Trees Without Wind: A Novel

by Li Rui, John Balcom (Translator)

Unfolding in the tense years of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Trees Without Wind takes place in a remote Shanxi village in which a rare affliction has left the residents physically stunted. Director Liu, an older revolutionary and local commune head, becomes embroiled in a power struggle with Zhang Weiguo, a young ideologue who believes he is the model of a true revolutionary. Complicating matters is a woman named Nuanyu, who, like Zhang Weiguo and Director Liu, is an outsider untouched by the village's disease. "Wedded" to all of the male villagers, Nuanyu lives a polyandrous lifestyle based on necessity and at odds with the puritanical idealism of the Cultural Revolution.



The deformed villagers, representing the manipulated masses of China, become pawns in the Party representatives' factional infighting. Director Liu and Zhang Weiguo's explosive tug-of-war is part of a larger battle among politics, self-interest, and passion gripping a world undone by ideological extremism. A collectively told narrative powered by distinctive subjectivities, Trees Without Wind is a milestone in the fictional treatment of a horrific event.

Genres: Chinese Literature, China

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

Li Rui (Chinese: 李锐; pinyin: Li Ruì; born 1949 in Beijing) is a short-story writer and novelist from China. He is best known for his Houtu series of short stories, which won the China Times Literary Prize as well as the 8th National Award for best short stories.

He has published five novels, several novellas and several volumes of short stories. In 2004, Li won the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres award for his contributions to arts and literature.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Fitlitter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bleak story. Faulkner like in terms of trying to deduce what is going on. Mankind reduced to sheer survival. Very touching how village reacts at the loss of one of their own. Do not stop to engage in angst. They just set to and tradition kicks in and the pattern that has been laid down, informs their actions. Not an easy read, but may down the line be the equivalent of Finnegan's Wake in terms of being a touchstone. Translator to be admired as this was no mean task interpreting grunts, squeals, and wails.

[!Tæmbuŝu]

Reviewed by The Complete Review, Caixin

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't much care for this book at first, but about halfway through there was one beautiful sentence and that was enough to make reading this worthwhile.

[Đào Kiên · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cây Không Gió của Lý Nhuệ

[Bryan Liu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique writing techniques