Green River Daydreams

by Liu Heng, Heng Liu, Howard Goldblatt (Translator)

The author of Black Snow serves up an epic novel of forbidden romance and political turmoil in early 20th-century China.

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Liu Heng (Chinese: 刘恒; pinyin: Liú Héng; born in May, 1954) is a Chinese writer. He is generally seen as a realist writer. He became a professional writer in the 1970s after having worked as a peasant farmer, a factory worker and a soldier, classes which have served as fodder for his stories and, not coincidentally, classes which Mao Zedong promoted as the audience for literature in his 1942 Talks At The Yenan Forum On Literature And Art. "Dogshit Food" won the 1985-86 best short story award. "Fuxi Fuxi" won him the national Prize for Best Novelettes in 1987, and was the basis for the movie Ju Dou. His novel "Hēi de xuě" (Black Snow; 黑的雪), about the problems faced by a young juvenile delinquent upon his release from prison, was made into a feature film, and "Pínzuǐ Zhāng Dàmín dē xìngfú shēnghuó" (The Happy Life of Chatter-box Zhang Damin;贫嘴张大民的幸福生活) has been made into a television series in the same name.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - I couldn't get into the writing style. Perhaps it was a case of meaning not translating from Chinese to English, but I found the writing style flowery and confusing.

[Rice Paper Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book together with my wife—she in Chinese, and I in English. Despite being 6,000 km apart, we thought this would be a fun way to stay connected. This is the first of several books we plan to read this way.

This book is filled with many of the elements that made me first fall in love with Chinese novels. Green River Daydream masterfully blends character development, history, and landscape. As with most historical narratives, it contains elements of brutality, absurdity, and madness. Providing a glimpse into the end of China’s final imperial dynasty, the Qing, the book takes us inside a wealthy landowning family and sheds light on the revolutionary rebel groups that would eventually reshape China’s future.

[Mary gillespie]

I liked it a lot..