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twentieth century and a bit of the twenty-first. Heavily rural in setting, his novels’ effect on his readers is unsettling. He seems to write to make them uncomfortable—in their lives, in their views of Chinese history, in their excesses, and in their prospects for the future. This he accomplishes through biting satire, graphic violence, epic historical fallacies, and a belief that Chinese society seems to be moving backward.
Shelley Chan has devoted much of her scholarly career to an examination, explication, and appreciation of the fictional works of China’s most popular and widely read novelist. By putting an analysis of Mo Yan’s fictional output in the context of his life as peasant, laborer, PLA officer, and full-time writer, she helps open up new windows into China’s post Cultural Revolution social history. In the process, her sophisticated literary analysis reveals aspects, sometimes hidden, that go to the core of Mo Yan’s literary project.
Scholarship is not advocacy, of course, at least it should not be, and Professor Chan, while an admirer of Mo Yan, is not uncritical in her in-depth study. Her objectivity and balanced approach do justice both to her subject and to literary scholarship. I frequently recommend Mo Yan to friends, colleagues, and just about anyone who wants a good read. Now I am happy to recommend this book––the first full-length study in English of my favorite author to anyone who wants the perfect complement to their reading of Mo Yan’s novels.
—Howard Goldblatt
Research Professor of Chinese
University of Notre Dame