33rd out of 50 books
—
9 voters
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
by
Yiyun Li
Brilliant and original, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers introduces a remarkable new writer whose breathtaking stories are set in China and among Chinese Americans in the United States. In this rich, astonishing collection, Yiyun Li illuminates how mythology, politics, history, and culture intersect with personality to create fate. From the bustling heart of Beijing, to a...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
September 12th 2006
by Random House Trade Paperbacks
(first published 2005)
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Jan 25, 2012
Jenny
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommended to Jenny by:
MacArthur genius
Shelves:
character,
subject-matter
My first unbeknownst exposure to Yiyun Li was in the Wayne Wang film, The Princess of Nebraska, which was based on Li’s story of the same name. My first thought was if it was your decision to cast Boshen as a white guy in the film then shame on you Wayne Wang! Boshen is supposed to be Chinese! I think that makes it a lot more interesting and slightly less creepy than a middle aged white man who is in love with an 18 year old Chinese man. I like the tension between Sasha and Boshen because they’r...more
Yiyun Li came to read at Saint Mary's College of California in the Bay Area a year or so ago, and I'll never forget how she explained her method of creating drama. In a crude paraphrasing, from what I can fuzzily recall, she said each of her characters are strategically angled in opposition to one another. And these angles are where she starts from, so the story's conflict is immediate and urgent.
In her short story collection A Thousand Good Years of Prayers each character vies to break free fr...more
In her short story collection A Thousand Good Years of Prayers each character vies to break free fr...more
A book of short stories many of them brutal and written in sparse pointed language, illustrating the barrenness and futility of the characters whose lives the stories depict. There are 9 stories of Chinese people, some immigrants to the United States, some still living in China. The last story, titled, A thousand Years of Good Prayers is the most intriguing and poignant story. It is the one from which the book takes it's title. The father in the story, is concerned with his daughter's unwillingn...more
This was my bookclub read for April and I have to confess that I didn't finish it. I'm not a fan of short stories and so put off reading it until I just didn't have enough time to finish it in the time available. However, as far as short stories go, these ones were better than a lot I've read. Which isn't saying much, but it's something!
The writing was good, but the stories themselves were very negative and depressing. They dealt with the lives of Chinese people in modern day China and all the c...more
The writing was good, but the stories themselves were very negative and depressing. They dealt with the lives of Chinese people in modern day China and all the c...more
I’ve been meaning to read Yiyun Li’s short story collection, A Thousand Years of Good Prayer, ever since I saw the film version of the collection's title story and saw that she had been named on the Top 20 Writers Under 40 in the New Yorker. The film version directed by Wayne Wang was produced by my friend Yukie Kito. It was also filmed in my hometown: Spokane, Washington. But the reason I liked the movie was the subtle but powerful story of a daughter trying to come to terms with her father in...more
I love the characters and stories - especially the boy who looked like Mao and Lao Da who killed the county officials and their family members because his son died / murdered without getting any justice. The characters are all memorable in their own way, their stories linger in my head and eyes long after I finished reading them. I like the way Yiyun Li bring her characters to face each other with their different views on life and culture, and how she portrays generation and cultural gaps betwee...more
Yiyun Li's fiction thrives in the dislocation that occurs as the modern China of mobility (at least for the educated and wealthy) replaces older Chinas (without the slightest hint that older was in any way better). It is a China of gay sons and day traders, of emigrants and gun massacres. Above all, it is a China in which family collapses under the pressure of the modern--the woman taken to an abortion by the lover of the gay man who impregnated her, the famous Mao impersonator cast adrift in th...more
Jul 25, 2011
Vanessa Wu
added it
I am very interested in the life of the woman who wrote these stories. There is no doubt that they are a first rate contribution to world literature. They are serious, controlled, thoughtful and deeply felt. But I hate reading them. They are like a bitter pill to me and I don't want to take it. There is a China that is not shown here. You might think that this other China doesn't exist, could never exist. Yiyun Li doesn't want these stories to be published in China. Perhaps it's because the Chin...more
I had to read this book for literature class, and I don't regret it a single bit - I wouldn't have tried Li Yiyun's works otherwise.
It was dreamlike, intense - wonderful - to see the culture that I have grown up with immortalized in short stories of this caliber. Li delivers stunning insights and feelings that I can empathize with, which makes the read all the better. Her metaphors and vivid descriptions were so very real. Reading the book was an experience in itself, and I felt very disjointed...more
It was dreamlike, intense - wonderful - to see the culture that I have grown up with immortalized in short stories of this caliber. Li delivers stunning insights and feelings that I can empathize with, which makes the read all the better. Her metaphors and vivid descriptions were so very real. Reading the book was an experience in itself, and I felt very disjointed...more
If you are looking for a nice, light cheerful read, this book isn't for you. A collection of short stories by a Chines-American author, the book is loaded with the fatalism and angst that seems to be common in Chinese literature. While some of the stories can be moving (e.g., Extra, the tale of a poor, unmarried middle-aged woman who lives with hard luck), it is hard to feel sympathetic toward most of the characters; pity, perhaps. Presumably, this was the author's intention, so in this sense, i...more
Short stories are a special craft of their own, and about a third of the stories in this volume are masterpieces to me.
