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檀香刑
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Cina 1900: provincia dello Shandong. Sun Bing è un ribelle per caso, che si ritrova a guidare una rivolta di contadini a fianco dei Boxer, la società segreta cinese nemica delle potenze imperialistiche straniere. Ma Sun Bing non è solo un contadino in guerra contro un potere piú grande di lui, e da cui sarà atrocemente punito. È anche un artista, è un uomo che vive di cant
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Paperback, 1st, 418 pages
Published
January 1st 2017
by Zhejiang Publishing House of literature and Art
(first published 2001)
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Xixi
father. gongdieh is father-in-law and gandieh is like sugar daddy.
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Start your review of 檀香刑
Palpitation! The word itself brims with mystifying sounds. The flip-flopping of the heart muscle attuned to the ambience of the twelve tone symphony, fingers smoothly gliding over the chromatic keys of a piano, the steady tempo of the inherent music fluctuating within the irregularities of variable frequency of the cardiac rhythm, the fleeting pause descending into the pentatonic scales of a violin finding its way into the emptiness of a skipped heartbeat, synchronize the tingling of a body. The ...more
Maoqiang Opera (Chinese: 茂腔; pinyin: Màoqiāng) is a local folk opera style (performed live on-stage) from the Jiaozhou area of Shandong Peninsula (Jiaodong Peninsula) in eastern China. 'Sandalwood Death' pays homage to Maoqiang and is written in a style reminiscent of this traditional Chinese art form.
In the Author's Note at the end of the book, Mo Yan writes "In the same way that Maoqiang cannot be performed in grand halls alongside Italian opera or Russian ballet, this novel of mine will likel ...more
In the Author's Note at the end of the book, Mo Yan writes "In the same way that Maoqiang cannot be performed in grand halls alongside Italian opera or Russian ballet, this novel of mine will likel ...more
Feb 26, 2014
Boysie Freeman (not my real name, it's just my Internet name)
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Excruciating and beautiful, but not for weak stomachs.
I’ve read Sandalwood Death/Tanxiang Xing in both Vietnamese (my native language) and English. It is understood why Mo Yan could not achieve the level of fame he deserves in the West – I remember that year when Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize in 2012, most of my Murakami fans I know back then were truly disappointed. Murakami writes more universally – they do not require much of a background understand, but Mo Yan… not so much.
Anyway I am not makin ...more
I’ve read Sandalwood Death/Tanxiang Xing in both Vietnamese (my native language) and English. It is understood why Mo Yan could not achieve the level of fame he deserves in the West – I remember that year when Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize in 2012, most of my Murakami fans I know back then were truly disappointed. Murakami writes more universally – they do not require much of a background understand, but Mo Yan… not so much.
Anyway I am not makin ...more
sometimes even a very fine work just does not translate.
if you're planning to become a Mo Yan reader, you really must know a few things about Chinese history and culture, else it's all going to be mystifying to you. for this book, you really should know something about Chinese opera and the Boxer Rebellion.
Mo Yan says in an afterword to this book that he wrote it with two rhythms in mind: the rhythm of trains, and the rhythm of Maoqiang opera. i suspect the original Chinese version of this book ...more
if you're planning to become a Mo Yan reader, you really must know a few things about Chinese history and culture, else it's all going to be mystifying to you. for this book, you really should know something about Chinese opera and the Boxer Rebellion.
Mo Yan says in an afterword to this book that he wrote it with two rhythms in mind: the rhythm of trains, and the rhythm of Maoqiang opera. i suspect the original Chinese version of this book ...more
a musical opera with blood in the air.
Both the author and the translator admit in the preface and afterword that this novel is impossible to properly translate. Yet even through a linguistic gauze screen, Sandalwood Death is a masterpiece of contemporary Chinese fiction and of outstanding literary translation.
Set in the same remote township in which his other novels take place, at the turn of the 20th Century, an executioner, an opera performer turned rebel, their married children--a butcher and a dog meat seller--and a county magis ...more
Set in the same remote township in which his other novels take place, at the turn of the 20th Century, an executioner, an opera performer turned rebel, their married children--a butcher and a dog meat seller--and a county magis ...more
I'm almost speechless... this is a masterpiece. I haven't read a book so incredible for a long, long time. In fact it's something so unique... brilliant... and the translation is amazing. I have nothing else to say. This book is beyond words.
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Just love the novel to pieces! First, it gives me a rough picture of what it must have been like when the fall of Qing Empire loomed ahead. The hardship people had to encounter, political and social turmoil, xenophobia, persecution by Western nations who came to China in order to reap benefits, etc. Some historical figures are mentioned as well, e.g. Empress Dowager Cixi and Yuan Shikai, who triggers some interest in me to the extent that I have to research more about him and his dominance on th
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It is the very first one that Mo Yan tries to savor modern style of fiction writing in telling a story, a story again staged in his hometown Gao Mi, as most of his works do.
