التجارب الروائية في محاولة إلتقاط حقيقة التجربة، لا سرد تفاصيل أحداثها. ورواية "يان ليانكه / Yan Lianke" الكتب الأربعة أو "The Four Books" هي قطعة من هذا الظلام.
تدور أحداث الرواية داخل أحد معسكرات العمل، المخصصة للمثقفين والكتّاب والفنانين، أثناء "القفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام"، والهدف المعلن هو إعادة تربيتهم وتثقيفهم، وذلك من خلال العمل البدني الشاق لتخليصهم من آثار البرجوازية، وتحويلهم إلى مواطنين صالحين. المعسكر مقام على ضفة النهر الأصفر، وهو واحد من مئات المعسكرات المقامة على طول النهر حيث يعمل الملايين في الزراعة من أجل رفع علم الصين عالياً حتى تصبح "قد الدنيا".
معسكرات إعادة التربية والتثقيف ليست سجون اعتقال، فلا أسوار ولا حراس.
كل معسكر يشرف عليه مسؤول معين من قبل الحزب، وفي معسكرنا، المسؤول هو "الطفل"، وهذا اسمه وصفته في الرواية. نظرياً، يمكن للجميع أن يهرب، لكن عملياً مستحيل. ففي حالة هروبك من المعسكر سيتم فوراً إلقاء القبض على عائلتك وأصدقائك ومصادرة كل ممتلكاتهم، وأينما ذهبت ستطالب بإثبات حالتك القانونية في لجان التفتيش، ومن دون أوراق سيتم القبض عليك.
هناك أيضاً نظام النجوم الذي تتم السيطرة على المحتجزين من خلاله، فكلما التزمت بالتعليمات أو بذلت جهداً في العمل، تتم مكافأتك بنجمة صغيرة حمراء من الورق المقوى. إذا حصلت على خمس نجمات، يمكنك تحويلها إلى نجمة حمراء متوسطة، وخمس نجمات متوسطة يمكنك تحويلها إلى نجمة كبيرة، وإذا حصلت على خمس نجمات كبيرة يمكنك مغادرة المعسكر والعودة إلى المنزل.
نتيجة لنظام الإدارة هذا، يتحول السجناء إلى حراس، والجميع يراقب الجميع. لأنك إذا أبلغت عن مخالفة زميل لك، تحصل على نجمة تقديراً لوفائك.
لائحة الممنوعات لا تنتهي في المعسكرات، فهناك لائحة محددة بالكتب المسموح بقراءتها، وأي كتاب ليس في اللائحة ممنوع، سواء كان الكتاب المقدس أو رواية مدام بوفاري. ورغم أن المعسكرات تضم الرجال والنساء، لكن الجنس بالطبع ممنوع، وحينما يلقى القبض على اثنين يمارسان الجنس، يتم التشهير بهما وضربهما وتجريدهما من كل النجوم التي حصلوا عليها.
يبنى ليانكه روايته في معمار روائي عبقري. الرواية تتكون من أربعة كتب، وما نقرأه هو شذرات من هذه الكتب. فمثلاً الكتاب الأول هو "سجلات المجرمين" وهو عبارة عن تقارير يكتبها أحد الكتاب في المعسكر متجسساً على زملائه، وبينما نقرأ فيها، ينقطع السرد لينقلنا لمقطع من كتاب "طفل السماء" الذي يروي سيرة الطفل المسؤول عن المعسكري. وهكذا تتقاطع شذرات الكتب الأربعة، لتشكل هرمونية النسيج البديع فنياً للرواية، والكابوسي مضموناً.
لا يتوقف العمل في المعسكر على الزراعة، بل يتم إجبار العاملين على جمع الرمال السوداء من على ضفاف النهر، ثم صهرها في أفران بدائية لتحويله إلى الصلب. بالتالي أصبحوا يعملون في الزراعة في الصيف، وفي صهر الحديد في الشتاء، لذا قُطعت جميع الأشجار في المنطقة لاستغلال خشبها كوقود لإشعال أفران الصهر.
مسلمو الإيغور في معسكر كافكا الصيني
أحمد ناجي | السبت 21/12/2019
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مسلمو الإيغور في معسكر كافكا الصيني
أمام الانتقادات الدولية والحقوقية التي تواجهها حكومة الصين بسبب معسكرات إعادة "التربية"/غسيل الأدمغة التي تحتجز فيها مئات الآلاف من مسلمي الإيغور، يرد المسؤولون الصينيون بالتجاهل، أو الاندهاش والاستغراب، أو كما قال مسؤول حزبي في الصين: "لماذا كل هذا الضجيج؟".
فما يبدو للعالم المعاصر ضرباً من البشاعة المرعبة، هو جزء من تاريخ الصين ومن بنية النظام الحاكم. التجربة الصينية ما هي إلا سلسلة متتابعة من عمليات غسيل الأدمغة وإعادة برمجة ملايين البشر باستمرار، تبعاً لأجندة الحزب الحاكم. أن معسكرات العمل/أو إعادة "التثقيف" و"التربية"، ليست سجوناً، بل أبشع تجربة انسانية إجتماعية. فالسجن في النهاية مؤسسة عقابية، لكن معسكرات إعادة التثقيف هي عملية الغرض منها إعادة صياغة البشر نفسياً وعضوياً. فعلى سبيل المثال، كشفت قصص وفحوص الناجين من معسكرات الإيغور المسلمين، قيام الصين بجعل النساء عقيمات من خلال إجبارهن على تناول أدوية وعقاقير لم تفصح أبداً عن طبيعتها.
بدأ استخدام معسكرات إعادة التثقيف في الصين، مع ما عُرف بالقفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام (1958-1961) والتي يتراوح تقدير ضحاياها بين 18 و45 مليون إنسان لقوا حتفهم قتلاً أو تعذيباً في معسكرات العمل الشاقة، أو في المجاعة التي تسببت فيها القفزة العظيمة المزعومة.
اعتمدت استراتيجية القفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام، على هدف وضعه ماو تسي تونغ باللحاق بانكلترا وأميركا خلال 15 عاماً. واعتمد استراتيجية الحزب الصيني وقتها، على نزع الملكيات واستغلال التعداد السكاني الضخم لتوظيف السكان جميعاً في مشاريع زراعية وصناعية وإجبارهم على العمل فقط في المشاريع التي تخطط لها الدولة. لكن قبل إطلاق خطته، أعلن ماو عن حملة "المئة زهرة" بهدف تشجيع حرية الرأي والتعبير داخل الحزب وفتح الباب للمناقشات، وهو ما حدث بالفعل حيث انتعش النقاش داخل المجتمع الصيني وسمحت مساحة الحرية الصغيرة بظهور موجة الأدب والفن الستيني الصيني. لكن اتضح أن حملة "المئة زهرة" لم تكن سوى فخ، أعده ماو لرصد المعارضين، وانتهت الحملة بإلقاء القبض على كل المثقفين والعلماء والفنانين الذين أبدوا آراء معارضة لسياسات ماو.
ذات مرة في حديث مع الكاتبة الصينية "يان جي Yan ge"، وصفت المشهد الأدبي الصيني بأنه غابة مظلمة داخلها مجموعة من العميان. في حزن، أوضحت أن الذاكرة الجماعية شبه ممسوحة، فإحدى تقنيات النظام هي حذف التاريخ أو تشويهه، وبالتالي ففي مرحلة مثل "القفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام" لا يمكن أبداً الإطلاع على الوثائق الرسمية أو معرفة ما حدث بشكل قاطع، بل روايات متعارضة ومتباينة. لكن، في هذه الغابة المظلمة، تبرز أهمية التجارب الروائية في محاولة إلتقاط حقيقة التجربة، لا سرد تفاصيل أحداثها. ورواية "يان ليانكه / Yan Lianke" الكتب الأربعة أو "The Four Books" هي قطعة من هذا الظلام.
