{"title":"Yan Lianke","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eYan Lianke\u003c\/em\u003e is a masterful Chinese author renowned for his poignant storytelling and profound thematic explorations. His works invite readers into the heart of contemporary China, offering an evocative glimpse into the country's complex socio-political landscape. Yan's books span various genres, often blending satire, realism, and allegory to elicit both contemplation and empathy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDive into the strikingly powerful world of \u003cstrong\u003eDream of Ding Village\u003c\/strong\u003e, a haunting narrative set against the backdrop of a rural village caught in the throes of an AIDS epidemic. Experience the gripping intensity of \u003cstrong\u003eHard Like Water\u003c\/strong\u003e, which explores the fervours of love and revolution. In \u003cstrong\u003eHeart Sutra\u003c\/strong\u003e, he crafts a thoughtful reflection on the clash between spirituality and materialism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDelve into the satirical brilliance of \u003cstrong\u003eLenin's Kisses\u003c\/strong\u003e, where Yan weaves a tale of capitalism, communism, and human desires with dazzling wit. \u003cstrong\u003eServe The People\u003c\/strong\u003e is another satirical gem, rich with forbidden love and political satire, challenging authority with audacious humour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Day the Sun Died\u003c\/strong\u003e presents a chilling vision of society unraveling in a single night, while \u003cstrong\u003eThe Explosion Chronicles\u003c\/strong\u003e offers an epic saga of family and ambition amid China's rapid development.\u003cstrong\u003e The Four Books\u003c\/strong\u003e dissects the Cultural Revolution's impact on intellectuals through a gripping allegorical lens.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExplore themes of endurance and solitude in \u003cstrong\u003eThe Years, Months, Days\u003c\/strong\u003e, capturing the struggle for survival in a harsh landscape. \u003cstrong\u003eThree Brothers: Memories of My Family\u003c\/strong\u003e provides a moving biography and memoir, enriching his fictional narratives with personal anecdotes and cultural insights.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYan Lianke's collection is a journey through intricate stories and societal commentary, making each book a compelling addition to any reader's collection.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"three-brothers-memories-of-my-family-by-yan-lianke-9781922268525","title":"Three Brothers: Memories of My Family","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe origin story of a childhood spent in poverty during the Cultural Revolution, from Yan Lianke, named 'China's most controversial novelist' by the \u003cem\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA powerful and intimate memoir about childhood, family and politics during the Cultural Revolution, from one of China's most important contemporary voices. With his quick wit and gift for metaphor, Yan Lianke brings the reader into his home of the 1960s and early 70s in rural Henan Province. Yan's is a loving but hard childhood—his father cultivates a stony plot to grow sweet potatoes, only to have them requisitioned by the government.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYan longs to become a writer after reading on the back of a novel that the writer was allowed to remain in the city after publishing her book. But before escaping the village, he has to join the army in order to earn money for his family. Chronicling the lives of his father and uncles, as well as his own, Yan Lianke's \u003cem\u003eThree Brothers\u003c\/em\u003e is both a portrait of a singular period and a heartfelt celebration of the power of the family under the harshest circumstances.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46380273860844,"sku":"9781922268525","price":35.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/11096373482872.jpg?v=1744851233"},{"product_id":"dream-of-ding-village-by-yan-lianke-9781921520181","title":"Dream of Ding Village","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDream of Ding Village\u003c\/em\u003e is described as being sharp, fresh, sexy, funny, and highly recommended by the \u003cem\u003eSydney Morning Herald\u003c\/em\u003e. The book drips with the kind of satire that can only come from deep within the machinery of Chinese communism, according to the \u003cem\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46507604017388,"sku":"9781921520181","price":32.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3612933482872.jpg?v=1748721582"},{"product_id":"the-years-months-days-by-yan-lianke-9781925603125","title":"The Years, Months, Days","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA luminous and deeply moving tale of hunger, loss and life by one of China's most renowned contemporary writers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Years, Months, Days\u003c\/i\u003e is a profound and moving fable about the deep love between an old man and his blind dog trying to survive in a terrible drought - there is no food, the villagers have left, but the old man has managed to nurture a corn seed that has germinated on a mountain top. He is devoted to this seedling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe old man weighs the rays of the sun, working out the arithmetic of starvation and survival. Finally, he realises that for his plant to survive, one of them has to be fertiliser. He loses the coin toss, lies in a grave he has dug and asks the dog to bury him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRich on so many levels, and not without its flashes of characteristic Yan Lianke humour, this cosmic tale will bring tears to readers' eyes. \u003ci\u003eThe Years, Months, Days\u003c\/i\u003e is compulsory reading for many Chinese children - and adults.