I've heard from some that Li's writing is "too depressing" but well really, such is life. Realism has a price. It reminds me of how a friend complained about the tragic unhappy ending to the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I thought that was hilarious since in the Chinese view- if its real love then simeone's got to suffer & sacrifice. Happy endings are trite & sup...more
I've heard from some that Li's writing is "too depressing" but well really, such is life. Realism has a price. It reminds me of how a friend complained about the tragic unhappy ending to the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I thought that was hilarious since in the Chinese view- if its real love then simeone's got to suffer & sacrifice. Happy endings are trite & sup...more
I've been reading references and recoomendations bout Yiyun Li's work this year, and I'm so glad that I finally picked up one of her books. This collection of short stories was well crafted and very interesting. Most of the stories dealt with relaitonships abbetween men and women and families. The stories were good and there was a lot about Chinese culture and history, so much that I felt like I was learning cultural facts while I was reading.
This was her first collection of short stories, and I...more
This was her first collection of short stories, and I...more
With a Plimpton Prize and publications in the New Yorker and Paris Review, Li has found her natural medium: writing stories in her nonnative English. Her language is simple and graceful, her observations of modern life penetrating and moving. In her book debut, she has rendered, with freshness, the rich tapestry of global Chinese life in all its complexity, angst, and comfort.
This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.
"In Cina diciamo, xiū bǎishì kě tóngzhōu 修百世可同舟. Ci vogliono trecento anni di preghiere per attraversare un fiume sulla stessa barca di un'altra persona. C'è un motivo per ogni rapporto umano, questo è il significato del proverbio. Ci vogliono tremila anni di preghiere per poggiare la tua testa sul cuscino accanto a quella della persona che ami. Per un padre e una figlia? Mille anni, forse."
YiYun Li è maestra nel presentare spaccati della vita quotidiana in una Cina a metà tra occidentalizzazion...more
YiYun Li è maestra nel presentare spaccati della vita quotidiana in una Cina a metà tra occidentalizzazion...more
Feb 11, 2012
Julka
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
52-books-2012,
people-stories
Tysiąc lat dobrych modlitw to zbiór opowiadań, których akcja dzieje się w Chinach w czasach ostatnich przemian. Jeżeli ktoś lubi wesołe historie może sobie śmiało odpuścić Tysiąc lat. Jest takie przysłowie chińskie zacytowane w jednym z opowiadań: "Zły los zawsze wybiera dobrego człowieka". I tak jest też w tych opowiadaniach. Przyznam, że nie wszystkie brzmią dla mnie wiarygodnie. Na przykład w scenie, gdzie Sansan nacina nożem ramię żebraka. Miała to być wzniosła scena, ale autorka trochę prze...more
I read this a good 6 months ago so it's hard to remember what I thought. I do recall that the first story, about an old woman's relationship with a young boy, moved me to tears, and there were a few other stories I really liked and which were quite moving and/or clever, especially this one about a boy who looks just like Chairman Mao. There were also stories that were boring and willfully depressing. I mean, all the stories are depressing, and my tastes in fact run a little to the downbeat so th...more
All in the same theme, Yiyun Li's stories are all about (pretty much) Chinese people who try to run away (to the States). Very interesting descriptions and prose style; Li's words are heavily coloured by the vibrant colours of China revolution. She summons Mao a lot in her book, also famous Chinese proverbs, and the less famous one and the more obscure too. These are quite refreshing to me, as this book is the first book from a Chinese author I've ever read.
I noted too, a few other interesting p...more
I noted too, a few other interesting p...more
I finished this book and I have mixed feelings. Not because the stories are bad. On the contrary, they are quite good. What bothered me is that almost aggressive anti-communistic attitude. There is one sentence where old Iranian woman says "I love China. China a good country, very old" and that would be pretty much everything said positive about China (and that comes from the mouth of Iranian women who never visited the country she's talking about!).