تدور أحداث الرواية داخل أحد معسكرات العمل، المخصصة للمثقفين والكتّاب والفنانين، أثناء "القفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام"، والهدف المعلن هو إعادة تربيتهم وتثقيفهم، وذلك من خلال العمل البدني الشاق لتخليصهم من آثار البرجوازية، وتحويلهم إلى مواطنين صالحين. المعسكر مقام على ضفة النهر الأصفر، وهو واحد من مئات المعسكرات المقامة على طول النهر حيث يعمل الملايين في الزراعة من أجل رفع علم الصين عالياً حتى تصبح "قد الدنيا".
معسكرات إعادة التربية والتثقيف ليست سجون اعتقال، فلا أسوار ولا حراس.
كل معسكر يشرف عليه مسؤول معين من قبل الحزب، وفي معسكرنا، المسؤول هو "الطفل"، وهذا اسمه وصفته في الرواية. نظرياً، يمكن للجميع أن يهرب، لكن عملياً مستحيل. ففي حالة هروبك من المعسكر سيتم فوراً إلقاء القبض على عائلتك وأصدقائك ومصادرة كل ممتلكاتهم، وأينما ذهبت ستطالب بإثبات حالتك القانونية في لجان التفتيش، ومن دون أوراق سيتم القبض عليك.
هناك أيضاً نظام النجوم الذي تتم السيطرة على المحتجزين من خلاله، فكلما التزمت بالتعليمات أو بذلت جهداً في العمل، تتم مكافأتك بنجمة صغيرة حمراء من الورق المقوى. إذا حصلت على خمس نجمات، يمكنك تحويلها إلى نجمة حمراء متوسطة، وخمس نجمات متوسطة يمكنك تحويلها إلى نجمة كبيرة، وإذا حصلت على خمس نجمات كبيرة يمكنك مغادرة المعسكر والعودة إلى المنزل.
نتيجة لنظام الإدارة هذا، يتحول السجناء إلى حراس، والجميع يراقب الجميع. لأنك إذا أبلغت عن مخالفة زميل لك، تحصل على نجمة تقديراً لوفائك.
لائحة الممنوعات لا تنتهي في المعسكرات، فهناك لائحة محددة بالكتب المسموح بقراءتها، وأي كتاب ليس في اللائحة ممنوع، سواء كان الكتاب المقدس أو رواية مدام بوفاري. ورغم أن المعسكرات تضم الرجال والنساء، لكن الجنس بالطبع ممنوع، وحينما يلقى القبض على اثنين يمارسان الجنس، يتم التشهير بهما وضربهما وتجريدهما من كل النجوم التي حصلوا عليها.
يبنى ليانكه روايته في معمار روائي عبقري. الرواية تتكون من أ��بعة كتب، وما نقرأه هو شذرات من هذه الكتب. فمثلاً الكتاب الأول هو "سجلات المجرمين" وهو عبارة عن تقارير يكتبها أحد الكتاب في المعسكر متجسساً على زملائه، وبينما نقرأ فيها، ينقطع السرد لينقلنا لمقطع من كتاب "طفل السماء" الذي يروي سيرة الطفل المسؤول عن المعسكري. وهكذا تتقاطع شذرات الكتب الأربعة، لتشكل هرمونية النسيج البديع فنياً للرواية، والكابوسي مضموناً.
لا يتوقف العمل في المعسكر على الزراعة، بل يتم إجبار العاملين على جمع الرمال السوداء من على ضفاف النهر، ثم صهرها في أفران بدائية لتحويله إلى الصلب. بالتالي أصبحوا يعملون في الزراعة في الصيف، وفي صهر الحديد في الشتاء، لذا قُطعت جميع الأشجار في المنطقة لاستغلال خشبها كوقود لإشعال أفران الصهر.
قادت سياسات "القفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام" إلى جرف الأراضي الزراعية وتغيير الطبيعة السكانية والديموغرافية للصين. والنتيجة كانت واحدة من أبشع المجاعات التي ضربت البلاد. وببراعة أدبية، تجعل معدتك تتقلص وأمعاءك تتلوى، يسرد ليانكه تفاصيل المجاعة، وكيف انحدر المحتجزون في المعسكر إلى أكل جثث الأموات. يصرخ أحد المثقفين/المساجين فيهم: "أنتم مثقفو الأمة وعقولها كيف أنحدرنا إلى منزلة آكلي لحوم البشر".
خصوصية أعمال ليانكه تنبع أيضاً من طبيعة حياته والمسار الذي اختاره، فالأدب الصيني المعاصر ينقسم إلى تيارين رئيسيين. الأول، هو الأدب الصيني في المهجر، ومعظمهم يعارض النظام الصيني. والأدب الصيني في الداخل، وهذا يتنوع بين كتّاب ممنوعين من النشر وربما في السجن، أو كتّاب اختاروا العمل ضمن أجندة النظام الصيني وتحت سقفه. وليانكه اختار المسار الأخير، فلسنوات طويلة عمل ليانكة في الجيش الصيني، لكنه صدم الجميع بروايته التي تسخر من بنية هذا النظام ومن تحولاته السياسية.
في روايته "إخدم الشعب/ Serve the people" ينكل في سخرية بكل المقدسات الثقافية الصينية، وفي عمل آخر "قبلة لينين" يقدم تحفة روائية من السخرية السوداء عن تحول الصين إلى نظام السوق. لكن سر نجاته من الاعتقال أنه، كما يقول في معظم حواراته، "يمارس رقابة صارمة على نفسه". ببساطة لأنه لا يريد أن يتسبب في الأذي لنفسه ويريد أن يستمر في الكتابة والنشر.
لكن رغم ذلك، فإن كتب ليانكه ممنوعة، بأمر غير مباشر، من العرض في رفوف المكتبات، ورغم أنه من أبرز الكتّاب الصينيين المرشحين لجائزة نوبل، ويحصل على جوائز عالمية كثيرة، يتم تهميشه وحرمانه من أى شكل من أشكال التكريم محلياً. لكن، من بين كل أعماله، يقول ليانكه عن روايته "الكتب الأربعة" إنها "الرواية الوحيدة التي كتبتها حراً من دون ممارسة رقابة على نفسي أثناء كتابتها". استغرقت كتاب الرواية عشرين عاماً، من الكتابة وإعادة الكتابة والتجريب والحذف، وحينما أتمّها رفضتها كل دور النشر، ولم يتم نشرها بالصينية إلا بعد سنوات حينما تغير الظرف السياسي.
تنبع القيمة الفنية الرفيعة لأدب ليانكه من سعيه الدائم إلى التجديد والابتكار في الشكل وطريقة سرد الحكاية، وليس فقط التأريخ السياسي والاجتماعي. ورغم فوزه بجائز "فرانز كافكا" المرموقة، فالحقيقة أن أعمال ليانكه تجعل أعمال كافكا روايات، وروايات رومانسية وجودية، بالمقارنة مع عالم ليانكه الكابوسي. وما يزيده كابوسية، معرفتنا أنه حدث بالفعل، وما زال يحدث حتى اليوم.
فما يبدو للعالم المعاصر ضرباً من البشاعة المرعبة، هو جزء من تاريخ الصين ومن بنية النظام الحاكم. التجربة الصينية ما هي إلا سلسلة متتابعة من عمليات غسيل الأدمغة وإعادة برمجة ملايين البشر باستمرار، تبعاً لأجندة الحزب الحاكم. أن معسكرات العمل/أو إعادة "التثقيف" و"التربية"، ليست سجوناً، بل أبشع تجربة انسانية إجتماعية. فالسجن في النهاية مؤسسة عقابية، لكن معسكرات إعادة التثقيف هي عملية الغرض منها إعادة صياغة البشر نفسياً وعضوياً. فعلى سبيل المثال، كشفت قصص وفحوص الناجين من معسكرات الإيغور المسلمين، قيام الصين بجعل النساء عقيمات من خلال إجبارهن على تناول أدوية وعقاقير لم تفصح أبداً عن طبيعتها.
