| There's Nothing I Can Do When I Think of You Late at Night Contributor(s): Cao, Naiqian (Author), Balcom, John (Translator) |
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ISBN: 0231148100 ISBN-13: 9780231148108 Publisher: Columbia University Press OUR PRICE: $39.60 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: May 2009 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Asian - Chinese - Social Science |
| Dewey: 895.135 |
| LCCN: 2008040954 |
| Series: Weatherhead Books on Asia |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 5.7" W x 8.3" (0.90 lbs) 248 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Asian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Set among a remote cluster of cave dwellings in Shanxi province, There's Nothing I Can Do When I Think of You Late at Night is a genre-defying expos of rural communism. In a series of vivid, interlocking vignettes, several narrators speak of adultery, bestiality, incest, and vice, revealing the consequences of desire in a world of necessity. The Wen Clan Caves are based on an isolated village where the author, Cao Naiqian, lived during the Cultural Revolution. The land is hard and unforgiving and the people suffer in poverty and ignorance. Through the individual perspectives of the Wen Clan denizens, a complete portrait of village life takes shape. Dark yet lyrical, Cao's snapshots range from pastoral stories of childhood innocence to shocking accounts of brutality and terror. His work echoes William Faulkner's Go Down, Moses and Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, yet the author's depictions of elemental passions and regional mores make the book entirely his own. Celebrated for its economy of expression, flashes of humor, and an emphasis on understatement rarely found in Chinese fiction, There's Nothing I Can Do When I Think of You Late at Night is an excellent introduction to the power and craft of Cao Naiqian. His vivid personalities and unflinching realism herald the haunting work of an original literary force. |
Contributor Bio(s): Balcom, John: - John Balcom is professor of Chinese-English translation at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. He has translated a number of books, including Wintry Night by Li Qiao, The City Trilogy by Chang His-kuo, and Taiwan's Indigenous Writers: An Anthology of Stories, Essays, and Poems. |