Red Poppies : A Novel of Tibet Hardcover Alai - Hardcover

Alai

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0413771822 ISBN 13: 9780413771827

Publisher: METHUEN PUBLISHING LTD

Synopsis

Tibet, a tiny nation cloaked in mystery and clouded by myth, is the setting for this riveting family saga. Its author reveals that the land of his forebears is hardly the pacifistic little enclave solely inhabited by devout Buddhists that many Westerners have imagined. It is, rather, a far more complex and therefore intriguing land, where tradition collides with progress and individuals exhibit a range of universal character traits from virtuous to venal.

Alai introduces the powerful Maiqi family--its imperious patriarch, his Han Chinese wife, his first son and heir, and his second, so-called idiot son, the tale's narrator and unlikely hero. Set largely in the 1930s, before the Chinese occupies Tibet, this prize-winning novel pits the Maiqis against a neighboring chieftain. When an emissary of the Chinese Nationalists offers aid in the form of modern warfare, the head of the Maiqi clan strikes a Faustian bargain: in return for this assistance, he agrees to plant red poppies, the source of heroin, instead of grain on the arid plains surrounding his stone fortress. As these vivid blossoms flourish, so do the enmity and risks faced by a privileged and seemingly invincible family.

Epic in its sweep and high drama, Alai's novel suggests the work of Colombia's Gabriel Garcia Marquez and William Faulkner's revelatory fiction about the American South. Censored for several years because its sensitive political content, Red Poppies was finally published in 1998 by a prestigious Chinese firm, and two years later won that nation's top literary prize.

About this title

Review:

The sweeping epic novel Red Poppies, by Tibetan author Alai, is set in eastern Tibet in the middle of the last century. It chronicles the waning days of the once-powerful Tibetan chieftains and the rise of the Communist Chinese state. The tale is narrated by the son of one of the most powerful chieftains, a son considered an idiot by his family. But this supposed idiot consolidates his family's power and wealth with peasant good sense and cunning. And cunning is what is required to survive in this brutal world, where tribal revenge is exacted by ordering decapitations and the cutting off of tongues and ears. There's plenty of lusty sex in this picaresque novel, as well as bloody battles, devastating earthquakes, and the political maneuvering of Tibetan monks. The writing, translated from Chinese by Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin, is beautiful. In one strange and wonderful scene, mice are drawn to an opium processing shed by the intoxicating aroma; they gather on the rafters, swoon into the vats, and then are cooked and eaten as delicacies.

Red Poppies became a bestseller when it was originally published in China in 1998 and went on to win China's highest literary award in 2000. It's the first book of a projected trilogy from the author, so readers have much to look forward to. --Susan Biskeborn

About the Author:

ALAI is an ethnic Tibetan who lives in Sichuan, China. He is the author of several short-story collections and the editor of China's largest science-fiction journal, Science Fiction World.

About this edition

• Publisher: METHUEN PUBLISHING LTD
• ISBN 10: 0413771822
• ISBN 13: 9780413771827
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1