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The Years, Months, Days
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Check link for latest rating. ( 3,357 ratings, 512 reviews)
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Format: Paperback / softback
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The Years, Months, Days
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Description
A luminous and deeply moving tale of hunger, loss and life by one of China's most renowned contemporary writers.
The Years, Months, Days is a profound and moving fable about the deep love between an old man and his blind dog trying to survive in a terrible drought - there is no food, the villagers have left, but the old man has managed to nurture a corn seed that has germinated on a mountain top. He is devoted to this seedling.
The old man weighs the rays of the sun, working out the arithmetic of starvation and survival. Finally, he realises that for his plant to survive, one of them has to be fertiliser. He loses the coin toss, lies in a grave he has dug and asks the dog to bury him.
Rich on so many levels, and not without its flashes of characteristic Yan Lianke humour, this cosmic tale will bring tears to readers' eyes. The Years, Months, Days is compulsory reading for many Chinese children - and adults.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Yan Lianke's work is celebrated for its imaginative satire and its deeply moving narrative qualities. The novel is described as a vivid blend of stark realism and nightmarish fantasy, capturing themes of sacrifice, companionship, and survival. Critics highlight the emotional depth and rich irony found in Lianke's storytelling, with high praise for the translation by Carlos Rojas. The novel is seen as both a tribute to the struggles of a generation and a testament to human dignity amidst despair.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781925603125
Publisher: Text Publishing
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 27 November 2017
Country: Australia
Imprint: The Text Publishing Company
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 12.0mm
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 196.0mm
Weight: 112g
Pages: 112
Collections
About the Author
Yan Lianke was born in 1958 in Henan Province, China. Text has published his novels Serve the People!, Lenin's Kisses, Dream of Ding Village (shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize), The Four Books and The Explosion Chronicles. Yan Lianke won the Hua Zhong World Chinese Literature Prize in 2013. He has also won two of China's most prestigious literary awards- the Lu Xan Prize and the Lao She Award. In 2014, he won the Franz Kafka Prize. He lives in Bejing.
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