A review by pris_asagiri
Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke

4.0

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this story. The translation was decent. I think Cindy Carter struck a fairly balanced chord of making it accessible to western readers while keeping (somewhat) the poetry that is Chinese writing. I found her to be among the [a:Lisa See|713|Lisa See|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1209949634p2/713.jpg], [a:Gail Tsukiyama|28719|Gail Tsukiyama|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1235246903p2/28719.jpg] crowd. But what surprised me most was how not depressing this book is. And yes, this book is dealing with some incredibly heavy topics, mainly death and greed and ignorance. But no matter what happens, there is always life. Life marches on despite everything. And it was that small hope that you felt throughout the story that kept it just right of the edge of depressing.

Yan crafted this story with finesse and precision. While it skewers the corruption of local government, he lovingly paints the life and times of rural China. And he stayed away from the caricatures that you too often find when dealing with "expose-type" stories here. These are people you can find here. And I found myself invested in their lives. I enjoyed his storytelling. I found him easier to read than Mo Yan, although I'm not sure if that is due to the translator.

I really want to read his other book now.