Dictionary of Maqiao - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 073228001X ISBN 13: 9780732280017

Synopsis

The multi-award winning novel by one of China's greatest living writers.

About this title

Review

"This is a serious, ground-breaking and finally brilliant novel by one of China's leading authors... The translation is everywhere excellent -- fluent, colloquial where appropriate, without being excessively so, learned in places, and without any hint anywhere of 'translationese'... surely destined for classic status." -- Bradley Winterton, "Taipei Times"

"Sometimes humorous, but crude and grim at other times, the entries all intertwine to give readers a picture of life in this distant region." -- "Library Journal"

"Han is a good storyteller, ingeniously leading the reader into the heart of his stories... "A Dictionary of Maqiao" is readable and enjoyable." -- Fatima Wu, "World Literature Today"

"[ "A Dictionary of Maqiao"] is a magnificent book, epic in its ambitions and sweep without any of the sentimental obfuscation on which that genre so often depends." -- "The Village Voice"

"[A] subtle and smashingly effective critique of the futility of totalitarian efforts to suppress language and thought -- and, more to the point, a stunningly imaginative and absorbing work of fiction." -- "Kirkus Reviews"

"To enter [ "A Dictionary of Maqiao"]'s pages is to cross into a world of bandits and ghosts, where 'rude' means 'pretty, ' and homosexuals are 'Red Flower Daddies' and people don't die, they 'scatter.'" -- "The New York Times Book Review"

"Han Shaogong's novel has won wide acclaim, and deservedly so; through his treatment of language, he not only vividly portrays village life in rural China, but also inspires readers to rethink what they are accustomed to taking for granted." -- "Persimmon"

"In its formal inventiveness, its nuanced depiction of Chinese peasant life, and its speculative explorations into the Chinese cultural psyche, this is one of the finest novels of the post-Mao era to so far make its way into English." -- Jeffrey Twitchell-Waas, "Review of Contemporary Fiction"

"Ý "A Dictionary of Maqiao"¨ is a magnificent book, epic in its ambitions and sweep without any of the sentimental obfuscation on which that genre so often depends." -- "The Village Voice"

"ÝA¨ subtle and smashingly effective critique of the futility of totalitarian efforts to suppress language and thought -- and, more to the point, a stunningly imaginative and absorbing work of fiction." -- "Kirkus Reviews"

About the Author

Han Shaogong is an award-winning novelist, essayist, and translator. He is author of Moon Orchid (1985), Bababa (1985), Womanwomanwoman (1985), and Deserted City (1989). He is also former editor of the magazines Hainan Review and Frontiers, and is vice-chairman of the Hainan Writer's Association.

Edition details

• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 073228001X
• ISBN 13: 9780732280017
• Binding: Paperback