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Banished!
It is 1969 and China is in the throes of the Cultural Revolution. The Tao family is banished to the countryside, forced to leave comfortable lives in Nanjing to be reeducated in the true nature of the revolution by the peasants of Sanyu village.
The parents face exile with stoicism and teach their son to embrace reeducation wholeheartedly. Is this simple pragmatism, an attempt to protect the boy and ensure his future? Or do the banished cadres really cling to their belief in their leaders and the ideals of the Revolution? These questions remain tantalizingly unanswered in this prize-winning first novel.
The parents face exile with stoicism and teach their son to embrace reeducation wholeheartedly. Is this simple pragmatism, an attempt to protect the boy and ensure his future? Or do the banished cadres really cling to their belief in their leaders and the ideals of the Revolution? These questions remain tantalizingly unanswered in this prize-winning first novel.
264 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2009
About the author
Han Dong
51 books1 followerHan Dong’s parents were banished to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution, taking him with them. When the Cultural Revolution ended, he studied philosophy at Shandong University, graduating in 1982. He subsequently taught in Xi’an and Nanjing, finally relinquishing teaching in 1993 and going free-lance as a writer.
Han Dong began writing in 1980, and has been a major player on the modern Chinese literary scene since the 1990s. He is well-known as one of China’s most important avant-garde poets, and is becoming increasingly influential as an essayist, short story writer, blogger and novelist.
Han Dong began writing in 1980, and has been a major player on the modern Chinese literary scene since the 1990s. He is well-known as one of China’s most important avant-garde poets, and is becoming increasingly influential as an essayist, short story writer, blogger and novelist.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Want to Read
March 26, 2016Selection for China
September 29, 2012
Another Chinese autobiographical novel set during the Cultural Revolution. A whole family of Nanjing intellectuals, once members of the Chinese Communist Party, finds themselves exiled to an impoverished rural community. But this one is different -- the author uses a distant, deceptively cold third person voice, especially when describing himself. And of particular interest to me are his parents, who remind us of Thomas Jefferson's commitment to making the most of his land with diverse plants, and recipes, and life improvements for his surrounding community. The Chinese title of the book is "striking root" 扎根, a slogan that the family would say to themselves over and over as a reminder that there was no way to return to the city, and they had best begin working for social and economic advancement all over again. They value planning, frugality, reading and learning, and social justice. As in other tales of the period, it is the black irony of politics that such folk are precisely the type purged out of the mainstream paths to power. Are we in the USA really that different?
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews