Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I loved the exuberant, tumble-forward narrative voice. I loved the libidinous mix of bawdy sex and passionate revolutionary fervor. I loved the sex writing, and beyond the sex writing, I loved the physically sensual nature of the narrator's description of all things about his life: nature, life, revolution, obligation. I think it must be a masterful translation, because on nearly every page I felt breathless and surprised by a given allusion or sentence or image. I loved the parts of the novel more than the whole, and I loved the ending most of all--it was so surprising and yet so satisfying. For me this is a book that relies more on verbal inventiveness than it does on storytelling, but the verbal inventiveness kept me so continuously off-balance and delighted that the novel held my interest from beginning to end.

This is impactful work from a brave writer who hasn’t stopped critiquing China nor left the country. A savage look at the party in all its corruption and failings. Earlier work, now published for the first time.

This book is an erotic satire- sort of like 'Slaughterhouse Five' crossed with Catch 22 and set during the onset of the Cultural Revolution in China. Aijun has been demobilised from the army ( following a full scale purge), and is at a bit of a loose end when he returns home, to his village in the mountains. He's been fairly brainwashed by his military training-that's mined for comedy when he can practically only speak in aphorisms exalting the People and Mao Zedong and The Will of The People, and so on. He's also quite young , though, and away from any female companionship ( to put it politely). He falls in insta-lust with Hongmei, the wife of a local schoolteacher, and the rest of the story deals with them trying to achieve two goals- one romantic, the other political. Lianke sends up their ability to delude themselves into carrying out acts of violence that only benefit them, all in the name of the "Revolution", which is ultimately how the Cultural Revolution panned out as well. It was basically a violent power grab by a new order, from the old, and not with the good intentions really, of improving the lot of their countrymen. Lianke shows you how easy it can be for minds to be swayed by rhetoric-backed up by the barrel of a gun. The ancient feudal system was terrible, and the Red Army and the Communist Party had changed the lives of some of the populace for the better. As with all personality cults, though, this devolved into seeking power as an end, and like the Terror during the French Revolution, ultimately it turned on itself and nobody was safe. The Cultural Revolution armed inexperienced immature young people, and taught them that the best way of succeeding was inflicting violence and control over others, something this book brings out-Aijun and Hongmei, once they've threatened their way to political power in their village, are all at sea about managing agricultural practices and ensuring harvests are enough to feed everyone. Blinded by the constant revolutionary rhetoric they're fed though, ( and there are some very funny scenes where instead of discussing policy, they seem to spend their time trying to best the other in coming up with slogans and arguments about Communism) instead of trying to understand the limits of collectivisation, they plot the downfall instead of the Mayor of the district, to prove their devotion to the cause by denouncing enemies to it. This has terrible consequences all around for a lot more victims than just the hapless Mayor, the villagers, and they unwittingly bring about their own downfall as well. It's like the entire period of the Cultural Revolution in microcosm-the Red Guards were unleashed on the populace with the promises of political power, a young leadership, a new world. It ended with Mao getting tired of the chaos caused by the Red Guards, and sending in the Red Army to control them ( which in most cases ended up being slaughters), and most of the chief leaders of it executed or imprisoned, their dreams of leadership ended. The estimated death toll , though? Possibly 20 million. All sacrificed for completely unrealised ambition.

Lianke meanders through a long winded road filled with revolution, sex and love. These three intermingle with each other up to the point where when talking about one of them, I wonder if he is talking about the other because of the same words and pomp used. A thing to note is that revolutionary songs are a great aphrodisiac and have desired results, no need for Viagra.

Through all this uplifting of the revolution, the people who are the reason why the revolution is necessary, are sidelined, dehumanised. Lianke chooses to do this by keeping interaction with them to the minimum whilst extolling the revolution.

An ARC gently provided by author/publisher via Netgalley.