Brothers: A Novel

Description

A bestseller in China, recently short-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize, and a winner of France’s Prix Courrier International, Brothers is an epic and wildly unhinged black comedy of modern Chinese society running amok.Here is China as we’ve never seen it, in a sweeping, Rabelaisian panorama of forty years of rough-and-rumble Chinese history that has already scandalized millions of readers in the author’s homeland. Yu Hua, award-winning author of To Live, gives us a surreal tale of two brothers riding the dizzying roller coaster of life in a newly capitalist world. As comically mismatched teenagers, Baldy Li, a sex-obsessed ne’er-do-well, and Song Gang, his bookish, sensitive stepbrother, vow that they will always be brothers--a bond they will struggle to maintain over the years as they weather the ups and downs of rivalry in love and making and losing millions in the new China. Their tribulations play out across a richly populated backdrop that is every bit as vibrant: the rapidly-changing village of Liu Town, full of such lively characters as the self-important Poet Zhao, the craven dentist Yanker Yu, the virginal town beauty (turned madam) Lin Hong, and the simpering vendor Popsicle Wang.With sly and biting humor, combined with an insightful and compassionate eye for the lives of ordinary people, Yu Hua shows how the madness of the Cultural Revolution has transformed into the equally rabid madness of extreme materialism. Both tragic and absurd by turns, Brothers is a monumental spectacle and a fascinating vision of an extraordinary place and time. COVER ......Page 1 ALSO BY YU HUA ......Page 4 TITLE PAGE ......Page 7 COPYRIGHT ......Page 8 CONTENTS ......Page 9 TRANSLATORS' PREFACE......Page 11 PART ONE ......Page 15 CHAPTER 1 ......Page 17 CHAPTER 2 ......Page 26 CHAPTER 3 ......Page 38 CHAPTER 4 ......Page 43 CHAPTER 5 ......Page 51 CHAPTER 6 ......Page 54 CHAPTER 7 ......Page 67 CHAPTER 8......Page 77 CHAPTER 9......Page 81 CHAPTER 10 ......Page 91 CHAPTER 11 ......Page 98 CHAPTER 12 ......Page 105 CHAPTER 13......Page 112 CHAPTER 14 ......Page 123 CHAPTER 15 ......Page 131 CHAPTER 16 ......Page 136 CHAPTER 17......Page 140 CHAPTER 18......Page 151 CHAPTER 19......Page 158 CHAPTER 20 ......Page 165 CHAPTER 21 ......Page 170 CHAPTER 22 ......Page 175 CHAPTER 23......Page 189 CHAPTER 24......Page 197 CHAPTER 25......Page 204 CHAPTER 26......Page 217 PART TWO ......Page 225 CHAPTER 27 ......Page 227 CHAPTER 28......Page 235 CHAPTER 29......Page 246 CHAPTER 30 ......Page 255 CHAPTER 31 ......Page 274 CHAPTER 32......Page 282 CHAPTER 33......Page 293 CHAPTER 34......Page 307 CHAPTER 35......Page 311 CHAPTER 36......Page 317 CHAPTER 37......Page 325 CHAPTER 38......Page 333 CHAPTER 39......Page 338 CHAPTER 40 ......Page 348 CHAPTER 41 ......Page 355 CHAPTER 42......Page 365 CHAPTER 43......Page 372 CHAPTER 44......Page 376 CHAPTER 45......Page 385 CHAPTER 46......Page 391 CHAPTER 47......Page 402 CHAPTER 48......Page 408 CHAPTER 49......Page 416 CHAPTER 50 ......Page 422 CHAPTER 51 ......Page 425 CHAPTER 52 ......Page 432 CHAPTER 53......Page 443 CHAPTER 54......Page 448 CHAPTER 55......Page 452 CHAPTER 56......Page 463 CHAPTER 57......Page 470 CHAPTER 58......Page 477 CHAPTER 59......Page 482 CHAPTER 60......Page 488 CHAPTER 61 ......Page 497 CHAPTER 62......Page 515 CHAPTER 63 ......Page 521 CHAPTER 64......Page 528 CHAPTER 65......Page 543 CHAPTER 66......Page 550 CHAPTER 67......Page 560 CHAPTER 68......Page 574 CHAPTER 69......Page 582 CHAPTER 70 ......Page 587 CHAPTER 71 ......Page 593 CHAPTER 72......Page 602 CHAPTER 73......Page 610 CHAPTER 74......Page 616 CHAPTER 75......Page 621 CHAPTER 76......Page 626 EPILOGUE ......Page 635 ABOUT THE TRANSLATORS ......Page 657 NOTE ON THE TYPE ......Page 658