بدأ استخدام معسكرات إعادة التثقيف في الصين، مع ما عُرف بالقفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام (1958-1961) والتي يتراوح تقدير ضحاياها بين 18 و45 مليون إنسان لقوا حتفهم قتلاً أو تعذيباً في معسكرات العمل الشاقة، أو في المجاعة التي تسببت فيها القفزة العظيمة المزعومة.
اعتمدت استراتيجية القفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام، على هدف وضعه ماو تسي تونغ باللحاق بانكلترا وأميركا خلال 15 عاماً. واعتمد استراتيجية الحزب الصيني وقتها، على نزع الملكيات واستغلال التعداد السكاني الضخم لتوظيف السكان جميعاً في مشاريع زراعية وصناعية وإجبارهم على العمل فقط في المشاريع التي تخطط لها الدولة. لكن قبل إطلاق خطته، أعلن ماو عن حملة "المئة زهرة" بهدف تشجيع حرية الرأي والتعبير داخل الحزب وفتح الباب للمناقشات، وهو ما حدث بالفعل حيث انتعش النقاش داخل المجتمع الصيني وسمحت مساحة الحرية الصغيرة بظهور موجة الأدب والفن الستيني الصيني. لكن اتضح أن حملة "المئة زهرة" لم تكن سوى فخ، أعده ماو لرصد المعارضين، وانتهت الحملة بإلقاء القبض على كل المثقفين والعلماء والفنانين الذين أبدوا آراء معارضة لسياسات ماو.
ذات مرة في حديث مع الكاتبة الصينية "يان جي Yan ge"، وصفت المشهد الأدبي الصيني بأنه غابة مظلمة داخلها مجموعة من العميان. في حزن، أوضحت أن الذاكرة الجماعية شبه ممسوحة، فإحدى تقنيات النظام هي حذف التاريخ أو تشويهه، وبالتالي ففي مرحلة مثل "القفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام" لا يمكن أبداً الإطلاع على الوثائق الرسمية أو معرفة ما حدث بشكل قاطع، بل روايات متعارضة ومتباينة. لكن، في هذه الغابة المظلمة، تبرز أهمية التجارب الروائية في محاولة إلتقاط حقيقة التجربة، لا سرد تفاصيل أحداثها. ورواية "يان ليانكه / Yan Lianke" الكتب الأربعة أو "The Four Books" هي قطعة من هذا الظلام.
تدور أحداث الرواية داخل أحد معسكرات العمل، المخصصة للمثقفين والكتّاب والفنانين، أثناء "القفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام"، والهدف المعلن هو إعادة تربيتهم وتثقيفهم، وذلك من خلال العمل البدني الشاق لتخليصهم من آثار البرجوازية، وتحويلهم إلى مواطنين صالحين. المعسكر مقام على ضفة النهر الأصفر، وهو واحد من مئات المعسكرات المقامة على طول النهر حيث يعمل الملايين في الزراعة من أجل رفع علم الصين عالياً حتى تصبح "قد الدنيا".
معسكرات إعادة التربية والتثقيف ليست سجون اعتقال، فلا أسوار ولا حراس.
كل معسكر يشرف عليه مسؤول معين من قبل الحزب، وفي معسكرنا، المسؤول هو "الطفل"، وهذا اسمه وصفته في الرواية. نظرياً، يمكن للجميع أن يهرب، لكن عملياً مستحيل. ففي حالة هروبك من المعسكر سيتم فوراً إلقاء القبض على عائلتك وأصدقائك ومصادرة كل ممتلكاتهم، وأينما ذهبت ستطالب بإثبات حالتك القانونية في لجان التفتيش، ومن دون أوراق سيتم القبض عليك.
هناك أيضاً نظام النجوم الذي تتم السيطرة على المحتجزين من خلاله، فكلما التزمت بالتعليمات أو بذلت جهداً في العمل، تتم مكافأتك بنجمة صغيرة حمراء من الورق المقوى. إذا حصلت على خمس نجمات، يمكنك تحويلها إلى نجمة حمراء متوسطة، وخمس نجمات متوسطة يمكنك تحويلها إلى نجمة كبيرة، وإذا حصلت على خمس نجمات كبيرة يمكنك مغادرة المعسكر والعودة إلى المنزل.
نتيجة لنظام الإدارة هذا، يتحول السجناء إلى حراس، والجميع يراقب الجميع. لأنك إذا أبلغت عن مخالفة زميل لك، تحصل على نجمة تقديراً لوفائك.
لائحة الممنوعات لا تنتهي في المعسكرات، فهناك لائحة محددة بالكتب المسموح بقراءتها، وأي كتاب ليس في اللائحة ممنوع، سواء كان الكتاب المقدس أو رواية مدام بوفاري. ورغم أن المعسكرات تضم الرجال والنساء، لكن الجنس بالطبع ممنوع، وحينما يلقى القبض على اثنين يمارسان الجنس، يتم التشهير بهما وضربهما وتجريدهما من كل النجوم التي حصلوا عليها.
يبنى ليانكه روايته في معمار روائي عبقري. الرواية تتكون من أربعة كتب، وما نقرأه هو شذرات من هذه الكتب. فمثلاً الكتاب الأول هو "سجلات المجرمين" وهو عبارة عن تقارير يكتبها أحد الكتاب في المعسكر متجسساً على زملائه، وبينما نقرأ فيها، ينقطع السرد لينقلنا لمقطع من كتاب "طفل السماء" الذي يروي سيرة الطفل المسؤول عن المعسكري. وهكذا تتقاطع شذرات الكتب الأربعة، لتشكل هرمونية النسيج البديع فنياً للرواية، والكابوسي مضموناً.
لا يتوقف العمل في المعسكر على الزراعة، بل يتم إجبار العاملين على جمع الرمال السوداء من على ضفاف النهر، ثم صهرها في أفران بدائية لتحويله إلى الصلب. بالتالي أصبحوا يعملون في الزراعة في الصيف، وفي صهر الحديد في الشتاء، لذا قُطعت جميع الأشجار في المنطقة لاستغلال خشبها كوقود لإشعال أفران الصهر.
مسلمو الإيغور في معسكر كافكا الصيني
أحمد ناجي | السبت 21/12/2019
شارك المقال :
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مسلمو الإيغور في معسكر كافكا الصيني
أمام الانتقادات الدولية والحقوقية التي تواجهها حكومة الصين بسبب معسكرات إعادة "التربية"/غسيل الأدمغة التي تحتجز فيها مئات الآلاف من مسلمي الإيغور، يرد المسؤولون الصينيون بالتجاهل، أو الاندهاش والاستغراب، أو كما قال مسؤول حزبي في الصين: "لماذا كل هذا الضجيج؟".
فما يبدو للعالم المعاصر ضرباً من البشاعة المرعبة، هو جزء من تاريخ الصين ومن بنية النظام الحاكم. التجربة الصينية ما هي إلا سلسلة متتابعة من عمليات غسيل الأدمغة وإعادة برمجة ملايين البشر باستمرار، تبعاً لأجندة الحزب الحاكم. أن معسكرات العمل/أو إعادة "التثقيف" و"التربية"، ليست سجوناً، بل أبشع تجربة انسانية إجتماعية. فالسجن في النهاية مؤسسة عقابية، لكن معسكرات إعادة التثقيف هي عملية الغرض منها إعادة صياغة البشر نفسياً وعضوياً. فعلى سبيل المثال، كشفت قصص وفحوص الناجين من معسكرات الإيغور المسلمين، قيام الصين بجعل النساء عقيمات من خلال إجبارهن على تناول أدوية وعقاقير لم تفصح أبداً عن طبيعتها.
