The Years, Months, Days

Two Novellas

By: Yan Lianke, Carlos Rojas (Translator)

Write A Review

Paperback | 13 March 2018

Sorry, we are not able to source the book you are looking for right now.

We did a search for other books with a similar title, however there were no matches. You can try selecting from a similar category, click on the author's name, or use the search box above to find your book.

Yan Lianke-"China's most feted and most banned author" (Financial Times)-is a master of imaginative satire, and his prize-winning works have been published around the world to the highest honors. Now, his two most acclaimed novellas are collected here in a single volume-masterfully crafted stories that explore the sacrifices made for family, the driving will to survive, and the longing to leave behind a personal legacy.

Marrow is the haunting tale of a widow who goes to extremes to provide a normal life for her four disabled children. When she discovers that bones-especially those of kin-can cure their illnesses and prevent future generations from the same fate, she feeds them a medicinal soup made from the skeleton of her dead husband. But after running out of soup, she resorts to a measure that only a mother can take.

In the luminous, moving title story, The Years, Months, Days-a bestselling, classic fable in China, and winner of the prestigious Lu Xun Literary Prize-an elderly man stays behind in his small village after a terrible drought forces everyone to leave. Unable to make the grueling march through the mountains, he becomes the lone inhabitant, along with a blind dog. As he fends off the natural world from overtaking his hometown, every day is a victory over death.

With touches of the fantastical and with deep humanity, these two magnificent novellas-masterpieces of the short form-reflect the universality of mankind's will to live, live well, and live with purpose.

Industry Reviews

Praise for The Years, Months, Days

* A New York Times Editors' Choice
* One of Bookforum's Best Book of the Year, chosen by Colm Toibin

"Yan Lianke creates imaginary wounds in real blood . . . His books read like the brutal folklore history couldn't bear to remember." --New York Times Book Review

"Filled with a deep melancholy mixed with a ghostly comedy and a rare sort of narrative energy. Utterly unpredictable and brilliantly weird." --Colm Toibin, Bookforum

"[Yan's] characters inhabit a bleak, harsh world. In bitterly hard circumstances, they show courage and ingenuity, defiance and grace. His renderings of real-world desolations are imaginative and wondrous; these austere fables are minimal, but beautifully composed." --Shelf Awareness

"The Years, Months, Days finds the Chinese master at the top of his game . . . His satirical eye and generous heart are finely rendered." --Toronto Star

"[Yan's novellas] showcase his hallucinatory imagination and satiric wit." --BBC

"Lianke paints vivid scenes of desolate circumstances with an incredible mastery of words and control of his imagery. His masterpieces are sure to engage readers." --Booklist (starred review)

"These two compelling novellas both exalt emotional bonds and warn against their fatal consequences . . . this work again directs the author's unflinching gaze on life's impossible absurdities, exposing a surreal mixture of brutality, openness, even sly humor." --Library Journal (starred review)

"Lianke's talent for the fantastical shines in this collection of two novellas . . . Though they contain dark subject matter, Lianke's fables of personal sacrifice are also sharply observed and funny. Lianke's narratives feel much larger than their page count suggest, almost epic." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Apocalyptic, eerie visions in two novellas by much-honored Chinese writer Yan . . . Inspired, one imagines, by the terrible headlines of famine, climate change, and simple uncertainty; Yan draws on the conventions of folklore and science fiction alike to produce memorable literature." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.