Brothers (simplified Chinese: 兄弟; pinyin: Xiōngdì) is the longest novel written by the Chinese novelist Yu Hua, in total of 76 chapters, separately published in 2005 for the part 1 (of the first 26 chapters) and in 2006 for part 2 (of the rest 50 chapters) by Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House. This was Yu Hua's first novel after a decade or dormancy from writing and publishing works. It has over 180 thousand characters in Chinese, more than the 100 thousand characters that were originally planned for the book. It intertwines tragedy and comedy, and Yu Hua himself admits that the novel is personally his favorite literary work. Brothers was a new realm of literature for Yu Hua, with the novel often being described as extremely crude and expletive. Brothers has experienced great success with nearly 1 million copies sold in China. By 2019, Yu Hua's works had been …
Brothers (simplified Chinese: 兄弟; pinyin: Xiōngdì) is the longest novel written by the Chinese novelist Yu Hua, in total of 76 chapters, separately published in 2005 for the part 1 (of the first 26 chapters) and in 2006 for part 2 (of the rest 50 chapters) by Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House. This was Yu Hua's first novel after a decade or dormancy from writing and publishing works. It has over 180 thousand characters in Chinese, more than the 100 thousand characters that were originally planned for the book. It intertwines tragedy and comedy, and Yu Hua himself admits that the novel is personally his favorite literary work. Brothers was a new realm of literature for Yu Hua, with the novel often being described as extremely crude and expletive. Brothers has experienced great success with nearly 1 million copies sold in China. By 2019, Yu Hua's works had been published in 38 countries and translated into 35 different languages. This success may be contributed to his success publicity tour to gain attraction towards the novel after his hiatus from writing. While reception among Chinese critics was generally negative, the novel was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize and awarded France's Prix Courrier International in 2008. It was translated into English by Eileen Cheng-yin Chow and Carlos Rojas in 2009, a couple from the Middle Eastern department at Duke University.The story of the novel revolves around the step-brotherhood between Baldy Li and Song Gang who are the protagonists. Their life that has been of absurd and tragedy throughout China's history from the 1960s to the early period of Chinese Economic Reform serves as the main plot. The division of the novel into two parts is contextually on the basis of the death of Li Lan who is the biological mother of Baldy Li and the step-mother of Song Gang. The first part primarily focuses on their childhood, especially during the Cultural Revolution with the collapse of their reorganized family and the tragedy of Song Fanping, the biological father of Song Gang and the Step-father of Baldy Li. The second part focuses on their adulthood with different life trajectories, especially during the early period of Chinese Economic Reform that formulates the mixture of absurdity and tragedy.
I got this from my local library, not sure how I discovered Yu Hua, but this was my first read from him - and I remember it fondly. I need to re-read it soon. There was warm moments, tragic moments and plenty of comedic moments throughout.
