Yiyun lis book is a masterpiece on this as she assembles a cross section of ordinary people, both the oppressed and oppressor, and tells their story with empathy and without judgement. Borrowed from the library its hard to believe it has been over five years since i read gold boy, emerald girl yiyun lis second collection of short stories. Y iyun li s 2005 debut story collection a thousand years of good prayers earned her comparisons with chekhov and alice munro. In 2012, the novelist yiyun li twice tried to take her own life. Praise yiyun li has written a book that is as important politically as it is artistically. Yiyun li is the winner of the prestigious hemingway foundationpen award. 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. 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.
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. Coetzee, yiyun li gives us a stunning novel that is at once a picture of life in a special part of the world during a historic period, a universal portrait of human frailty and courage, and a mesmerizing work of art. The narrator of where reasons end writes, i had but one delusion, which i held on to with all my willpower. In a city called muddy river, in the bledgray, hysterical paranoia of china postmao, postgang of four 197879, lives a loosely connected ensemble. 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 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. 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. The vagrants by yiyun li eliza griswold bookforum magazine.
Its a wellstructured story and all the characters complement each other so that by the time the reader gets about 50 pages in, you have a good sense of. Buy the vagrants book online at low prices in india the. 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. Yiyun li answers that proposition in the vagrants brilliantly, with a resounding yes.
Yiyun li has 31 books on goodreads with 54552 ratings. This book s powerfully threedimensional characters include. Yiyun lis unblinking and unpredictable fictional narrative demonstrates how corruption and cruelty, fear, and moral ambiguity at the. But the modest setting and short time span belie this rich, expansive novel. The vagrants by yiyun li district of columbia public. Theres aging teacher gu, his wife, and their counterrevolutionary daughter gu sha. The vagrants, yiyun lis first novel, is a masterfully crafted and grippingly told account of a dark moment in the life of a provincial town in lis native china. 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.
Yiyun li s the vagrants, published in 2009 by random house established the author as a new and welcome voice in american fiction the story is set during the cultural revolution in china near a. Cleveland park library book clubs award winning young fiction writers series session 3. Lis debut short story collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award and penhemingway award. Yiyun li grew up in beijing and has lived in american since 1996. A harrowing portrait of a womans execution by an oppressive chinese regime, and how her death affects an entire provincial town. Yiyun li s 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. She wrote of the experience in dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life, a. Her story, set in the small town of muddy river, employs what amounts to an ensemble cast. Feb 06, 2009 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. Her novel, the vagrants, was shortlisted for dublin impac award. She is the recipient of many awards, including a penhemingway award, a penjean stein book award, a macarthur foundation fellowship.
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. A native of beijing and a graduate of the iowa writers workshop, she is. Read the vagrants, by yiyun li online on bookmate the novel from the guardian first book awardwinning chinese writer acclaimed by michel faber as having the talent, the vision and the respect fo. The award is given to the author of a booklength work of any genre for its originality, merit and impact, and that has broken new ground by reshaping the boundaries of its form and.
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. Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Her first novel, the vagrants, draws heavily on the art of the short. 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 for. Summary in luminous prose, awardwinning author yiyun li weaves together the lives of unforgettable characters who are forced to make moral choices, and. 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. Yiyun li grew up in beijing and came to the united states in 1996.
The vagrants, set in 1979 china, is the story of those affected by the execution of a 28yearold counterrevolutionary. 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 a brilliant writer confronts grief and transforms it into art, in a book of surprising beauty and love. The vagrants by yiyun li 2009, hardcover for sale online ebay. Yiyun lis the vagrants, published in 2009 by random house established the author as a new and welcome voice in american fiction the story is set during the cultural revolution in. Feb 14, 2009 y iyun lis 2005 debut story collection a thousand years of good prayers earned her comparisons with chekhov and alice munro. Though suffering, li s characters nevertheless struggle to maintain hope amid cruel circumstance. The year is 1979, 10 years before the violent protests at tiananmen square.
Feb 25, 2009 yiyun li is already garlanded with laurels. She has received fellowships and awards from lannan foundation and whiting foundation. Her debut collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award and guardian first book award. The vagrants by yiyun li book cover, description, publication history. 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. Ann patchett, author of run ezra pound said that literature is news that stays news. 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. Yiyun li has written a book that is as important politically as it is artistically. 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. Read the vagrants, by yiyun li online on bookmate the novel from the guardian first book awardwinning chinese writer acclaimed by michel faber as. 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 for taking a calm, chekhovian look at a changing. But the modest setting and short time span belie this rich, expansive novel, which captures the anxieties and brutality of life during the last days of maoism. A mother loses a son to suicide, but their dialogue continues. 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.
Yiyun li 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. She sets her tale amid the semiurban sprawl of a place called muddy river, which is modeled on her husbands hometown. The vagrants by yiyun li meet your next favorite book. Jan 29, 2009 there is a magnetic smalltown universality to the vagrants, the first novel by an acclaimed writer of short stories, yiyun li.
Buy the vagrants book online at best prices in india on. Yiyun li s book is a masterpiece on this as she assembles a cross section of ordinary people, both the oppressed and oppressor, and tells their story with empathy and without judgement. 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. Y iyun lis 2005 debut story collection a thousand years of good prayers earned her comparisons with chekhov and alice munro. Muddy river, a small provincial chinese city, is the setting for this intense and. Her memoir, dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life, was published in 2017. 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.
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. Her earlier book, a thousand years of good prayers, is a collection of short stories. She is the recipient of many awards, including a penhemingway award, a penjean stein book award, a macarthur. 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. In her debut novel, the vagrants, li, winner of the frank oconnor international short story award and the penhemingway award, returns to the story of china in the spring of 79. 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.
639 244 286 1126 1460 594 811 1293 8 1055 156 157 716 201 1087 1216 393 1278 447 418 52 189 837 680 1277 214 696 1275 1028 395 151 573 945 1145 476 182 1393 916 772 1434