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Liao Yiwu
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For a Song and a Hundred Songs: A Poet's Journey through a Chinese Prison Hardcover – June 4, 2013

by Liao Yiwu (Author), Wenguang Huang (Translator)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 74 ratings
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WINNER OF THE 2012 GERMAN BOOK TRADE PEACE PRIZE

In June 1989, news of the Tiananmen Square protests and its bloody resolution reverberated throughout the world. A young poet named Liao Yiwu, who had until then led an apolitical bohemian existence, found his voice in that moment. Like the solitary man who stood firmly in front of a line of tanks, Liao proclaimed his outrage—and his words would be his weapon.
 
For a Song and a Hundred Songs captures the four brutal years Liao spent in jail for writing the incendiary poem “Massacre.” Through the power and beauty of his prose, he reveals the bleak reality of crowded Chinese prisons—the harassment from guards and fellow prisoners, the torture, the conflicts among human beings in close confinement, and the boredom of everyday life. But even in his darkest hours, Liao manages to unearth the fundamental humanity in his cell mates: he writes of how they listen with rapt attention to each other’s stories of criminal endeavors gone wrong and of how one night, ravenous with hunger, they dream up an “imaginary feast,” with each inmate trying to one-up the next by describing a more elaborate dish.
 
In this important book, Liao presents a stark and devastating portrait of a nation in flux, exposing a side of China that outsiders rarely get to see. In the wake of 2011’s Arab Spring, the world has witnessed for a second time China’s crackdown on those citizens who would speak their mind, like artist Ai Weiwei and legal activist Chen Guangcheng. Liao stands squarely among them and gives voice to not only his own story, but to the stories of those individuals who can no longer speak for themselves. For a Song and a Hundred Songs bears witness to history and will forever change the way you view the rising superpower of China.

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  1. Print length
    432 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    New Harvest
  4. Publication date
    June 4, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1.41 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0547892632
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0547892634
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Chinese poet and musician Liao Yiwu recounts the unflinching tale of his impassioned dissidence, subsequent imprisonment, and eventual escape from his home country’s notoriously tight borders. He begins with the death of his sister in 1988, one year before the infamous events of Tiananmen Square that sparked Liao’s protest poem, “Massacre,” which cost him four years in prison. He endured squalor, suffered the abuse of drunken officers, and survived multiple suicide attempts, all the while scribbling notes and fragments that would accumulate to form this memoir, published overseas to international acclaim. Because memoir deals in remembrance, certain passages may sound sensationalized or embellished. But that does not detract from Liao’s clever characterization, fast-paced prose, or enticing storytelling. Now living as an expat in Berlin, Liao continues to denounce China’s ruling class and its so-called state writers, people employed to produce propaganda, among whom Liao includes Nobel laureate Mo Yan. An incendiary exposé and fitting follow-up to God Is Red (2011), Liao’s account of Christianity in China. --Diego Báez

Review

"Liao began his memoir in 1990 on the backs of envelopes and scraps of paper his family smuggled into prison. He managed to sneak out his manuscript when he was released. But twice it was confiscated, and he had to reconstruct it from memory both times." —The New York Times

"A dizzying, and often gruesomely graphic, testimony of vicious brutality and indignities large and small. The title of Mr. Liao’s latest book is from the time a prison guard who heard him sing required him, as a punishment, to sing 100 songs. When Mr. Liao’s voice gave out after 20 or so songs he was severely beaten and had an electric baton shoved up his body."—The Wall Street Journal

"Poet Liao Yiwu's account of four years spent in a Chinese prison is raw and disturbing yet also a deeply human and essential read…A stirring memoir that highlights the lives of those from the bottom rungs of society." —Christian Science Monitor

"It shocks our senses, disturbs our minds, entertains us with dark humor and inspires us with examples of indomitable human dignity and decency. The book follows the best tradition of prison memoirs and presents a powerful indictment of a brutal dictatorship...[For a Song and a Hundred Songs is] destined to be a classic on its literary merits alone." —The San Francisco Chronicle

