Overview

"From one of China's most acclaimed writers, his first work of nonfiction to appear in English: a unique, intimate look at the Chinese experience over the last several decades, told through personal stories and astute analysis that sharply illuminate the country's meteoric economic and social transformation. Framed by ten phrases common in the Chinese vernacular--""people,"" ""leader,"" ""reading,"" ""writing,"" ""Lu Xun"" (one of the most influential Chinese writers of the twentieth century), ""disparity,"" ""revolution,"" ""grassroots,"" ""copycat,"" and ""bamboozle""--""China in Ten Words"" reveals as never before the world's most populous yet oft-misunderstood nation. In ""Disparity,"" for example, Yu Hua illustrates the mind-boggling economic gaps that separate citizens of the country. In ""Copycat,"" he depicts the escalating trend of piracy and imitation as a creative new form of revolutionary action. And in ""Bamboozle,"" he describes the increasingly brazen practices of trickery, fraud, and chicanery that are, he suggests, becoming a way of life at every level of society. Characterized by Yu Hua's trademark wit, insight, and courage, ""China in Ten Words"" is a refreshingly candid vision of the ""Chinese miracle"" and all its consequences, from the singularly invaluable perspective of a writer living in China today."

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9780307379351

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Reviews

Moving and elegantly crafted . . . Offers rare insight into the cause and effect of China's 'economic miracle, ' focusing close attention on the citizens of the world's most populous country. With an intimate tone and witty prose, Yu looks at the 'effects that seem so glorious and searches for their causes, whatever discomfort that may entail, ' training his incisive eye on the quotidian as well as the grand . . . His book describes his particular experience, but hints at something much more expansive. -- Publishers Weekly <br> In this era of the China Boom, when Communist Party officials are so inclined to erase the travails of their country's past from public consciousness, Yu Hua's insistence on remembering comes as an almost shocking intrusion into a willful state of amnesia. His earthy, even ribald, meditations on growing up in small-town China during Mao's Cultural Revolution remind us of just how twisted China's progress into the present has been and how precariously bala

"""How many tomes do you suppose it might take to describe the almost indescribable complexities of modern China--its staggering growth pains and infinite ironies? Yu Hua does it with ten words. . . . A rich, sympathetic, yet unsparing portrait of a nation in near-constant transition. . . . The author manages to make palpable the follies of the nouveau riches, the grotesque plight of the rural poor, the corrupt and tragicomic missteps of the ignorant charlatans who make up the passing parade of local politicians, as well as the blazing brutality of what took place on the Square that night when the army rolled over student demonstrators in their tanks...Miraculously, he does all this without seeming to oversimplify. Clearly, Yu Hua was the man for the job. . . . He knows, in other words, whereof he speaks. But mostly he was qualified to undertake such a project because of his gift for compassion. . . . Pitched at a level of heartbreak that may be almost unbearable for Western sensibilities, the final two chapters, ""Copycats"" and ""Bamboozle,"" are nevertheless essential reading for anyone who hopes to get a sense of both the ingenuity and breathtaking chicanery that together drive so much of life in modern China."" --Barnes and Noble Review ""A discursively simple series of essays explaining his country's recent history through 10 central terms. . . . Caustic and difficult to forget, ""China in Ten Words"" is a people's-eye view of a world in which the people have little place."" --Pico Iyer, ""Time"" (Asia) ""One of China's most prominent writers. . . . In his sublime essay collection, Hua explores his often spartan childhood during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s and the rampant corruption of modern China."" --Newark Star-Ledger """"China in Ten Words"" is a series of 10 essays that follow particular themes Yu Hua deems to be integral to understanding his country's experience. Using words such as ""leader,"" ""revolution,"" ""disparity,"" and ""copyc ""Moving and elegantly crafted . . . Offers rare insight into the cause and effect of China's 'economic miracle, ' focusing close attention on the citizens of the world's most populous country. With an intimate tone and witty prose, Yu looks at the 'effects that seem so glorious and searches for their causes, whatever discomfort that may entail, ' training his incisive eye on the quotidian as well as the grand . . . His book describes his particular experience, but hints at something much more expansive."" --""Publishers Weekly"" ""In this era of the China Boom, when Communist Party officials are so inclined to erase the travails of their country's past from public consciousness, Yu Hua's insistence on remembering comes as an almost shocking intrusion into a willful state of amnesia. His earthy, even ribald, meditations on growing up in small-town China during Mao's Cultural Revolution remind us of just how twisted China's progress into the present has been and how precariously bala"

Author Information

"Yu Hua is the author of four novels, six collections of stories, and three collections of essays. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages. In 2002, he became the first Chinese writer to win the James Joyce Award. His novel ""Brothers"" was short-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize and awarded France's Prix Courrier International. ""To Live"" was awarded Italy's Premio Grinzane Cavour, and ""To Live"" and ""Chronicle of a Blood Merchant"" were ranked among the ten most influential books in China in the 1990's by ""Wen Hui Bao,"" the largest newspaper in Shanghai. Yu Hua lives in Beijing."

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