بدأ استخدام معسكرات إعادة التثقيف في الصين، مع ما عُرف بالقفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام (1958-1961) والتي يتراوح تقدير ضحاياها بين 18 و45 مليون إنسان لقوا حتفهم قتلاً أو تعذيباً في معسكرات العمل الشاقة، أو في المجاعة التي تسببت فيها القفزة العظيمة المزعومة.
اعتمدت استراتيجية القفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام، على هدف وضعه ماو تسي تونغ باللحاق بانكلترا وأميركا خلال 15 عاماً. واعتمد استراتيجية الحزب الصيني وقتها، على نزع الملكيات واستغلال التعداد السكاني الضخم لتوظيف السكان جميعاً في مشاريع زراعية وصناعية وإجبارهم على العمل فقط في المشاريع التي تخطط لها الدولة. لكن قبل إطلاق خطته، أعلن ماو عن حملة "المئة زهرة" بهدف تشجيع حرية الرأي والتعبير داخل الحزب وفتح الباب للمناقشات، وهو ما حدث بالفعل حيث انتعش النقاش داخل المجتمع الصيني وسمحت مساحة الحرية الصغيرة بظهور موجة الأدب والفن الستيني الصيني. لكن اتضح أن حملة "المئة زهرة" لم تكن سوى فخ، أعده ماو لرصد المعارضين، وانتهت الحملة بإلقاء القبض على كل المثقفين والعلماء والفنانين الذين أبدوا آراء معارضة لسياسات ماو.
ذات مرة في حديث مع الكاتبة الصينية "يان جي Yan ge"، وصفت المشهد الأدبي الصيني بأنه غابة مظلمة داخلها مجموعة من العميان. في حزن، أوضحت أن الذاكرة الجماعية شبه ممسوحة، فإحدى تقنيات النظام هي حذف التاريخ أو تشويهه، وبالتالي ففي مرحلة مثل "القفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام" لا يمكن أبداً الإطلاع على الوثائق الرسمية أو معرفة ما حدث بشكل قاطع، بل روايات متعارضة ومتباينة. لكن، في هذه الغابة المظلمة، تبرز أهمية التجارب الروائية في محاولة إلتقاط حقيقة التجربة، لا سرد تفاصيل أحداثها. ورواية "يان ليانكه / Yan Lianke" الكتب الأربعة أو "The Four Books" هي قطعة من هذا الظلام.
تدور أحداث الرواية داخل أحد معسكرات العمل، المخصصة للمثقفين والكتّاب والفنانين، أثناء "القفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام"، والهدف المعلن هو إعادة تربيتهم وتثقيفهم، وذلك من خلال العمل البدني الشاق لتخليصهم من آثار البرجوازية، وتحويلهم إلى مواطنين صالحين. المعسكر مقام على ضفة النهر الأصفر، وهو واحد من مئات المعسكرات المقامة على طول النهر حيث يعمل الملايين في الزراعة من أجل رفع علم الصين عالياً حتى تصبح "قد الدنيا".
معسكرات إعادة التربية والتثقيف ليست سجون اعتقال، فلا أسوار ولا حراس.
كل معسكر يشرف عليه مسؤول معين من قبل الحزب، وفي معسكرنا، المسؤول هو "الطفل"، وهذا اسمه وصفته في الرواية. نظرياً، يمكن للجميع أن يهرب، لكن عملياً مستحيل. ففي حالة هروبك من المعسكر سيتم فوراً إلقاء القبض على عائلتك وأصدقائك ومصادرة كل ممتلكاتهم، وأينما ذهبت ستطالب بإثبات حالتك القانونية في لجان التفتيش، ومن دون أوراق سيتم القبض عليك.
هناك أيضاً نظام النجوم الذي تتم السيطرة على المحتجزين من خلاله، فكلما التزمت بالتعليمات أو بذلت جهداً في العمل، تتم مكافأتك بنجمة صغيرة حمراء من الورق المقوى. إذا حصلت على خمس نجمات، يمكنك تحويلها إلى نجمة حمراء متوسطة، وخمس نجمات متوسطة يمكنك تحويلها إلى نجمة كبيرة، وإذا حصلت على خمس نجمات كبيرة يمكنك مغادرة المعسكر والعودة إلى المنزل.
نتيجة لنظام الإدارة هذا، يتحول السجناء إلى حراس، والجميع يراقب الجميع. لأنك إذا أبلغت عن مخالفة زميل لك، تحصل على نجمة تقديراً لوفائك.
لائحة الممنوعات لا تنتهي في المعسكرات، فهناك لائحة محددة بالكتب المسموح بقراءتها، وأي كتاب ليس في اللائحة ممنوع، سواء كان الكتاب المقدس أو رواية مدام بوفاري. ورغم أن المعسكرات تضم الرجال والنساء، لكن الجنس بالطبع ممنوع، وحينما يلقى القبض على اثنين يمارسان الجنس، يتم التشهير بهما وضربهما وتجريدهما من كل النجوم التي حصلوا عليها.
يبنى ليانكه روايته في معمار روائي عبقري. الرواية تتكون من أ��بعة كتب، وما نقرأه هو شذرات من هذه الكتب. فمثلاً الكتاب الأول هو "سجلات المجرمين" وهو عبارة عن تقارير يكتبها أحد الكتاب في المعسكر متجسساً على زملائه، وبينما نقرأ فيها، ينقطع السرد لينقلنا لمقطع من كتاب "طفل السماء" الذي يروي سيرة الطفل المسؤول عن المعسكري. وهكذا تتقاطع شذرات الكتب الأربعة، لتشكل هرمونية النسيج البديع فنياً للرواية، والكابوسي مضموناً.
لا يتوقف العمل في المعسكر على الزراعة، بل يتم إجبار العاملين على جمع الرمال السوداء من على ضفاف النهر، ثم صهرها في أفران بدائية لتحويله إلى الصلب. بالتالي أصبحوا يعملون في الزراعة في الصيف، وفي صهر الحديد في الشتاء، لذا قُطعت جميع الأشجار في المنطقة لاستغلال خشبها كوقود لإشعال أفران الصهر.
قادت سياسات "القفزة العظيمة إلى الأمام" إلى جرف الأراضي الزراعية وتغيير الطبيعة السكانية والديموغرافية للصين. والنتيجة كانت واحدة من أبشع المجاعات التي ضربت البلاد. وببراعة أدبية، تجعل معدتك تتقلص وأمعاءك تتلوى، يسرد ليانكه تفاصيل المجاعة، وكيف انحدر المحتجزون في المعسكر إلى أكل جثث الأموات. يصرخ أحد المثقفين/المساجين فيهم: "أنتم مثقفو الأمة وعقولها كيف أنحدرنا إلى منزلة آكلي لحوم البشر".
خصوصية أعمال ليانكه تنبع أيضاً من طبيعة حياته والمسار الذي اختاره، فالأدب الصيني المعاصر ينقسم إلى تيارين رئيسيين. الأول، هو الأدب الصيني في المهجر، ومعظمهم يعارض النظام الصيني. والأدب الصيني في الداخل، وهذا يتنوع بين كتّاب ممنوعين من النشر وربما في السجن، أو كتّاب اختاروا العمل ضمن أجندة النظام الصيني وتحت سقفه. وليانكه اختار المسار الأخير، فلسنوات طويلة عمل ليانكة في الجيش الصيني، لكنه صدم الجميع بروايته التي تسخر من بنية هذا النظام ومن تحولاته السياسية.
في روايته "إخدم الشعب/ Serve the people" ينكل في سخرية بكل المقدسات الثقافية الصينية، وفي عمل آخر "قبلة لينين" يقدم تحفة روائية من السخرية السوداء عن تحول الصين إلى نظام السوق. لكن سر نجاته من الاعتقال أنه، كما يقول في معظم حواراته، "يمارس رقابة صارمة على نفسه". ببساطة لأنه لا يريد أن يتسبب في الأذي لنفسه ويريد أن يستمر في الكتابة والنشر.