"Mr. Liao is a poet…with a poet's observant eye and soaring imagination. For a Song and a Hundred Songs is a compelling and harrowing read, full of details about the laogai system and stuffed with portraits of those subjected to it, from politically naive and idealistic students and Christians to murderers, rapists, thieves and embezzlers." —The New York Times, Arts section

"Outraged by violent suppression of the democracy movement, a poet incarcerated for his art offers a harrowing look inside China. Liao’s powerful memoir makes clear that while China is eager to thrust upon its head the heavy crown of a world superpower, its flesh is riddled through with corruption and cannot bear the weight." —Washington Independent Review of Books

"This is not a book about dissidents but rather a powerful, beautifully written memoir describing the lives and personalities of those living near the bottom of an unforgiving society. One of the strongest China books of the past few years." —South China Morning Post

"Liao does not consider himself a political writer. Instead, he believes he is merely a chronicler of truth, of people’s stories." —Epoch Times

"The sheer drama of Liao Yiwu’s odyssey—from poet to prisoner Number 099 to one of China’s most acclaimed writers-in-exile—is matched only by the journey that brought this book to publication. The memoir of his four years in prison is riveting, painful testimony—a vital new chapter in the story of China’s rise." —Evan Osnos, staff writer at The New Yorker

"Liao’s work is an amazing testament to the people who are battling the Chinese police state." —Kirkus Reviews

"Reminiscent of Jung Chang’s Wild Swans in its outspokenness, this book offers a frightening reminder of China’s human rights abuses. Liao has succeeded in writing a sensitive and lyrical account focusing on both the cruelty and the heartwarming experiences of his prison years." —Library Journal

"This vivid and lyrical memoir, a future classic, should have wide appeal as a consummate insider account of Chinese state terror." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"At once brutal and brutally funny. Liao's meticulous portrait of the societal microcosm between cell walls—replete with its cast of foreign ministers, chairmen, scholars, and counter-revolutionaries—reads like a hybrid of Swift and Orwell." —Slate

"Chinese poet and musician Liao Yiwu recounts the unflinching tale of his impassioned dissidence. An incendiary exposé and fitting follow-up to God Is Red." —Booklist

"Wenguang Huang's translation of For a Song and a Hundred Songs brings a new voice and story to a larger tradition. The prose moves between straightforward, no-nonsense accounting of fact and event, which makes for a quick, page-turning reading, and a neat, keen attention to all details." —Three Percent, University of Rochester

"One of the most important documents of political imprisonment and torture about China ever written." —The Daily Beast

"For a Song and a Hundred Songs documents how a poet’s soul descends into the body of a dissident…The book abounds with tender moments of unfailing empathy. China could take a lesson from Liao Yiwu, if it at all understands or cares about the meaning of dignity." —Beijing Cream

"Courageous and powerful. Unforgettable." —Jung Chang, author of Wild Swans and co-author of Mao: the Unknown Story

"For a Song and a Hundred Songs opens our eyes….[it is] a book of tremendous literary force. The author’s linguistic prowess renders it disturbingly cold and invitingly warm, angry and charismatic at once." —Herta Muller, recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature and author of The Hunger Angel

"One of the most original and remarkable Chinese writers of our time." —Philip Gourevitch, author of The Ballad of Abu Ghraib

"Reading Liao Yiwu's memoir transported me to his world, in a very visceral way. Liao guides us through harrowing scenes, but the narrative is frequently punctuated by poetic moments when art and truth transcend the horrors." —Alison Klayman, director of Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Harvest; 1st edition (June 4, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0547892632
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0547892634
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.01 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.41 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 74 ratings

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Liao Yiwu

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
74 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the language in the book visual, real, and beautiful. They describe the content as enlightening and suspenseful. Readers also mention the story is incredible, fascinating, and terrifying.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

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Visual qualityEnlightened contentSuspenseful
6 customers mention "Visual quality"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the language in the book to be visual and real. They also appreciate the graphic descriptions of what it's like inside a prison.

"...The events were related in an offhand manner. While brutal and stunning as facts, the language seemed to diminish the delivery...." Read more

"a very realistic picture of chinese prisons and a deep undertanding of the psychological condition of an innocent prisoner unjustly accused of..." Read more

"...gritted teeth, sometimes crying out, I would describe this book as beautiful and readable." Read more

"...Written by a poet who uses language that is visual and real...." Read more

3 customers mention "Enlightened content"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enlightening and love the information in it.

