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A review by thehoodie
Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out by Mo Yan
5.0
This was a fantastic book, start to finish. Before I even picked it up, I was immediately drawn in by the premise. It did not disappoint.
The synchronization between Ximen Nao's transformations and contemporary events in China created a brilliant narrative which sucked me in from the beginning. The prose featured precise details and beautiful descriptions of even the simplest items, poetic at times. I can't even remember the number of times I got chills down my spine during its course. Mo Yan's constant insertions into the story were both hilarious and insightful, colouring an oftentimes bleak landscape, both literally and symbolically!
As other reviewers have stated, the perfect description part-Animal Farm, part-100 Years of Solitude, set in China. As both a history lover and literature lover, this was a near-perfect book for me. I will definitely be picking up some of his other work.
The synchronization between Ximen Nao's transformations and contemporary events in China created a brilliant narrative which sucked me in from the beginning. The prose featured precise details and beautiful descriptions of even the simplest items, poetic at times. I can't even remember the number of times I got chills down my spine during its course. Mo Yan's constant insertions into the story were both hilarious and insightful, colouring an oftentimes bleak landscape, both literally and symbolically!
As other reviewers have stated, the perfect description part-Animal Farm, part-100 Years of Solitude, set in China. As both a history lover and literature lover, this was a near-perfect book for me. I will definitely be picking up some of his other work.