لكن رغم ذلك، فإن كتب ليانكه ممنوعة، بأمر غير مباشر، من العرض في رفوف المكتبات، ورغم أنه من أبرز الكتّاب الصينيين المرشحين لجائزة نوبل، ويحصل على جوائز عالمية كثيرة، يتم تهميشه وحرمانه من أى شكل من أشكال التكريم محلياً. لكن، من بين كل أعماله، يقول ليانكه عن روايته "الكتب الأربعة" إنها "الرواية الوحيدة التي كتبتها حراً من دون ممارسة رقابة على نفسي أثناء كتابتها". استغرقت كتاب الرواية عشرين عاماً، من الكتابة وإعادة الكتابة والتجريب والحذف، وحينما أتمّها رفضتها كل دور النشر، ولم يتم نشرها بالصينية إلا بعد سنوات حينما تغير الظرف السياسي.
تنبع القيمة الفنية الرفيعة لأدب ليانكه من سعيه الدائم إلى التجديد والابتكار في الشكل وطريقة سرد الحكاية، وليس فقط التأريخ السياسي والاجتماعي. ورغم فوزه بجائز "فرانز كافكا" المرموقة، فالحقيقة أن أعمال ليانكه تجعل أعمال كافكا روايات، وروايات رومانسية وجودية، بالمقارنة مع عالم ليانكه الكابوسي. وما يزيده كابوسية، معرفتنا أنه حدث بالفعل، وما زال يحدث حتى اليوم.
November 30, 2016
I happened upon ‘The Four Books’ amongst the library’s new acquisitions, then subsequently realised it’s a Man Booker finalist. It deals with the Great Leap Forward, a disastrous attempt at rapid economic transformation instituted by Mao from 1958 to 1961 that resulted in appalling famine. The translator’s note at the beginning comments on the structure of the novel, which ostensibly weaves together extracts from four different documents. I was therefore expecting a quite experimental narrative, so was surprised to find it distinctly linear and coherent. On the other hand, there is an interesting and unusual mixture of symbolism, metaphor, and literalism. The language and imagery of Christianity and Ancient Greek myth are sprinkled throughout. None of the characters are named, rather they are labelled: the Musician, the Author, the Scholar, etc. (Jeff VanderMeer also uses this rhetorical conceit to create atmosphere in Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy.) Yet these labels are all outdated, as the story takes place entirely in a Re-education camp, where these intellectuals have been sent to reform themselves through hard labour. Presiding over this is the Child, a naif who is capable of great cruelty and sympathy, arbitrary sadism and masochism. The prison camp is controlled not by anything so crude as walls and guards, but rather the psychological manipulation of the Child, the physical isolation of the place, and the apparent fact that there is nowhere to escape to. Sisyphus references reinforce the sense that the Re-education camp is hell, or rather a very small outpost of it.
As well as such references, the novel includes excruciating descriptions of the camp’s inhabitants starving to death during the famine. During this part, the Child, his means of control, and all other abstractions recede in the face of the bodily imperative to find food and survive. It is powerfully written, however the most memorable part of the book for me was elsewhere. The Great Leap Forward focused on two commodities: wheat and steel. Rural inhabitants, there for re-education or not, were mobilised en masse to cultivate wheat at absurdly intense levels (competitive targets were set to get vast amounts from every field) and smelt iron and steel in tiny furnaces (without any proper iron ore supply). My favourite sequence in ‘The Four Books’ describes the Author retreating from the Re-education camp in order to carefully grow wheat with ears ‘the size of corn’ for the Child. This macabre and beautifully written section shows him watering the wheat plants with his blood, allowing them to grow huge. The imagery of crops being literally watered with lifeblood is a powerfully unsubtle metaphor for the Great Leap Forward as a whole.
Given the subject matter, I wouldn’t describe this novel as enjoyable. It paints an excellent picture of the surreal cruelty of the Great Leap Forward, which is the subject of very little literature. Today, the Chinese government still ascribes it to natural disaster and the full death toll remains unknown. Estimates are in the tens of millions. Although the geographical scope of ‘The Four Books’ is very limited, to a secluded and desolate riverside camp, it conveys something of the nationwide scale and toll of events. Given the damning portrayal of party officials (referred to as ‘the higher-ups’), it’s hardly surprising that Lianke failed to find it a publisher in China. Although I didn’t find it as viscerally devastating as Vasily Grossman’s Everything Flows (which deals with the USSR’s post-collectivisation famine), I don’t think it was trying to do the same thing. The methods of the Child show the reader how the seeming madness of the Great Leap Forward eventuated in an astute and damning fashion. Lianke explains causes and effects with great clarity and purpose. ‘The Four Books’ is a distinctive, chilling novel.
As well as such references, the novel includes excruciating descriptions of the camp’s inhabitants starving to death during the famine. During this part, the Child, his means of control, and all other abstractions recede in the face of the bodily imperative to find food and survive. It is powerfully written, however the most memorable part of the book for me was elsewhere. The Great Leap Forward focused on two commodities: wheat and steel. Rural inhabitants, there for re-education or not, were mobilised en masse to cultivate wheat at absurdly intense levels (competitive targets were set to get vast amounts from every field) and smelt iron and steel in tiny furnaces (without any proper iron ore supply). My favourite sequence in ‘The Four Books’ describes the Author retreating from the Re-education camp in order to carefully grow wheat with ears ‘the size of corn’ for the Child. This macabre and beautifully written section shows him watering the wheat plants with his blood, allowing them to grow huge. The imagery of crops being literally watered with lifeblood is a powerfully unsubtle metaphor for the Great Leap Forward as a whole.
Given the subject matter, I wouldn’t describe this novel as enjoyable. It paints an excellent picture of the surreal cruelty of the Great Leap Forward, which is the subject of very little literature. Today, the Chinese government still ascribes it to natural disaster and the full death toll remains unknown. Estimates are in the tens of millions. Although the geographical scope of ‘The Four Books’ is very limited, to a secluded and desolate riverside camp, it conveys something of the nationwide scale and toll of events. Given the damning portrayal of party officials (referred to as ‘the higher-ups’), it’s hardly surprising that Lianke failed to find it a publisher in China. Although I didn’t find it as viscerally devastating as Vasily Grossman’s Everything Flows (which deals with the USSR’s post-collectivisation famine), I don’t think it was trying to do the same thing. The methods of the Child show the reader how the seeming madness of the Great Leap Forward eventuated in an astute and damning fashion. Lianke explains causes and effects with great clarity and purpose. ‘The Four Books’ is a distinctive, chilling novel.
April 2, 2016
The Four Books is set in a Chinese re-education camp during the Great Leap Forward. The inclusion of both fable and satire made it difficult to determine what was realistic and what was surreal. The pacing seemed off as well. The first 70% of the book really drags, while the final 25% flies by, but covers some repulsive topics. In the end, this book left me with far more questions than answers. I read an interview with the author that just confused me further. The only takeaways I got from this book really resulted in goggling the Great Leap Forward to learn more.
June 30, 2021
"Đất nước gặp hoạ rồi, nước nhà sớm muộn cũng có đại hoạ rồi."
"Những năm tháng này, chỉ cần không bị chết đói, ai làm gì cũng có thể lý giải được."
Thừa nhận trước nhất, đọc Diêm Liên Khoa lần nào cũng thấy rất mệt. Những chuyện vô lý bậc nhất, đẩy con người vào cùng cảnh biến chất nhất, mà giọng văn cứ đều đều như viết nonfic vậy.