In this novel main characters voice one by one in their own perspectives towards an event from varying spots of timeline, mixed with recallings of their personal experiences which are key to the very event about to happen. Due to such a overlapped narrative, even the main plot can be mapped out earlier in the process of book ...more
In this novel main characters voice one by one in their own perspectives towards an event from varying spots of timeline, mixed with recallings of their personal experiences which are key to the very event about to happen. Due to such a overlapped narrative, even the main plot can be mapped out earlier in the process of book ...more
Oct 29, 2013
Eadweard
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
chinese,
fiction-read
Loved it, loved the setting, the characters, the dialogue, the way he organized the chapters, the filth, the comedy, loved everything.
Oct 24, 2016
Kevin English
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
asia,
international-fiction
This is my first Mo Yan whose name means "don't speak" in Chinese. It’s an interesting novel, however it does a require a little bit of knowledge of Chinese culture and history. It focuses on events and characters during waining years of the Qing Dynasty and Boxer Rebellion (around 1890ish). The use of multiple narrators is effective in getting us into the mindsets of the different classes each character represents.
My only complaint is that the end of the book seemed to drag. The ending is setup ...more
My only complaint is that the end of the book seemed to drag. The ending is setup ...more
Wow! One of the more amazing reading experiences I have had in a long time. I understand how he won the Nobel prize for literature. My brain will be distracted for days with sensory overload. Loved the convoluted relationships of the main characters even when they were doing truly terrible things to each other.
One of the first novels where the writing was not merely played out and spoken in my head, but rather played out and sung/recited scene by scene. Each chapter unfolds from a different perspective... almost like characters coming on stage and giving their personal commentary on events. The timing of the book slowly builds momentum and hurtles headlong towards the final scene.
finished - harrowing - not sure I'll be able to shake this one off - be careful, this book is for real
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A fantastic book, but not for the faint of heart. The Chinese title translates to "Sandalwood Torture," and torture figures prominently (and vividly) in this novel. Still, it beautifully written.
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Read it in Chinese. Mo Yan said it's a book about sound. I totally agree. The "Poems" are really good. I can smell the mud.
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I read it in Chinese. It is a shock. The history of China at the end of Qing dynasty, and the fate of emperors, influential officials, and ordinary people, are overlapped and twisted in one story. The characteristics of each person is delicately painted. The cruelty and humanity, the righteousness and instinct of self-protection, the benevolence and strong desire for living, contrast and sometimes co-exist in those people. The people under threat fight, scream, trying to change their fate, but t
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Nobel Prize-winner Mo Yan, one of China's most recognized literary artists, offers the tale of execution and those who do the job, it's not pretty work and it's not an engaging endictment of pre-Communist China. It's set during the Boxer Rebellion -- 1898 to 1901 -- and casts the characters against an anti-imperialist struggle waged by North China's farmers and craftsmen who oppose Western influence. The story is as embellished as a Russian novel, filled with lyrical, sensual imagery, but the st
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This excellent historical (though close to The Good Lord Bird in exactness of historicity) novel is set around the events of the Boxer Rebellion, with five narrating characters. An opera master, magistrate, executioner, butcher, and dog meat restauranteur have complex relationships with each other, pairing off in various operatic ways and spinning towards an excruciating finale. Each chapter narrated by one of them comes alive with their unique voice, showcasing each one as a fantastic character
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I quite like novel based in the 19th century / beginning century in China.
As usual as discover some tradition and habit that Chinese people had in term of family hierarchy, food etc.
I would not say that it is a must read, but I would still recommend it.
As usual as discover some tradition and habit that Chinese people had in term of family hierarchy, food etc.
I would not say that it is a must read, but I would still recommend it.
... greatest book I have read in years. Very vivid language, earthy, drawn from own experience and history.
Finiti
A brutal, brutal story form the Nobel Prize winner.
So glad it's over!
Read for book club. ...more
So glad it's over!
Read for book club. ...more
Reviewed by The Complete Review
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I read it in Chinese. It is definitely an influential story. The writing is vivid and engaging, which makes some parts too painful and cruel to read.
Absolutely fantastic story for those who share "an affinity with the common man,"
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EBOOK
Good, but absolutely disgusting. Know a bit about the Boxer Rebellion before reading.
compared to MVL, Mo Yan maybe the only other author capable of killing so many characters.
OMG
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Modern Chinese author, in the western world most known for his novel Red Sorghum (which was turned into a movie by the same title). Often described as the Chinese Franz Kafka or Joseph Heller.
Mo Yan (莫言) is a pen name and means don't speak. His real name is Guan Moye (simplified Chinese: 管谟业; traditional Chinese: 管謨業; pinyin: Guǎn Móyè).
He has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2012 for hi ...more
Mo Yan (莫言) is a pen name and means don't speak. His real name is Guan Moye (simplified Chinese: 管谟业; traditional Chinese: 管謨業; pinyin: Guǎn Móyè).
He has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2012 for hi ...more
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