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46511626584300,"sku":"9781925603125","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/16356583482873.jpg?v=1748828285"},{"product_id":"lenins-kisses-by-yan-lianke-9781922079435","title":"Lenin's Kisses","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLenin's Kisses\u003c\/em\u003e is a brilliant novel about modern China. Blind, deaf, and disfigured, the 197 citizens of the Village of Liven enjoy a peaceful lifestyle, spared from the government's watchful eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut when an unseasonal snowstorm wipes out the grain crops, a county official convinces the villagers to set up a travelling freak-show showcasing their disabilities. With the money, he intends to buy Lenin's embalmed corpse from Russia and install it in a mausoleum in the mountains to attract tourism to the sleepy district.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLenin's Kisses\u003c\/em\u003e is a rollicking tragicomedy with a cast of moving characters—a cautionary tale of the all-consuming desire for power and wealth from one of China's most respected and celebrated writers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46549788000492,"sku":"9781922079435","price":32.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9205473482872.jpg?v=1749926346"},{"product_id":"serve-the-people-by-yan-lianke-9781921145964","title":"Serve The People","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBanned in China\u003c\/em\u003e - The Sexy, Satirical Sensation\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis sexually charged political satire by one of China's most distinguished authors was instantly banned in its native China, with propaganda ministers enraged by its depiction of the People's Liberation Army during the Cultural Revolution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSet in 1967, at the peak of the Mao cult, \u003cem\u003eServe the People!\u003c\/em\u003e tells the story of the bored young wife of a military commander who seduces a young peasant soldier. The two lovers soon discover that the sacrilegious act of breaking a statue of Mao dramatically increases their desire for each other.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTheir erotic game becomes a competition to see who can prove themselves the most counter-revolutionary by destroying the most sacred icons of their Great Leader - smashing the commander's beloved Mao icons, ripping up the Little Red Book or urinating on the Great Helmsman's epigrams.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46551615701228,"sku":"9781921145964","price":32.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/27956553482871.jpg?v=1750006858"},{"product_id":"the-day-the-sun-died-by-yan-lianke-9781925603859","title":"The Day the Sun Died","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA surreal and gripping new book by one of China's most renowned contemporary writers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne dusk in early June, in a town deep in the Balou mountains, fourteen-year-old Li Niannian notices something strange about his town. Instead of settling down for the night, the residents start appearing in the streets and fields. There are people everywhere.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLi Niannian watches, mystified. But then he realises the people are dreamwalking, carrying on with their daily business as if the sun hadn't gone down. And before too long, as more and more people succumb, in the black of night all hell breaks loose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSet over the course of one night, \u003cem\u003eThe Day the Sun Died\u003c\/em\u003e sets chaos and darkness against the sunny optimism of the 'Chinese dream' promoted by President Xi Jinping. We are thrown into the middle of an increasingly strange and troubling waking nightmare as Li Niannian and his father struggle to save the town, and persuade the sun to rise again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46552989729004,"sku":"9781925603859","price":35.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/16363923482873.jpg?v=1750060526"},{"product_id":"the-explosion-chronicles-by-yan-lianke-9781925240849","title":"The Explosion Chronicles","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe village of Explosion was founded more than a millennium ago by refugees fleeing a volcanic eruption. But in the post-Mao era, the name takes on a new significance as the community grows explosively.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThree major families—linked by a complex web of loyalty, betrayal, desire, and ambition—are the driving force behind their hometown's transformation into an urban superpower.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBrimming with intelligence and wit, \u003cem\u003eThe Explosion Chronicles\u003c\/em\u003e considers the high stakes of passion and power, the consequences of corruption and greed, the polarising dynamics of love and hate between families, and the seemingly unstoppable excesses of capitalism. It is a smart, flamboyant, and poetic tale of ambition, lies, and vice from China's master satirist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46553375342828,"sku":"9781925240849","price":34.