Nhưng mà mỗi lần cầm lên, thì lại phải đọc liền 60-70 trang, sợ bỏ xuống thì bỏ luôn. Mấy bận như thế cũng hết sách.
Hết rồi, lại ngồi buồn cho cái kiếp người này.
"Những năm tháng này, chỉ cần không bị chết đói, ai làm gì cũng có thể lý giải được."
Thừa nhận trước nhất, đọc Diêm Liên Khoa lần nào cũng thấy rất mệt. Những chuyện vô lý bậc nhất, đẩy con người vào cùng cảnh biến chất nhất, mà giọng văn cứ đều đều như viết nonfic vậy.
Nhưng mà mỗi lần cầm lên, thì lại phải đọc liền 60-70 trang, sợ bỏ xuống thì bỏ luôn. Mấy bận như thế cũng hết sách.
Hết rồi, lại ngồi buồn cho cái kiếp người này.
April 26, 2018
Lianke's satire on Chairman Mao's re-education camps is both a meditation on 20th century China, and the human condition as a whole. Seriously brilliant stuff.
February 18, 2017
Se nos describe con cierto matiz poético la cara b de la revolución china: campos de "re-educación" donde se llevaban a lo más ilustrado de la china de los años cincuenta, para realizar trabajos forzosos en los hornos de hierro. Es inquietante, te lleva a la reflexión que independientemente de la cultura, el país o la idiosincracia, la humanidad sufre exactamente lo mismo en regímenes autoritarios, que censuran y reprimen, la táctica de castigo-recompensa se requiere para accionar a las personas. La intriga, el acusarse unos a otros se usa para sobrevivir y ganar la libertad.
Lo que se hizo en esos campos llevó a la desertificación de la tierra, el cambio en el cauce del Río Amarillo lo que produjo inundaciones y a la hambruna más severa del pueblo chino. Esos capítulos para mí los más duros de digerir.
Al final hay un capítulo que abre a la esperanza donde básicamente el arma para contrarrestar los días de cautiverio es no tener expectativas, afecto y sacar de ti mismo la fuerza de voluntad...algo curioso proponer el individualismo en una sociedad que defiende lo colectivo.
Recomiendo su lectura sobretodo para entender que seguimos sin aprender como humanidad y estamos cometiendo los mismos errores una y otra vez.
Lo que se hizo en esos campos llevó a la desertificación de la tierra, el cambio en el cauce del Río Amarillo lo que produjo inundaciones y a la hambruna más severa del pueblo chino. Esos capítulos para mí los más duros de digerir.
Al final hay un capítulo que abre a la esperanza donde básicamente el arma para contrarrestar los días de cautiverio es no tener expectativas, afecto y sacar de ti mismo la fuerza de voluntad...algo curioso proponer el individualismo en una sociedad que defiende lo colectivo.
Recomiendo su lectura sobretodo para entender que seguimos sin aprender como humanidad y estamos cometiendo los mismos errores una y otra vez.
May 28, 2017
Το ταξίδι μου για την αναζήτηση λογοτεχνικών εμπειριών Εκτός του αγγλοσαξονικού κόσμου με έφερε τελικά στην Κίνα, με αφορμή ένα βιβλίο που αναφέρεται σε μία εποχή ιδιαίτερα σκοτεινή θα έλεγα. Στα τέλη της δεκαετίας του 50 είχε γίνει μία οργανωμένη προσπάθεια για αύξηση της βιομηχανικής και αγροτικής παραγωγής, με στόχους που η λέξη φιλοδοξία είναι πολύ μικρή για να την περιγράψει. Τελικά αυτή η προσπάθεια που έφερε το βιομηχανικό της σκέλος μία παταγώδη Αποτυχία και στο αγροτικό της σκέλος το μεγαλύτερο λιμό στην ιστορία της χώρας, με εκατομμύρια θύματα.
Σε αυτή την εποχή μας μ��ταφέρει ο συγγραφέας, μέσα από την ιστορία των κρατουμένων ενός στρατοπέδου αναμόρφωσης που προσπαθούν να ακολουθήσουν τη γενικότερη τρέλα με σκοπό να μπορέσουν κάποτε να πείσουν τις αρχές να τους αφήσουν ελεύθερους. Το ωραίο, όμως, είναι ο τρόπος που επιλέγει να το κάνει αυτό. Φτιάχνοντας μία ιστορία με πολλούς συμβολισμούς που την αφηγείται με έναν ιδιαίτερα αιχμηρό τρόπο, με όπλο μία γραφή γεμάτη σκοτεινό σαρκασμό, καταγγέλλει την παράνοια όλης αυτής της προσπάθειας που τροφοδοτούνταν από τη φιλοδοξία ορισμένων και για να ανέβουν πιο ψηλά στη σκάλα της εξουσίας.
Ένα εξαιρετικό βιβλίο από ένα συγγραφέα που νομίζω ότι πρέπει να ερευνήσω περισσότερο το έργο του.
Σε αυτή την εποχή μας μ��ταφέρει ο συγγραφέας, μέσα από την ιστορία των κρατουμένων ενός στρατοπέδου αναμόρφωσης που προσπαθούν να ακολουθήσουν τη γενικότερη τρέλα με σκοπό να μπορέσουν κάποτε να πείσουν τις αρχές να τους αφήσουν ελεύθερους. Το ωραίο, όμως, είναι ο τρόπος που επιλέγει να το κάνει αυτό. Φτιάχνοντας μία ιστορία με πολλούς συμβολισμούς που την αφηγείται με έναν ιδιαίτερα αιχμηρό τρόπο, με όπλο μία γραφή γεμάτη σκοτεινό σαρκασμό, καταγγέλλει την παράνοια όλης αυτής της προσπάθειας που τροφοδοτούνταν από τη φιλοδοξία ορισμένων και για να ανέβουν πιο ψηλά στη σκάλα της εξουσίας.
Ένα εξαιρετικό βιβλίο από ένα συγγραφέα που νομίζω ότι πρέπει να ερευνήσω περισσότερο το έργο του.
October 2, 2021
The book tells a story about the absurdity of the central planner and the tragedy of the famine caused by the Great Leap Forward.
You can find many parallels to the current China and where China is headed under Xi.
Pretty disturbing…
You can find many parallels to the current China and where China is headed under Xi.
Pretty disturbing…
April 25, 2016
I picked this up because I've been wanting to read more translated fiction, and I figured that seeing as this was on the Man Booker International long list, it was bound to be good. And, for the most part, it was. But about 60% of the way through it took a turn for the SUPER WEIRD and I don't quite know how to process it.
This book is set at a re-education camp during the Great Leap Forward. It's a period of history that I know essentially nothing about, so it made for fascinating reading. And I was completely sucked into the early stages of the story, and the way the narrative chops and changes between three different "books" (the fourth book referred to in the title appears almost as an epilogue), each with a very different purpose.
One is The Author writing a novel based on his experiences at the camp. One is the Author writing what's almost a religious story about The Child, the innocent despot who runs their camp. And one is the Author reporting to The Child and the higher ups on the actions of his former prisoners. The writing styles are quite different between the books, and yet they flowed together seamlessly.
But somewhere around the 60% mark, this took a rapid detour into magical realism. The Author goes off on his own to plan crops, and suddenly the crops are growing like crazy because he's feeding them his own blood. So that was bizarre, but clearly a metaphor for the Great Leap Forward and how it was ultimately a disaster. But then once we got through that section, we hit a decent chunk of the book (say, 20% of it, maybe??) that focuses on the great famine and how ultimately the residents of this camp start to die of starvation, leaving those still alive to contemplate just how hungry they have to be before they resort to cannibalism.
The stuff that had me making a horrified face at the book was when
So it was a very compelling read. But a lot of the time, particularly towards the end of the book, it was a pretty damned disturbing read.