I don't have doubts that communism in China wa...more
I don't have doubts that communism in China wa...more
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers = many hours of good reading. What happened to the "common people" after the cultural revolution in China. Yiyun Li tells individual stories that are as different from each other as the individual characters themselves, but are connected by a common struggle for survival within a system that seems to evolved into an uncontrolled monster. Many of the character's problems will seem familiar to economically depressed people in any country, but attempts have been mad...more
Terrific short stories...dealing with a rich culture and the changes that individuals endure. My personal favorite, if I had to choose would be the one which bears the same name as the title of the collection. It is told from the point of view of an elderly Chinese father who visits his estranged and aloof daughter in the states. But then I also loved Extra about a devoted and dedicated grandmother. And the Princess of Nebraska...and well it is worth reading again and again.
The stories gift the reader with a sense of China by delivering intimate tales of its people. A young writer who can write of sons and daughters disparaging their elders, and not make me mad as an elder, has me thoroughly engaged in the story, and that's Yiyun Li's brilliance. Calm visualization, eerily wise prose, and stories that linger. Moral dilemmas, personal tragedies, and a ruthless regime are the water on the paper, and the inner resources the characters call upon flow like color from Li...more
An excellent collection of short stories by a Chinese writer who came to the US when she was 21; Li stumbled into writing while she was doing a PH.D. in biology or something at Iowa. What a story! She reminds me a little of Ha Jin -- their writing is simple, spare one might say but at times quite beautiful and most important of all they have unique, interesting stories (mostly about China) to share with American and English speaking readers.
There are many insights into people's lives/thoughts/dreams during the dark times in China through these short stories. This quote from the title story has stuck with me for days: "Baba, if you grew up in a language that you never used to express your feelings, it would be easier to take up another language and talk more in the new language. It makes you a new person." I still find it difficult and unnatural to say "I love you" in Chinese...
This is a book of short stories, most of which are placed in China with a few about Chinese immigrants that are in the US. The reason I was disappointed is that the quality of the stories is amazingly inconsistent. Some of them, like the one the book is titled after, are really good, while others were poorly written and/or absolutely bored me to death. Such a shame because I think this writer is good, but just needs better editing.
Holy shit this was good, and I'm not saying that b/c I'm in China assholes. She won the 2005 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, and her second collection Gold Boy, Emerald Girl was shortlisted for the same award. Her debut novel The Vagrants was shortlisted for the 2011 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
She was named a 2010 MacArthur Fellow. I realize I just copied that from wikipedia but who cares. This was without question one of the best SS anthologies I've opened.
She was named a 2010 MacArthur Fellow. I realize I just copied that from wikipedia but who cares. This was without question one of the best SS anthologies I've opened.
Even though this book is pretty short, and it's all short stories, it took me a really long time to read it. It wasn't because the stories were poorly written, it was mostly because they're all extremely sad. It seems like they're all about bitter divorces, lifetimes of unrequited loves, or self-castration.
Mostly this book reinforced my long standing belief that I will never understand Chinese people.
Mostly this book reinforced my long standing belief that I will never understand Chinese people.
Dec 19, 2010
Libby
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2010,
realistic-fiction
I really enjoyed this book. Yiyun Li's imaginative short stories can be devoured in one sitting or savoured, but I couldn't resist turning each page waiting for the next great character or fascinating plot. She has a lovely way with words, but I found the stories quite depressing in parts and there were other areas I skimmed over because I found it just too negative.
However I would really recommend it.
However I would really recommend it.
Дълго време се чудих колко звезди заслужава тази книга. Не са пет, сякаш не са и четири. Но прозата на Июн Ли си я бива, колкото и да е кратка, неподредена и обичайна за Азия. И дори за човек като мен, който не си пада по книги пълни с орязана проза в тази има нещо, което е интересно и подхранващо вкуса към източните култури. Които така или иначе не са лесни за разбиране в простичкият си живот обременен от толкова много политика, правила и разочаровани малки хора.
oh my. at first i did not like this book at all. like at all. but somewhere towards the end of the first short story i found myself completely impressed. "immortality"--a story about eunuchs and a boy born with the dictator's face--is devastating and gorgeous. there's a lot of myth-making in this book, but it's done in an extremely skillful way that made me want to go on the ride.
I think this book is remarkable for the number of rules Li has broken while writing fantastic stories. I'm thinking particularly of the amount of passive exposition in some of the stories; but despite this weight of overt writerly involvement, they work because so much of the drama is immediate, and because you get the sense that, as with Lahiri, Li knows these characters inside out. My two favourite stories from this collection are Immortality and the title story, probably because they take mor...more
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Yiyun Li grew up in Beijing, China and moved to the United States in 1996. She received an MFA from Iowa Writers' Workshop and an MFA in creative nonfiction writing from the University of Iowa. Her stories and essays have been published in The New Yorker, The Paris Review,and elsewhere. She has received a Whiting Writers' Award and was awarded a Lannan Foundation residency in Marfa, TX. Her debut...more
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“Every place is a good place, only time goes wrong.”
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Jan 18, 2012 12:31pm
Jan 18, 2012 12:34pm