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/12733823482873.jpg?v=1750067932"},{"product_id":"the-four-books-by-yan-lianke-9781922182487","title":"The Four Books","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eYan Lianke's\u003c\/em\u003e most powerful novel yet. Reminiscent of \u003cem\u003eA Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eDarkness at Noon\u003c\/em\u003e, Yan's mythical tale portrays the grotesque persecution during the Great Leap Forward.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the ninety-ninth district of a labour camp, the Author, Musician, Scholar, Theologian and Technician undergo re-education, to restore their revolutionary zeal. In charge of this process is the Child, who delights in enforcing draconian rules.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Four Books\u003c\/em\u003e tells the story of one of China's most controversial periods. It also reveals the power of camaraderie, love and faith against oppression in the darkest possible times.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'A searing, allegorical view of Chinese society during some of the darkest moments of the Mao era...Yan cements his reputation as one of China's most important — and certainly most fearless — living writers.'\u003c\/em\u003e — Kirkus Reviews\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46553416958188,"sku":"9781922182487","price":34.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/10235993482872.jpg?v=1750072016"},{"product_id":"hard-like-water-by-yan-lianke-9781922330581","title":"Hard Like Water","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA laugh-out-loud political and sexual satire about the Chinese Cultural Revolution, by the acclaimed author of \u003cem\u003eServe The People!\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHard Like Water\u003c\/em\u003e is a brilliant satire about love and revolution—a thrilling story about an erotic affair during China's Cultural Revolution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn revolutionary struggle, if you don't defeat your enemy, your enemy will defeat you...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn his return to his hometown—and his wife—to aid the Cultural Revolution, soldier Aijun sees a young woman wandering barefoot along the railway tracks in the late-afternoon sun. Her name is Hongmei. From this moment on, an 'unspeakably beautiful flower' blooms in Aijun's heart. Aijun and Hongmei hurl themselves into the town's revolutionary struggle, spending their days and nights stamping out feudalism, writing pamphlets, and attending rallies—they are the engines of history. But soon their sexual and revolutionary fervour begin to merge, and a crazed new love explodes between them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe party bosses are impressed by the ardour of the pair's work. Emboldened, the couple build a 'tunnel of love'—to further the revolution, of course, but also to connect their homes and create a 'nuptial chamber' for their secret rendezvous. However, when Hongmei's husband finds them there one evening, and the young couple are arrested for framing a comrade, their dreams of a life together begin to fall apart.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the spirit of \u003cem\u003eServe the People!\u003c\/em\u003e, Yan Lianke's sparkling first novel in English, \u003cem\u003eHard Like Water\u003c\/em\u003e is a thoroughly entertaining tale of sexual infatuation and revolutionary zeal. It is a universal human drama about the nature of political power, the danger of hubris, and the freewheeling momentum of love and sexual desire—from one of China's greatest contemporary writers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46670678163692,"sku":"9781922330581","price":34.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781922330581.jpg?v=1752789414"},{"product_id":"heart-sutra-by-yan-lianke-9781922790132","title":"Heart Sutra","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHeart Sutra\u003c\/em\u003e is the most mysterious scripture in Chinese Buddhism. In Yan Lianke’s new novel, disciples of China’s five main religions—Buddhism, Daoism, Protestantism, Catholicism and Islam—gather for a year at the Religious Training Centre of Beijing’s National Politics University. They live together, study together, exercise together in the blazing sun, and get caught up in financial and sexual shenanigans.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHeart Sutra\u003c\/em\u003e explores the complex relations between humans and gods, between the secular and the divine, and between genders. The youngest Daoist monk and the youngest Buddhist nun fall in love. But as their faith is tested, will they stay committed to the path of a holy life? The choices they make are confronting, because nothing less than the fate of the gods is at stake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with beautiful woodcuts, animated by an incisive sense of humour, and inhabited by an unforgettable cast of mortals and deities, \u003cem\u003eHeart Sutra\u003c\/em\u003e is a stunning addition to Yan Lianke’s oeuvre, which highlights the best and worst in humankind.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46670696415468,"sku":"9781922790132","price":35.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/16312443482872.jpg?v=1752780314"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/yan-lianke.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}