This book is set at a re-education camp during the Great Leap Forward. It's a period of history that I know essentially nothing about, so it made for fascinating reading. And I was completely sucked into the early stages of the story, and the way the narrative chops and changes between three different "books" (the fourth book referred to in the title appears almost as an epilogue), each with a very different purpose.
One is The Author writing a novel based on his experiences at the camp. One is the Author writing what's almost a religious story about The Child, the innocent despot who runs their camp. And one is the Author reporting to The Child and the higher ups on the actions of his former prisoners. The writing styles are quite different between the books, and yet they flowed together seamlessly.
But somewhere around the 60% mark, this took a rapid detour into magical realism. The Author goes off on his own to plan crops, and suddenly the crops are growing like crazy because he's feeding them his own blood. So that was bizarre, but clearly a metaphor for the Great Leap Forward and how it was ultimately a disaster. But then once we got through that section, we hit a decent chunk of the book (say, 20% of it, maybe??) that focuses on the great famine and how ultimately the residents of this camp start to die of starvation, leaving those still alive to contemplate just how hungry they have to be before they resort to cannibalism.
The stuff that had me making a horrified face at the book was when
So it was a very compelling read. But a lot of the time, particularly towards the end of the book, it was a pretty damned disturbing read.
February 16, 2020
il grande balzo in avanti verso il burrone
Il grande balzo in avanti fu il piano economico e sociale praticato dalla Repubblica Popolare Cinese dal 1958 al 1961, che aveva l'intento di riformare rapidamente il paese, trasformando il sistema economico rurale, fino ad allora basato sull'agricoltura, in una moderna e industrializzata società comunista caratterizzata anche dalla collettivizzazione.
Esso si rivelò tuttavia un disastro economico ed è considerato dalla maggior parte degli storici come la principale causa della gravissima carestia del 1960 in cui morirono tra i 30 e i 60 milioni di persone.
qua è raccontato dall'interno di un campo di lavoro per intellettuali, gente colta che era stata mandata a "rieducarsi attraverso il lavoro" e che, ciascuno dal suo punto di vista, racconta la propria esperienza, il Letterato, la Musicista, il Religioso e l'Erudito cercano solo di sopravvivere, dapprima con un certo grado di dignità ma poi, quando i forni hanno bruciato l'ultimo albero, l'acciaio non viene più prodotto e non arrivano scorte alimentari da nessuna parte, ecco che a mano a mano la vernice della buona educazione, quella della cultura e infine quella dell'umanità vengono grattate via dalla fame, lasciando scoperto solo il nervo che anima il cervello rettile, e da qui al baratro è un attimo...
ennesima storia di "rieducazione" scritta molto bene e con una certa vena poetica, nel complesso si tratta di uno dei periodi più neri della storia della Cina contemporanea e in realtà non dovrebbe stupire che tanti ne parlino, pure a dispetto delle censure del Partito che precludono alle masse il racconto della Storia, ma è incredibile il numero di intellettuali che è riuscito a sopravvivere e si è fatto un dovere morale di raccontare la propria esperienza, sarà per questo che personalmente sento il desiderio di leggerle tutte, come a voler rendere omaggio alla tenacia e alla perseveranza di tanti poveri esseri umani ridotti a mera sopravvivenza e all'unico compito di raccontare l'accaduto perchè non si ripeta...
Il grande balzo in avanti fu il piano economico e sociale praticato dalla Repubblica Popolare Cinese dal 1958 al 1961, che aveva l'intento di riformare rapidamente il paese, trasformando il sistema economico rurale, fino ad allora basato sull'agricoltura, in una moderna e industrializzata società comunista caratterizzata anche dalla collettivizzazione.
Esso si rivelò tuttavia un disastro economico ed è considerato dalla maggior parte degli storici come la principale causa della gravissima carestia del 1960 in cui morirono tra i 30 e i 60 milioni di persone.
qua è raccontato dall'interno di un campo di lavoro per intellettuali, gente colta che era stata mandata a "rieducarsi attraverso il lavoro" e che, ciascuno dal suo punto di vista, racconta la propria esperienza, il Letterato, la Musicista, il Religioso e l'Erudito cercano solo di sopravvivere, dapprima con un certo grado di dignità ma poi, quando i forni hanno bruciato l'ultimo albero, l'acciaio non viene più prodotto e non arrivano scorte alimentari da nessuna parte, ecco che a mano a mano la vernice della buona educazione, quella della cultura e infine quella dell'umanità vengono grattate via dalla fame, lasciando scoperto solo il nervo che anima il cervello rettile, e da qui al baratro è un attimo...
ennesima storia di "rieducazione" scritta molto bene e con una certa vena poetica, nel complesso si tratta di uno dei periodi più neri della storia della Cina contemporanea e in realtà non dovrebbe stupire che tanti ne parlino, pure a dispetto delle censure del Partito che precludono alle masse il racconto della Storia, ma è incredibile il numero di intellettuali che è riuscito a sopravvivere e si è fatto un dovere morale di raccontare la propria esperienza, sarà per questo che personalmente sento il desiderio di leggerle tutte, come a voler rendere omaggio alla tenacia e alla perseveranza di tanti poveri esseri umani ridotti a mera sopravvivenza e all'unico compito di raccontare l'accaduto perchè non si ripeta...
April 7, 2016
I have to admit to not knowing much about China's Great Leap Forward (1958-1961), but the first half of this book was an interesting allegorical novel looking at this period. A group of people are being "re-educated" in a camp/prison in order to make them fit to be part of normal society again.
The second half becomes much more surreal and, if I am honest, really rather weird. I think it is the author pushing the allegory but it becomes rather harrowing (I was reminded of The Narrow Road to the Deep North during large parts of the second half).
All the main characters are not given names, but are referred to by their profession (The Scholar, The Musician, The Theologian etc.). This makes it harder to identify with the people involved in the story and made the whole thing a bit dissatisfying for me.
I imagine that someone who knows about The Great Leap Forward could well find this a fascinating satire. I know that it has been banned in mainland China because of the some of the views and terminology used to refer to historic events.
I would like to know the significance of the sparrows that crop up at regular intervals. There is a lot of symbolism in this book and quite a bit of it is Christian (I wonder if the the title is a direct parallel to the number of gospels in the New Testament?) alongside Communism and Confucianism, but I must admit to becoming rather intrigued by the sparrows, especially when they were joined by magpies at one point.
The second half becomes much more surreal and, if I am honest, really rather weird. I think it is the author pushing the allegory but it becomes rather harrowing (I was reminded of The Narrow Road to the Deep North during large parts of the second half).
All the main characters are not given names, but are referred to by their profession (The Scholar, The Musician, The Theologian etc.). This makes it harder to identify with the people involved in the story and made the whole thing a bit dissatisfying for me.
I imagine that someone who knows about The Great Leap Forward could well find this a fascinating satire. I know that it has been banned in mainland China because of the some of the views and terminology used to refer to historic events.
I would like to know the significance of the sparrows that crop up at regular intervals. There is a lot of symbolism in this book and quite a bit of it is Christian (I wonder if the the title is a direct parallel to the number of gospels in the New Testament?) alongside Communism and Confucianism, but I must admit to becoming rather intrigued by the sparrows, especially when they were joined by magpies at one point.
Read
November 2, 2015Mao's 'Great Leap Forward'; the greatest act of mass murder in a century that was regrettably rich in contenders for that title, and the subject of this humane yet unflinching novel. But sheer weight of megadeaths isn't the only reason I find the period especially uncomfortable to read about. Sure, people are now less prone to glibly pronouncing 'never again' than they were, or considering its baby brother the Holocaust to be unique; we've all seen too many other geopolitical fuck-ups headed that way. But we can at least tell ourselves those need some kind of evil demagogue behind them. Whereas what happened in China...have you ever worked for a company bedevilled by shitty systems upgrades, where pseudo-inspirational quotes are distributed by well-meaning middle-management? Where the workers are expected to display a can-do mentality, rather than pointing out the very good reasons they can't do, under pain of the leadership's acute displeasure? If you haven't, you're lucky. But that ubiquitous strain of idiocy is all you need to have a 'Great Leap Forward'. Humanity really shouldn't be left in charge of anything major; the species is clearly not up to the job.