"...society and the harsh abuse done to the citizens....these insights are truly remarkable and Liao story a must read for anyone interested in world..." Read more

"Really recommend this book as very enlightening as to the human spirit...." Read more

"I loved the information in the book. It is hard to believe this type of thing is going on in China at this time." Read more

3 customers mention "Suspenseful"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the story incredible, fascinating, and terrifying. They say it's a look into a brutal world told through the sensitive eyes of a poet.

"It is a fascinating look into a brutal world told through the sensitive eyes of a poet...." Read more

"Terrifying and Human..." Read more

"incredible story though disturbing..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

William C. Robinson
5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down!!!
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2016
Verified Purchase
this is a great story about a very closed society and the harsh abuse done to the citizens....these insights are truly remarkable and Liao story a must read for anyone interested in world affairs....dealing with the Chinese government requires us to know the human rights violations which are beyond any standard of decency. I recently read of lawyers being sentenced to jail while fighting for freedom...this book shows how similiar all societies are to those incarcerated justifiably and as political prisoners...I am glad he got out of China and I recommend everyone read this book...quite an eye opener...totalitarianism and authoritarian regimes are just as bad as DASH theocracies...great story and clearly a great man to live through this sad experience...
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J. Conway
4.0 out of 5 stars I wonder if a better translation would have made it better reading.
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2013
Verified Purchase
I believe I would give a much better review if it perhaps were better translated. The events were related in an offhand manner. While brutal and stunning as facts, the language seemed to diminish the delivery. I will always wonder if it had more impact to Chinese readership. I feel like I have missed its depth.
One person found this helpful
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Madeleine Moreau
5.0 out of 5 stars Liao's Hell
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2013
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It is a fascinating look into a brutal world told through the sensitive eyes of a poet. If even half this book is true, human rights groups should storm these places at once. At times funny, at times horrifying, the poet demonstrates that he never lost his greatest weapon -- his pen -- no matter how many times he was savaged in this hellish world. This is not a book for queasy stomachs.
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Louis Postel
5.0 out of 5 stars A zipline ride through hell
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2013
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Forget the cover - the shaved head gives you the impression the author is a monk.

Hardly.

Liao Yiwu writes like Hemingway - He pulls you into these stories of hell right from the start - waking up like Yiwu did sometimes - with the stinky toes of the "Walking Dead" in his face - because there was no space in the cells to sleep - and it was his job to make sure the Walking Dead - the condemned - didn't kill themselves before their executions. starving, cattle prod beatings - and the worst - left behind by other Tiananmen Square rebels as China took to the Capitalist Road.

Very sad and surprisingly funny cover to cover.
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Blayney Colmore
5.0 out of 5 stars Prison in China
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2013
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Liao Yiwu, writing from exile in Berlin, writes a hair-raising account of his imprisonment in China for having written a poem that detailed the Tiananmen Square massacre. Even more hair-raising is considering the possibility that all we have learned about Guantanamo and Abu Graib, and seen in our government's response to Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, that perhaps this is how any great power responds to perceived threats to its control of information.
One person found this helpful
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cotta maurizio
4.0 out of 5 stars A must read book for all those who love China but would like a political system more rspectful ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2015
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a very realistic picture of chinese prisons and a deep undertanding of the psychological condition of an innocent prisoner unjustly accused of political conspiracy. A must read book for all those who love China but would like a political system more rspectful of himan rights
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S. T. Fine
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrifying and Human
Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2013
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This true tale of horror stories from prison was perversely suppressed by the Chinese government who perpetrated the whole damned nightmare. The book is a feat.

Though I often had to read through gritted teeth, sometimes crying out, I would describe this book as beautiful and readable.
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Decatur
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read, but no deeper than a daily journal
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2013
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Interesting read, but at the end of the day it is just that. No real character change in the author - more of a litany of jail house rapes, torture and terrible living conditions. Ten chapters could be cut and the reader would still walk away with the same understanding of life in a Chinese prison.
One person found this helpful
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