Her novel, the vagrants, was shortlisted for dublin impac award. In the provincial town of muddy waters in china, a young woman named gu shan is sentenced to death for her loss of faith in communism. She is the author of two novels, the vagrants and kinder than solitude, two story collections, a thousand years of good prayers and gold boy, emerald girl, and a book of nonfiction, dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life. A native of beijing and a graduate of the iowa writers workshop, she is the recipient of the frank oconnor international short story award, the hemingway foundationpen award, the whiting writers award, and the guardian first book. A native of beijing and a graduate of the iowa writers workshop, she is the recipient of the frank oconnor international short story award, the hemingway foundationpen award, the whiting writers award, and the guardian first book award. In yiyun lis startling debut novel, the vagrants, we are introduced to gus parents, neighbors, and a handful of muddy rivers social outcasts whose lives have been irrevocably affected by her life and death. Her debut collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award, penhemingway award, guardian first book award, and california book award. Emerald girl yiyun li s second collection of short stories. Yiyun lis first fulllength novel, the vagrants, is another in a steadily growing line of chinese tales, in both fictional and memoir forms, from the terrifying, chaotic years of chinas cultural revolution. The muchanticipated first novel from the guardian first book awardwinning chinese writer. Nothing could be a more apt description of yiyun li s extraordinary new novel, the vagrants. Jan 15, 2010 yiyun li is the winner of the prestigious hemingway foundationpen award.
Yiyun li grew up in beijing and came to the united states in 1996. Muddy river, a small provincial chinese city, is the setting for this intense and thoughtprovoking debut novel from yiyun li, who was raised in beijing. She wrote of the experience in dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life, a series of enigmatic essays in which. Westerners in general and americans in particular come to fiction about modern china outfitted, with filters that tend to explain everything bad or in any way unfortunate as, in one way or another, the consequence of communist party rule.
Yiyun li has 30 books on goodreads with 51875 ratings. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Read and discuss war and peace with yiyun li and a public space. Yet the power of lis book is to show us how integrity itself can be a form of cruelty in this upsidedown universe. From its opening lines, the world of yiyun lis first novel puts a reader in mind of notable others. Yiyun li is the author of a thousand years of good prayers and the vagrants. Ann patchett a starkly moving portrayal of china in the wake of the cultural revolution, this book weaves together the stories of a vivid group of characters all struggling to find a home in their own country. Brilliant and illuminating, this astonishing debut novel by the award. Ann patchett, author of run ezra pound said that literature is news that stays news.
Yiyun lis unblinking and unpredictable fictional narrative demonstrates how corruption and cruelty, fear, and moral ambiguity at the level of the individual reflect the dehumanization of an entire society. Mar 08, 2009 centered on the aftermath of a young womans execution in a desolate part of china in 1979, yiyun lis grieving and unremitting first novel examines the costs and consequences of a society. We deliver the joy of reading in 100% recycled packaging with free standard shipping on u. Never has this theory been so radically reworked as in yiyuns lis. Since then, i have recommended them to a number of literary sorts, and i still think they have a unique and moving voice. Centered on the aftermath of a young womans execution in a desolate part of china in 1979, yiyun li s grieving and unremitting first novel examines the costs and consequences of a society. Brilliant and illuminating, this astonishing debut novel by the awardwinning writer yiyun li is set in china in the late 1970s, when beijing was rocked by the democratic wall movement, an anticommunist groundswell designed to move china beyond the dark shadow of the cultural revolution toward a more enlightened and open society. All the books below are recommended as readalikes for yiyun li but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. Author yiyun li s complete list of books and series in order, with the latest releases, covers, descriptions and availability. The year is 1979, 10 years before the violent protests at tiananmen square.
Gold boy, emerald girl, her second collection, was a finalist of story prize and shortlisted for frank oconnor international short story award. In luminous prose, awardwinning author yiyun li weaves together the lives of unforgettable. Jan 22, 2019 in 2012, the novelist yiyun li twice tried to take her own life. Dec 10, 2018 lis debut short story collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award and penhemingway award. Feb 25, 2009 yiyun li is already garlanded with laurels. A novel by yiyun li and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Li s debut short story collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award and penhemingway award. Y iyun li s 2005 debut story collection a thousand years of good prayers earned her comparisons with chekhov and alice munro. Gold boy, emerald girl, her second collection, was a finalist of story prize and shortlisted for frank o full biography link to yiyun li s website. The vagrants, yiyunli shop online for books in australia. Yiyun li is the author of six works of fictionmust i go, where reasons end, kinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girland the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life. The vagrants by yiyun li 2009, hardcover for sale online ebay. Yiyun li is the winner of the prestigious hemingway foundationpen award.