August 18, 2023
Knihu jsem neočekávaně obdržel na Vánoce a hned ten den jsem s ní začal. Prokousat se prvními kapitolami (hlavně tedy tou první) je sice obtížnější, ale jak se do textu pak člověk "zažere", už ho to nepustí. Pochopí styl, název a vůbec "nesmyslné" číslování a řazení kapitol. A i když zrovna nebylo času nazbyt, každý den jsem alespoň kousíček knihy projel. Proč? To téma je prostě fenomenálně zpracované. Styl, kterým je kniha psána prostě donutí člověka navíc sem tam projít historické články, porovnávat s realitou a tím se i sebevzdělávat, zvláště, když do toho kniha navíc přináší jednoduše představitelné obrazy. Překvapila snad jen kniha čtvrtá, i když neporovnatelná s "atmosférou" tří knih předchozích.
May 5, 2025
Alright this one is hard to settle for…
The storyline can get monotonous, however it’s justified. I have the strong sense that the idea of the book is for you to feel trapped as would any of the characters in the novel. Repetition is key. Also accumulation. However, that might become tiresome.
The use of the space is fantastic. Not many novels master to get the space to play such a strong role in the story. It manage to make you feel somewhere in between a mythical place ruled by divine intervention and a god forsaken one. Set in a reformation camp in rural China, you feel trapped wanting to get out, yet at times at ease in a world in its own right. Reality of enclosure becomes so great that you forget that you wanted to get out.
Also it has a way to bring beauty (or rather splendid images) into the most sordid and risible situations. In retrospective I ended up with bast amounts of color in my head. The “Soviet” red pops out. Red and dirt.
About the characters omg well played. The Child is an awesome character (a child-dictator, genius). And then just archetypes: the scholar, the musician, the theologian, the writer.
The plot is harsh, but it has to be. It’s also absurd. At the end it is a political commentary on the Great Famine of China but must importantly, and I think that’s more valuable, a critical reflection on the human condition. Who are we when deprived of everything? What are you willing to do to survive? Who is after all the better man?
After reading Yian Lianke for the first time, he comes out as a great writer. Can’t wait to read something else by him. However wouldn’t recommend it right away. It takes stomach. After the “Four books” I think I’ll go fetch something brighter.
The storyline can get monotonous, however it’s justified. I have the strong sense that the idea of the book is for you to feel trapped as would any of the characters in the novel. Repetition is key. Also accumulation. However, that might become tiresome.
The use of the space is fantastic. Not many novels master to get the space to play such a strong role in the story. It manage to make you feel somewhere in between a mythical place ruled by divine intervention and a god forsaken one. Set in a reformation camp in rural China, you feel trapped wanting to get out, yet at times at ease in a world in its own right. Reality of enclosure becomes so great that you forget that you wanted to get out.
Also it has a way to bring beauty (or rather splendid images) into the most sordid and risible situations. In retrospective I ended up with bast amounts of color in my head. The “Soviet” red pops out. Red and dirt.
About the characters omg well played. The Child is an awesome character (a child-dictator, genius). And then just archetypes: the scholar, the musician, the theologian, the writer.
The plot is harsh, but it has to be. It’s also absurd. At the end it is a political commentary on the Great Famine of China but must importantly, and I think that’s more valuable, a critical reflection on the human condition. Who are we when deprived of everything? What are you willing to do to survive? Who is after all the better man?
After reading Yian Lianke for the first time, he comes out as a great writer. Can’t wait to read something else by him. However wouldn’t recommend it right away. It takes stomach. After the “Four books” I think I’ll go fetch something brighter.
October 16, 2024
Rar og absurd, men veldig bra! Tror den hadde vært mer spennende å lese om jeg visste mer om kinesisk historie fra den tidsperioden før jeg leste boka, men nå som jeg har lest meg litt mer opp ser jeg flere av referansene
May 28, 2022
Its been a while since Ive been so absorbed by a book, sometimes totally immersed.
July 23, 2025
odd but arresting. made me think a lot about power, punishment, and the extent of humanity. overall an interesting cultural/historical perspective
August 28, 2019
This book is strongly reminiscent of a Kafka novel if Kafka were modern-ish and Chinese. Set in a re-education camp in the countryside (but not too far from Beijing, it seems) this is an allegory of a group of elite, "criminal" intellectuals whose morals, ideals, and enlightened concerns come against the persistent crazedness that a combination forced nationalism and poverty induces. Slowly, or occasionally, suddenly and in desperation, we witness each of the intellectuals make physical or logical compromises as their living conditions deteriorate and they become increasingly desperate to earn increasingly arbitrary badges of approval in order to leave the camp.
Like Kafka, Yan's characters are nameless, only known by their professions (the Author, Scholar, Musician, Theologian, etc), and we are to think of each as governed by the traits that have defined them professionally and intellectually. They all betray themselves in some fundamental belief in their art they are supposed to hold dear. I think the fundamental exploration of the book is how each intellectual morally copes with these self-betrayal.
The biggest strength of the book is its long build-up, which take practice in restraint and writerly craft. Recalling Ravel's Bolero, it's a gradual - almost impercitible - crescendo without abatement that at some point, even before the new myth of Sisyphus, becomes pure allegory.
There's a connection between this survival tale of early experiments/failures of Chinese communism and present-day China, though I've still to substantively unpack this. The translation reads a little dry and distant, though not having read the Chinese original, it's difficult to understand how it could be better. Nevertheless, this an important work to read if one wants to gain insight into the past and present Chinese national mindset.
Like Kafka, Yan's characters are nameless, only known by their professions (the Author, Scholar, Musician, Theologian, etc), and we are to think of each as governed by the traits that have defined them professionally and intellectually. They all betray themselves in some fundamental belief in their art they are supposed to hold dear. I think the fundamental exploration of the book is how each intellectual morally copes with these self-betrayal.
The biggest strength of the book is its long build-up, which take practice in restraint and writerly craft. Recalling Ravel's Bolero, it's a gradual - almost impercitible - crescendo without abatement that at some point, even before the new myth of Sisyphus, becomes pure allegory.
There's a connection between this survival tale of early experiments/failures of Chinese communism and present-day China, though I've still to substantively unpack this. The translation reads a little dry and distant, though not having read the Chinese original, it's difficult to understand how it could be better. Nevertheless, this an important work to read if one wants to gain insight into the past and present Chinese national mindset.
March 21, 2021
Fresh from reading No Wall Too High by Xu Hongci, a harrowing true memoir about life inside a Chinese re-education camp during the Great Leap Forward, this novel came across at first as a caricature of the same experience. No character has a name other than The Scholar, The Musician, The Child, and so on. People's individual pasts and the reasons for their imprisonments are glossed over, and the camp commander is literally a child. Yet it didn't take long to fall in step with the author's vision and become deeply absorbed in this isolated, special world.
This book is a masterclass in how exaggeration with a slight touch of magic can often tell the truth more effectively than hyper-realism. Rather than being hit over the head with scenes of brutality and injustice, the horror wells up deep inside the reader as the characters adapt to their personal catastrophes like Sisyphus to his fate. Presented in a graceful, compelling translation, this brilliant novel deserves all the accolades it has received.
This book is a masterclass in how exaggeration with a slight touch of magic can often tell the truth more effectively than hyper-realism. Rather than being hit over the head with scenes of brutality and injustice, the horror wells up deep inside the reader as the characters adapt to their personal catastrophes like Sisyphus to his fate. Presented in a graceful, compelling translation, this brilliant novel deserves all the accolades it has received.
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