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A review by nghia
The Years, Months, Days: Two Novellas by Yan Lianke
4.0
Yan Lianke is the most noted (and most controversial) of China's modern writers, with two of his books being banned in China. He was born to poor, illiterate farmers and it is clear that is where his heart still is. This book collects two of his novellas. Though the novellas has no connection to one another it is clear why they've been published together in English. They both take place in poor, remote farming villages. And both tackle the theme of the sacrifices elderly people make for the next generation.
Think how rare it is for any book or movie to feature someone so old in the starring role. In "The Years, Months, Days" the nameless Elder is 72-years old. In "Marrow" Fourth Wife You is in her early 50s.
In "The Years, Months, Days", the entire village has been abandoned as a drought has stretched on. Only The Elder remains, too old to travel, along with his only companion a blind dog. In all the parched fields, only a single seedling of corn struggles to stay alive. The Elder has decided, no matter the cost, he will keep the seedling alive so that, one day, when the rest of the village returns, they will have a few grains of corn to plant for new crops.
Lianke is noted for his strange metaphors. They somehow seem appropriate until you reread them and realize...you don't quite know what they mean:
There's also a kind of magical realism thing going on. The Elder talks to the dog (who seems to understand him and answer), whips the sun, weighs the sunlight, and more. Eventually this strange humor turns increasingly grim. He is, after all, all alone in a land stricken by drought. The village well runs dry. There is no food to be found. But he has vowed that the corn seedling will survive, no matter what it takes.
The second novella, "Marrow", is missing the strange metaphors and dark levity of "The Years, Months, Days". Here we have the story of Fourth Wife You, whose husband committed suicide 20 years previously leaving her alone to raise their four children. All four of them have severe mental disabilities and his guilt that it was his family's genetics that caused it led him to take his own life.
This is a fairly harrowing story of the lengths a parent will go to in order to try to ensure a good life for their children. She has managed to marry off two daughters, though neither marriage is especially happy. But her youngest daughter (28-years old) and son (20-years old) are still unmarried.
It is hard not to find Fourth Wife You's fierceness for her children admirable. At first she has difficulty finding suitable husbands. Her neighbors warn off all the possible candidates until Fourth Wife You lays down the law:
And just "The Years, Months, Days" took a darker turn as the Elder fought to protect the seedling corn, "Marrow" also takes a dark turn as Fourth Wife You tries to ensure her four broken children are provided for after she's no longer there.
Think how rare it is for any book or movie to feature someone so old in the starring role. In "The Years, Months, Days" the nameless Elder is 72-years old. In "Marrow" Fourth Wife You is in her early 50s.
“I’m seventy-two years old, and would surely die of exhaustion if I tried to walk for three days. If I’m going to die either way, I’d prefer to die in my own village.”
In "The Years, Months, Days", the entire village has been abandoned as a drought has stretched on. Only The Elder remains, too old to travel, along with his only companion a blind dog. In all the parched fields, only a single seedling of corn struggles to stay alive. The Elder has decided, no matter the cost, he will keep the seedling alive so that, one day, when the rest of the village returns, they will have a few grains of corn to plant for new crops.
Lianke is noted for his strange metaphors. They somehow seem appropriate until you reread them and realize...you don't quite know what they mean:
Throughout the entire mountain range, they heard these smells clanking together
There's also a kind of magical realism thing going on. The Elder talks to the dog (who seems to understand him and answer), whips the sun, weighs the sunlight, and more. Eventually this strange humor turns increasingly grim. He is, after all, all alone in a land stricken by drought. The village well runs dry. There is no food to be found. But he has vowed that the corn seedling will survive, no matter what it takes.
The second novella, "Marrow", is missing the strange metaphors and dark levity of "The Years, Months, Days". Here we have the story of Fourth Wife You, whose husband committed suicide 20 years previously leaving her alone to raise their four children. All four of them have severe mental disabilities and his guilt that it was his family's genetics that caused it led him to take his own life.
After her husband died, the light vanished from Fourth Wife You’s life. When she was working in the fields there was no one to bring her shovels and sickles, and when she was resting there was no one to chat with.
This is a fairly harrowing story of the lengths a parent will go to in order to try to ensure a good life for their children. She has managed to marry off two daughters, though neither marriage is especially happy. But her youngest daughter (28-years old) and son (20-years old) are still unmarried.
It is hard not to find Fourth Wife You's fierceness for her children admirable. At first she has difficulty finding suitable husbands. Her neighbors warn off all the possible candidates until Fourth Wife You lays down the law:
“Hey … I want everyone to listen carefully … I’ll fuck your ancestors, I’ll dig up their graves. You’re trying to keep my two elder daughters from finding husbands. You told everyone that my family is full of idiots, but when did this family of idiots ever keep you from screwing around, or keep your elders from kicking the bucket? Now, everyone listen to me … from this point onward, my children will marry whomever they choose, and whoever says otherwise will get sores in their mouths, run pus from their gums, get cancer of the throat, and after they die their graves will be dug up by grave robbers and their bones will be left out to be devoured by wild animals!”
And just "The Years, Months, Days" took a darker turn as the Elder fought to protect the seedling corn, "Marrow" also takes a dark turn as Fourth Wife You tries to ensure her four broken children are provided for after she's no longer there.