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Frog: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Mo Yan (Author), Howard Goldblatt (Translator)

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A NEW YORK TIMES TOP BOOK OF 2015

WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK

The author of Red Sorghum and China’s most revered and controversial novelist returns with his first major publication since winning the Nobel Prize

In 2012, the Nobel committee confirmed Mo Yan’s position as one of the greatest and most important writers of our time. In his much-anticipated new novel, Mo Yan chronicles the sweeping history of modern China through the lens of the nation’s controversial one-child policy.

Frog opens with a playwright nicknamed Tadpole who plans to write about his aunt. In her youth, Gugu—the beautiful daughter of a famous doctor and staunch Communist—is revered for her skill as a midwife. But when her lover defects, Gugu’s own loyalty to the Party is questioned. She decides to prove her allegiance by strictly enforcing the one-child policy, keeping tabs on the number of children in the village, and performing abortions on women as many as eight months pregnant.

In sharply personal prose, Mo Yan depicts a world of desperate families, illegal surrogates, forced abortions, and the guilt of those who must enforce the policy. At once illuminating and devastating, it shines a light into the heart of communist China.

From the Hardcover edition.

Length: 398 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled

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Product details

File Size: 1367 KB
Print Length: 398 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (January 22, 2015)
Publication Date: January 22, 2015
Language: English
ASIN: B00KWG9MZQ
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

X-Ray:

Not Enabled

Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported

Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #426,639 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #249 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Chinese
- #357 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Asian
- #759 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Short Stories

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Biblioteca per la vendita

Breathes a soul into the demonized

November 21, 2015

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China's one child policy, set to curtail the population explosion in China that the Great Famine precipitated, is characterized by Western media as brutal, heinous and evil, but when put into the mind of someone who had first hand experience of the reality the policy shaped, one wonders if the people who implemented it deserve some sympathy. Gugu, the central character of this story and based loosely on Mo Yan's own aunt, is one of those people. She is the head of obstetrics in a small township in Shandong and as one of the Communist party's faithful adherents, she shoulders the burden of enforcing the one child policy. Families with more than one child must pay fines that are crushingly high for rural folk. Officials and big business moguls can skirt this problem because they can afford the fines or are above the law. Regular people, however, if they went through with the pregnancy, they would either not register their chil(ren) and hide from the authorities. Otherwise they were hounded by people like Gugu to terminate the pregnancy even if the fetus was in its last term. It sounds ruthless and indeed it is, but so was the socio-political climate that spawned it. So these facts leave one wondering, what was the reality like for these families? What about those responsible for aborting the fetuses? Do they have conscience? In Gugu's case, the answer is yes although she wouldn't come out and say it. Instead she seeks solace in the end of her days by helping her husband fashion clay dolls that are replicas of the imagined countenances of the fetuses she aborted had they been allowed to live. It is a gripping story throughout, showing that sometimes the parents who force Gugu into the position of bloodhound are more heartless than the bloodhounds. After all, if your first child was a girl, many rural families would automatically be thinking about having a second. In their mind, boys matter more than girls because boys can carry on the family name. This thinking led to a lot of unnecessary pregnancies and abortions as well. All of this is explained with care and sympathy in this book. There are other subplots and characters that are also quite memorable. I won't go into detail here but suffice it to say for those wishing to delve into the reality of the one child policy in China from Chinese eyes, this is an excellent book to start from.

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whj

Wa Wa!

March 16, 2016

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Although this book has the classic, hyperbole, grand and dramatic style of story telling which I find in most Chinese literature, this one seems to have the most modern flavor. Compared to other books by Chinese authors (that I have read, except Ha Jin), this one is relatively short and quite tightly woven and rather poignant, providing moral and political questions through the issue of population control by forced abortion. The vivid images and word plays as well as the letter format, to a Japanese writer, (I am assuming Kenzaburo Oe???) and the decision to end the book with the play that ends with more question and answers are all that add more complexity and artistic structure to the story.

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Nicholai Patchen

this is a really great novel. The play at the end was in ...

May 7, 2015

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Although it doesn't get as far out there as some of his other books, this is a really great novel. The play at the end was in some places my favorite part of the book and in others my least favorite. One of the things I real liked was how he gave meaning to the title and how that shifted in the book. The translation makes the language really nice and isn't just a word for word deal without consideration of context. As with a lot of Mo Yan stories, a little knowledge of Chinese communist history is essential, and an eye for layered meanings is helpful.

2 people found this helpful

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Tony

Cultural insight to one child policy

March 29, 2016

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Good insight into the Chinese culture through a generation in modern times and the populists’ response to the one child policy. Overly descriptive which made reading tedious at times. The author’s use of a play within a play to close the book and summarize the main characters thoughts seemed redundant since the evolution was apparent in the text of the story. Worth reading.

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Littlebookworm

Fascinated but missing something...can't put my finger on it

June 9, 2016

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I enjoyed most of this book but found it really difficult to keep reading - this could be because it's a translation so some of the story felt stilted and uncoordinated. The content was eye opening and so interesting and heart breaking - would recommend a read for content - it has sparked my interest to read more of his work. The play at the end went right over my head!

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HUMMY

Indictment of China one child policy.

June 6, 2016

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This novel, well written, was a forceful indictment of the Chinese one child policy. I am surprised that China allowed it to be published and distributed world wide. Perhaps it was allowed because the author was awarded the Nobel Prize. The book showed, amongst other things, how China became modernized and in the process lost its soul. I would recommend it.

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Steve

Enjoyed the story

August 12, 2015

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A different and more difficult kind of read. Was a problem for me to keep track of the characters. A way to gain some knowledge about the old and newer China. Enjoyed the story . Sometimes a bit dreamy and unbelievable.

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TimT

... I have to warn that it is not an easy read. the events in this book of "fiction" ...

October 17, 2016

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The story is a must read for anyone interested in the cultural revolution period in China history but I have to warn that it is not an easy read. the events in this book of "fiction" closely align with experiences my close friends in China experienced during the same time period in the same region where the story was written. God Bless them all for surviving and now thriving.

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