吉陵春秋

by 李永平

Retribution opens with the raucous festivities surrounding the annual procession to honor the Bodhisattva Guanyin. Changsheng, the young wife of the local coffin maker Liu Laoshi, is raped while making an offering to Guanyin in the hope of increasing her chances of bearing a son. Changsheng hangs herself following the encounter, and Liu Laoshi exacts bloody vengeance on the rapist's own wife and favorite prostitute. This act of sexual violence and its retribution provide the narrative pivot around which is woven a web of interconnecting stories, whose characters and events provide divergent perspectives on the rape and its aftermath. The result is an unforgettable exploration of the intersections of sexual desire, sadism, folk belief, and the inexorable cycles of karmic retribution.

Genres: Chinese Literature

312 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1986

About the author

台灣大學外文系畢業，美國紐約州立大學比較文學碩士、華盛頓大學比較文學博士。

曾任中山大學外文系、外文研究所副教授、東吳大學英文系副教授。

現任國立東華大學英美語文學系創作與英語文學研究所教授。同時也是知名小說家。

Reviews

[Graham Oliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure if a lot was lost in translation or cultural context would've added a bunch, but I didn't get much beyond shock factor from this?

[Citron Pineapple · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, and interesting description of an imagined oriental village.