The Boat to Redemption: A Novel
Set in a Chinese riverside town, the novel follows tangled relationships, buried guilt, and a search for redemption. As private secrets surface, the clash between individual fate and social contradiction comes into view.
Work Information
Buried guilt and secrets slowly spread through a town by the river.
In a town by the river, shame, obsession, and the desire for forgiveness intersect among its residents. Through individual lives, the novel lets the distortions of society seep to the surface.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Overlook Books
- Published
- 2011-10-27
- Pages
- 368 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 15.88 x 3.15 x 23.5 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781590206720
- ISBN-10
- 159020672X
- Price
- 6880 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Genre Fiction/Historical
In the peaceable, river-side village of Milltown, Secretary Ku has fallen into disgrace. It has been officially proven that he is not the son of a revolutionary martyr, but the issue of a river pirate and a prostitute. Mocked by his neighbors, Ku leaves the shore for a new life among the boat people. Refusing to renounce his high status, he--along with his teenage son--keeps his distance from the gossipy lowlifes who surround him. Then one day a feral girl, Huixian, arrives looking for her mother, and the boat people, and especially Ku's son, take her to their hearts. But Huixian sows conflict wherever she goes, and soon the boy is in the grip of an obsession. Raw, emotional, and unerringly funny, the Man Asian Prize-winning novel from China's bestselling literary author is a story of a people caught in the stranglehold not only of their own desires and needs, but also of a Party that sees everything and forgives nothing.
Born in 1963 in Suzhou and now living in Beijing with his family, Su Tong is China's most celebrated author, shooting to international fame when Zhang Yimou's Academy Award-nominated film of his novella Raise the Red Lantern . Translator Howard Goldblatt is research professor at the University of Notre Dame. He has been awarded the Translation of the Year Prize from the American Literary Translators Association and the Man Asian Literary Prize.
Reviews
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強烈な父親とその息子の物語
強烈な父親とその息子の物語。 中国ならではの展開もあるが、そこはメインではない。 父親は父親なりに悩み苦しんでいるのだが、どうも読んでいると「親の因果が子に報い」という感じがしてきて、息子が不憫だと感じる。 同じ著者の短編集を以前読んだが、こちらの方が心理描写が細かく、面白い。
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I bought this book for my daughter......she is enjoying iyt
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I read the book... through to the end. It did give me insight into the everyday life of the boat people, however it seemed to droll on and on. The ending just left me hanging with no closure of the characters.
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Another fantastic read from Su Tong! Engaging, odd and a little disturbing. Highly recommended.