Shortlisted for the 2011 international impac dublin literary award yiyun li has written a book that is as important politically as it is artistically. The muchanticipated first novel from the guardian first book awardwinning chinese writer. Ann patchett, author of run every once in a while a voice and a subject are so perfectly matched that it seems as if this writer must have been born to write this book. Gold boy, emerald girl, her second collection, was a finalist of story prize and shortlisted for frank oconnor international short story award. A harrowing portrait of a womans execution by an oppressive chinese regime, and how her death affects an entire provincial town. Dec 10, 2018 lis debut short story collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award and penhemingway award. Political torture and execution might not seem the most edifying starting point for a novel, but, in yiyun li s expert hands, they offer a springboard for an inspirational portrait of the. A native of beijing and a graduate of the iowa writers workshop, she is the recipient of many awards. Her earlier book, a thousand years of good prayers, is a collection of short stories. A thousand years of good prayers, 2005 takes place across a brief stretch of days in muddy river, a poor town hundreds of miles from beijing. We personally assess every book s quality and offer rare, outofprint treasures. A native of beijing and a graduate of the iowa writers workshop, she is the recipient of the frank oconnor international short story award, the hemingway foundationpen award, the whiting writers award, and the guardian first book award. Brilliant and illuminating, this astonishing debut novel by the awardwinning writer yiyun li is set in china in the late 1970s, when beijing was rocked by the democratic wall movement, an anticommunist groundswell designed to move china beyond the dark shadow of the cultural revolution toward a more enlightened and open society.
Centered on the aftermath of a young womans execution in a desolate part of china in 1979, yiyun li s grieving and unremitting first novel examines the costs and consequences of a society. The vagrants, yiyunli shop online for books in australia. Yiyun li grew up in beijing and came to the united states in 1996. Yiyun li is the author of six works of fictionmust i go, where reasons end, kinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girland the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life. Yiyun li is the winner of the prestigious hemingway foundationpen award. Yiyun lis unblinking and unpredictable fictional narrative demonstrates how corruption and cruelty, fear, and moral ambiguity at the level of the individual reflect the dehumanization of an entire society. Yiyun li grew up in beijing and has lived in american since 1996. Her story, set in the small town of muddy river, employs what amounts to an ensemble cast. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the vagrants. Sign me up to get more news about literary fiction books. Lis magnificent and jawdroppingly grim novel centers on the 1979 execution of a chinese counterrevolutionary in the provincial town of. From its opening lines, the world of yiyun lis first novel puts a reader in mind of notable others. Li s debut short story collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award and penhemingway award.
Dear friends, in these unsettled times, like many of you i. Starting march 18, join us for a free virtual book cluba moment each day when we can gather together as a community. Muddy river, a small provincial chinese city, is the setting for this intense and thoughtprovoking debut novel from yiyun li, who was raised in beijing. Never has this theory been so radically reworked as in yiyuns lis.
Y iyun lis 2005 debut story collection a thousand years of good prayers earned her comparisons with chekhov and alice munro. Yiyun li is the author of four works of fiction kinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girl and the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life. Her novel, the vagrants, was shortlisted for dublin impac award. In luminous prose, awardwinning author yiyun li weaves together the lives of unforgettable. In luminous prose, awardwinning author yiyun li weaves together the lives of unforgettable characters who are forced to make moral choices, and choices for survival, in china in the late 1970s. Yiyun li has 30 books on goodreads with 51875 ratings. The year is 1979, 10 years before the violent protests at tiananmen square. In luminous prose, awardwinning author yiyun li weaves together the lives of unforgettable characters who are forced to make moral choices, and choices. When moran, ruyu, and boyang were young, they were involved in a mysterious accident in which a young woman was poisoned. The effects of shans death dominate the book, but her own story is never. Her first novel, the vagrants, draws heavily on the art of the short.
Jan 15, 2010 yiyun li is the winner of the prestigious hemingway foundationpen award. The vagrants by yiyun li book cover, description, publication history. In the provincial town of muddy waters in china, a young woman named gu shan is sentenced to death for her loss of faith in communism. Mar 08, 2009 centered on the aftermath of a young womans execution in a desolate part of china in 1979, yiyun lis grieving and unremitting first novel examines the costs and consequences of a society. Gold boy, emerald girl, her second collection, was a finalist of story prize and shortlisted for frank o full biography link to yiyun li s website. A native of beijing and a graduate of the iowa writers workshop, she is the recipient of the frank oconnor international short story award, the hemingway foundationpen award, the whiting writers award, and the guardian first book. Yiyun li is the author of six works of fictionmust i go, where reasons end, kinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girland the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you more about yiyun li. Yiyun li, professor of creative writing in the lewis center for the arts at princeton university, has received the 2020 penjean stein book award for her novel where reasons end. So look for the suggested readalikes by title linked on the right.
