The Past and the Punishments: Eight Stories (Fiction from Modern China, 10), ISBN-10 0824817826, ISBN-13 9780824817824, Yu, Hua, 288 pages, Publisher: University of Hawaii Press, Binding: Hardcover
To travel through these stories is to cross a landscape of stunning beauty and terrific cruelty, where expectations are subverted, where moral certainties are shattered, where gorgeously wrought surfaces beguile at the same time that acts of incredible brutality horrify.
It is no wonder that Yu Huas stories caused a sensation when they first appeared in the 1980s. His work represents a sophisticated and often disturbing revolution in the Chinese literary tradition, reminiscent of the fiction of modernists like Kafka, Kawabata, Borges, and Robbe-Grillet, but drawing inspiration from several strains of traditional Chinese narrative as well.
This is the first collection of short fiction by Yu Hua to appear in English. It takes us on a haunting and harrowing journey from classical China through the Cultural Revolution and into the new era of economic reform, exploding along the way our preconceived notions of what Chinese literature and culture are all about in the 1990s.
USED - GOOD Condition: The item might show general signs of tear and wear, some markings, highlighting, etc. from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and functions properly; all the text should be legible and all pages included. May include "From the library of" labels. Shrink wrap, dust covers, boxed set case, or bundled media may be missing. Accessories such as CDs/DVDs, access cards with codes, toys, dust covers, cardboards, etc. may not be included.
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