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1980s: An insight into rural China
1980s: An insight into rural China
Lu Yao is one of the most widely read and respected figures in Chinese literature.
In this first-ever translation of Lu Yao’s Life, we meet Gao Jialin, a stubborn, idealistic, and ambitious young man from a small country village whose life is upended when corrupt local politics cost him his beloved job as a schoolteacher, prompting him to reject rural life and try to make it in the big city. Against the vivid, gritty backdrop of 1980s China, Lu Yao traces the proud and passionate Gao Jialin’s difficult path to professional, romantic, and personal fulfillment—or at least hard-won acceptance
The locations here such as Gaojia village and Madian are fictional in name but real in atmosphere and detail.
Shaanxi is the province where the author was born and where he wrote about. Its ancient capital, Xi’an, was a starting point for the Silk Road and is is home to the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, an archaeological site containing thousands of clay soldiers called the Terracotta Army.
Lu Yao was a Chinese novelist. He was born on 3 December 1949 in Qingjian County, Shaanxi Province, and died on 17 November 1992.
He began writing about his life in his poor village where he and his family owned barely anything. His books in genral are closely related to his own life and experiences, and concentrate mostly on young people from his native Shaanbei striving to change their lives.
A remarkable book translated from the Chinese
TheBookTrail’s bookreview is now on the blog #TranslationThursday
Destination: China, Shaanxi Province Author/guide: Lu Yao Departure Time: 1980s
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