Red Sorghum: A Novel of China [Hardcover]

Mo Yan (Author), Howard Goldblatt (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 21, 1993

A novel of family, myth, and memory set during the fratricidal barbarity of 1930s China follows the Chinese as they battle the Japanese and each other. 10,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Though this is the first of Mo Yan's novels to be translated into English, many Americans know his work from the film Red Sorghum , winner of the Silver Bear at the 1988 Berlin Film Festival. The four-chapter novel spans 40 years in rural China through flashbacks and foreshadowing, beginning with the Japanese invasion in the 1930s. Sorghum, used as food and as an ingredient of a potent wine, had been the focus and metaphor of peasant life during peacetime. In wartime, it becomes intertwined with the struggle for life. Death pervades this novel--death brutally dealt by Japanese troops, by factions within China, by crazed dog packs; death from suicide, starvation, and freezing. The strength and love of the narrator's grandmother and her lover insure the continuation of their line against all odds. But they cannot prevent the later introduction of a hybrid sorghum into their village that lacks the "soul and bearing" of prerevolution sorghum. For literary collections.
- D.E. Perushek, Univ. of Tennesee Libs., Knoxville
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

powerful new voice on the brutal unrest of rural China in the late 20's and 30's. Mo Yan's debut novel (and first US publication) was the basis of a 1988 Oscar-nominated film. A member of the young ``root-seeking'' writers whose focus is the Chinese countryside, Mo Yan tells the story of three generations--simultaneously ``most heroic and most bastardly''- -caught up in these turbulent years. Set in a region where the sorghum is grown, the tale's as much a family history as the story of a particular time and place--a place where the red sorghum, which ``forms a glittering sea of blood and is the traditional spirit of the region,'' is also a metaphor for change and loss. The novel opens as a group of villagers led by Commander Yu, the narrator's grandfather, prepare to attack the advancing Japanese. Yu sends his 14-year-old son back home to get food for his men; but as Yu's wife returns through the sorghum fields with the food, the Japanese start firing and she's killed. Her death becomes the thread that links the past to the present as the narrator moves back and forth recording the war's progress, the fighting between rival Chinese warlords, and the history of his family. Commander Yu, a former bandit, had fallen in love with his wife when she was the young bride of the rich son of a distillery owner. Yu had murdered the husband, and this murder is one of many in a cycle in which brutality and betrayal alternate with love and sacrifice. In the 1970's, the narrator returns to pay his respects to the family graves--only to find that the red sorghum, ``our family's glorious talisman,'' replaced by a green hybrid, ``has been drowned in a raging flood of revolution and no longer exists.'' Graphic scenes of violence become numbingly repetitive, but Mo Yan tempers his brutal tale with a powerfully evocative lyricism. A notable new arrival. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (April 21, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670844020
• ISBN-13: 978-0670844029
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #461,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable Historical Fiction!, August 17, 2000

By 

Shogun Len "tokieyasu" (Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Sorghum: A Novel of China (Paperback)

The Japanese Invasion of China in 1937 is a dark period in history. The Japanese committed many horrible crimes and atrocities on the Chinese population. Red Sorghum in very graphic graphic detail describes some of these atrocities and their impact on the Chinese civilian population.

But the book is much more than that. WWII does play a major role in the book, but the book is also a look into Chinese culture, family, and is such a moving window on China during this time period.

This is not an easy read. The translation is very good, but the book is very detailed and again at times very graphic. I do not like to bash books like the Good Earth or The Single Pebble as many people do. I agree that neither book was written by a Chinese person and I understand some of the criticism that orginates from that fact. I enjoyed both books and think they are valuable. HOwever, if you are from the school that demands a Chinese author and a Chinese voice to Chinese literature you must read Mo Yan. He is a gifted writer and he brings to life some very difficult times in Chinese History.

This is a very powerful book and parts of it will stay with you long after you have read the book. Again, this is not an easy book to read but well worth the effort.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars brutal, real, June 14, 2002

By 

Wyote (Seoul) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Red Sorghum: A Novel of China (Paperback)

I have never read such a brutal, graphic novel. It is truly rare for an author to capture the horror of evil so clearly or powerfully. Reading this book is like being beaten up.

At the same time, it is about life. Within the tragedy is a story about people facing and overcoming evil. Because it does not look away from the horror, the hope it implies is authentic. Thus this book distinguishes itself.

I recommend this book for a mature reader because of its powerful content. It will not leave you unchanged. You will shiver, and think.

It is an allegory for the communist takeover of China, and the film that this book inspired won the "Golden Bear" award. An old, leprous landlord represents the corruption of the Guomingdan period. But his murder enables a young woman to take over, and clean up the winery, representing China. The book shows peasants glorified, a new role for women, the breaking down of class barriers, and a brave struggle against Japanese invaders. All of this must have made it dear to Chinese communists!

Perhaps a few Western readers will imagine that all this makes it a less compelling book, however. I don't think so, and I suggest reading it yourself. At least see the movie, which follows the book fairly well.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a painted book, August 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Red Sorghum: A Novel of China (Paperback)

i felt as though reading a painting. the contents are so narrative and graphic it will make you think all over again after you read one scene. though some contents are quite morbid nevertheless it is a good book for booklovers all over the world. you will feel the pain of each character and become attached to them. one of the many good books in chinese literature translated.