So look for the suggested readalikes by title linked on the right. Yiyun li on the lifechanging quality of literature read. Her memoir, dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life, was published in 2017. The effects of shans death dominate the book, but her own story is never. Summary in luminous prose, awardwinning author yiyun li weaves together the lives of unforgettable characters who are forced to make moral choices, and choices for survival, in china in the late 1970s. Ann patchett, author of run every once in a while a voice and a subject are so perfectly matched that it seems as if this writer must have been born to write this book. Fourteenyearold gu shan was a young red guard ready to rip the world apart in the provincial chinese city of muddy river at the onset of. Feb 14, 2009 y iyun lis 2005 debut story collection a thousand years of good prayers earned her comparisons with chekhov and alice munro. In luminous prose, awardwinning author yiyun li weaves together the lives of unforgettable characters who are forced to make moral choices, and choices for survival, in china in the late 1970s.
A thousand years of good prayers, 2005 takes place across a brief stretch of days in muddy river, a poor town hundreds of miles from beijing. Her short stories and novels have won several awards and distinctions. Yiyun li has written a book that is as important politically as it is artistically. Lis magnificent and jawdroppingly grim novel centers on the 1979 execution of a chinese counterrevolutionary in the provincial town of. Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages.
We personally assess every book s quality and offer rare, outofprint treasures. In a city called muddy river, in the bledgray, hysterical paranoia of china postmao, postgang of four 197879, lives a loosely connected ensemble. The praise and awards garnered by that collection has put yiyun li on the american literary map, no small accomplishment for a recently arrived 1996 immigrant writing her stories, not in her native chinese, but in english, the language of her adoptive country. Her earlier book, a thousand years of good prayers, is a collection of short stories. The vagrants by yiyun lia talented young writers chilling portrait of life in postmao china impresses stephanie merritt. Shortlisted for the 2011 international impac dublin literary award yiyun li has written a book that is as important politically as it is artistically. I grabbed this book, her first novel, on a whim at the library. Centered on the aftermath of a young womans execution in a desolate part of china in 1979, yiyun lis grieving and unremitting first novel. Y iyun li s 2005 story collection a thousand years of good prayers which won four prizes, including the guardian first book award was admired. Yiyun li grew up in beijing and has lived in american since 1996.
Her first novel, the vagrants, draws heavily on the art of the short. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the vagrants. Though suffering, li s characters nevertheless struggle to. Yiyun li answers that proposition in the vagrants brilliantly, with a resounding yes. The day started before sunrise, on march 21, 1979, when teacher gu woke up and found his wife sobbing quietly into her blanket.
A native of beijing and a graduate of the iowa writers workshop, she is the recipient of many awards. Sign me up to get more news about literary fiction books. The vagrants by yiyun li book cover, description, publication history. Her story, set in the small town of muddy river, employs what amounts to an ensemble cast.
When moran, ruyu, and boyang were young, they were involved in a mysterious accident in which a young woman was poisoned. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. A harrowing portrait of a womans execution by an oppressive chinese regime, and how her death affects an entire provincial town. The award is given to the author of a book length work of any genre for its originality, merit and impact, and that has broken new ground by reshaping the boundaries of its form and signaling strong potential. Dickens a tale of two cities and kafkas the trial, as well as shirley jackson s the. Dear friends, in these unsettled times, like many of you i. Yiyun li is the author of six works of fictionmust i go, where reasons end, kinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girland the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you. A mother loses a son to suicide, but their dialogue continues. Her debut collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award and guardian first book award. Yiyun li is the author of six works of fictionmust i go, where reasons end, kinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girland the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you more about yiyun li. Yiyun li, professor of creative writing in the lewis center for the arts at princeton university, has received the 2020 penjean stein book award for her novel where reasons end. Y iyun lis 2005 debut story collection a thousand years of good prayers earned her comparisons with chekhov and alice munro. Her novels include the vagrants and kinder than solitude.
Her short stories and novels have won several awards and distinctions, including the penhemingway award and guardian first book award for a thousand years of good prayers, and the 2020 penjean stein book award for where reasons end. Yiyun li on the lifechanging quality of literature read it. Yiyun li is the author of four works of fiction kinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girl and the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life. Though suffering, li s characters nevertheless struggle to maintain hope amid cruel circumstance. The vagrants, her first novel, depicts a comparable showdown with the authoritarian chinese state, but one that takes place on a smaller scale and at a more manageable distance in time and space. In luminous prose, awardwinning author yiyun li weaves together the lives of unforgettable characters who are forced to make moral choices, and choices. Political torture and execution might not seem the most edifying starting point for a novel, but, in yiyun li s expert hands, they offer a springboard for an inspirational portrait of the. Regardless, with so many predecessor books, one might well wonder whether there were any more stories left to tell set in those specific years. The vagrants, set in 1979 china, is the story of those affected by the execution of a 28yearold counterrevolutionary. Praise yiyun li has written a book that is as important politically as it is artistically.
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