Mo Yan, author of the critically acclaimed Red Sorghum (LJ 3/15/93), which was made into a film directed by Zhang Yimou, presents a tale of brutality and corruption set in China in 1988.
The novel focuses on the lives of three individuals imprisoned for their roles in the garlic revolt, a peasant uprising against corrupt government.
Gao Ma has additional problems: his beloved has been promised to another in direct violation of the Marriage Laws, but the officials are siding with her family.
The peasants are seen as adhering to the idealism of socialism and wondering how the new social formation came to be embodied in such corrupt officials.
The action of the novel goes backward and forward in time, alternating between fact and fantasy.
Overall, a very violent book, occasionally interrupted by scenes of domestic harmony; for a specialized readership.
(Debbie Bogenschutz, Cincinnati Technical Coll. - Amazon.com)