Y iyun li s 2005 debut story collection a thousand years of good prayers earned her comparisons with chekhov and alice munro. Though suffering, li s characters nevertheless struggle to. In yiyun lis startling debut novel, the vagrants, we are introduced to gus parents, neighbors, and a handful of muddy rivers social outcasts whose lives have been irrevocably affected by her life and death. Yet the power of lis book is to show us how integrity itself can be a form of cruelty in this upsidedown universe. The vagrants, set in 1979 china, is the story of those affected by the execution of a 28yearold counterrevolutionary.
All the books below are recommended as readalikes for yiyun li but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. Her novels include the vagrants and kinder than solitude. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Westerners in general and americans in particular come to fiction about modern china outfitted, with filters that tend to explain everything bad or in any way unfortunate as, in one way or another, the consequence of communist party rule. Ann patchett, author of run ezra pound said that literature is news that stays news. A novel by yiyun li and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Praise yiyun li has written a book that is as important politically as it is artistically. Her short stories and novels have won several awards and distinctions, including the penhemingway award and guardian first book award for a thousand years of good prayers, and the 2020 penjean stein book award for where reasons end. Yiyun li answers that proposition in the vagrants brilliantly, with a resounding yes. Her short stories and novels have won several awards and distinctions. The award is given to the author of a book length work of any genre for its originality, merit and impact, and that has broken new ground by reshaping the boundaries of its form and signaling strong potential. Ann patchett a starkly moving portrayal of china in the wake of the cultural revolution, this book weaves together the stories of a vivid group of characters all struggling to find a home in their own country. Dickens a tale of two cities and kafkas the trial, as well as shirley jackson s the.
A mother loses a son to suicide, but their dialogue continues. The praise and awards garnered by that collection has put yiyun li on the american literary map, no small accomplishment for a recently arrived 1996 immigrant writing her stories, not in her native chinese, but in english, the language of her adoptive country. Regardless, with so many predecessor books, one might well wonder whether there were any more stories left to tell set in those specific years. Yiyun li is the author of a thousand years of good prayers and the vagrants.
Thriftbooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. Her memoir, dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life, was published in 2017. The vagrants by yiyun li 2009, hardcover for sale online ebay. Nothing could be a more apt description of yiyun li s extraordinary new novel, the vagrants. Yiyun lis first fulllength novel, the vagrants, is another in a steadily growing line of chinese tales, in both fictional and memoir forms, from the terrifying, chaotic years of chinas cultural revolution. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. Yiyun li has written a book that is as important politically as it is artistically. She is the recipient of many awards, including a penhemingway award, a penjean stein book award, a macarthur foundation fellowship, and a windham. Yiyun li on the lifechanging quality of literature read it. Yiyun li on the lifechanging quality of literature read.
Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages. We deliver the joy of reading in 100% recycled packaging with free standard shipping on u. Emerald girl yiyun li s second collection of short stories. Feb 14, 2009 y iyun lis 2005 debut story collection a thousand years of good prayers earned her comparisons with chekhov and alice munro. Author yiyun li s complete list of books and series in order, with the latest releases, covers, descriptions and availability. Centered on the aftermath of a young womans execution in a desolate part of china in 1979, yiyun lis grieving and unremitting first novel. Jan 22, 2019 in 2012, the novelist yiyun li twice tried to take her own life. The new novel from yiyun li, author of the vagrants and the guardian first book awardwinning a thousand years of good prayers. In a city called muddy river, in the bledgray, hysterical paranoia of china postmao, postgang of four 197879, lives a loosely connected ensemble. Brilliant and illuminating, this astonishing debut novel by the award.
Feb 06, 2009 the vagrants is filled with violence and horror i havent mentioned all the outrages inflicted on gu shans body but li finds room for some humour here and there. Though suffering, li s characters nevertheless struggle to maintain hope amid cruel circumstance. The vagrants, her first novel, depicts a comparable showdown with the authoritarian chinese state, but one that takes place on a smaller scale and at a more manageable distance in time and space. She is the author of two novels, the vagrants and kinder than solitude, two story collections, a thousand years of good prayers and gold boy, emerald girl, and a book of nonfiction, dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life. Yiyun li is the author of six works of fictionmust i go, where reasons end, kinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girland the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you. Feb 25, 2009 yiyun li is already garlanded with laurels.
Her novel, the vagrants, won the gold medal of california book award for fiction, and was shortlisted for dublin impac award. The day started before sunrise, on march 21, 1979, when teacher gu woke up and found his wife sobbing quietly into her blanket. Since then, i have recommended them to a number of literary sorts, and i still think they have a unique and moving voice. Y iyun li s 2005 story collection a thousand years of good prayers which won four prizes, including the guardian first book award was admired. Read and discuss war and peace with yiyun li and a public space. The vagrants by yiyun lia talented young writers chilling portrait of life in postmao china impresses stephanie merritt. I grabbed this book, her first novel, on a whim at the library.
834 543 1418 104 1219 181 89 679 894 1144 1138 662 1058 792 283 819 594 1444 1163 494 731 610 286 781 611 827 1155 93 470 739 20 1316 183 872 474 1149 920 1129 1190 900 1259 849 1484 402 1498 1140 368 837 838 969