15 Oct / Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke, translated by Cindy Carter [in Library Journal]
Censored in China, the latest novel in English translation from Yan Lianke (Serve the People!) is a brutal morality tale of a country undergoing transition; the citizens are mere “dogs, or chickens, or ants crushed underfoot” in a larger-than-life tragedy. China’s plan to fill its blood banks reaches the poorest villages where “bloodheads” convince desperate citizens to open their veins for quick cash.
In the village named for his ancestors, Ding Hui becomes reigning bloodhead: his unsanitary practices eventually infect the villagers with “the fever” – HIV/AIDS. Because Hui is unrepentantly on to the next get-richer scheme, his 12-year-old son is murdered in retaliation; the boy omnisciently narrates from his school-side grave. Hui’s brother, Liang, becomes infected, and desperately seeks one last chance at happiness. Hui’s father, defacto village leader – and prescient dreamer – bears the guilt of Hui’s avarice and Liang’s disgrace.
Verdict: Yan’s three years of clandestine research on this widespread real-life blood-selling scandal provides another grim spotlight on China’s abuses. Like his literary contemporaries, Mo Yan and Yu Hua, Yan’s unflinching irreverence makes this Schadenfreude tragedy essential reading.
Review: “Fiction,” Library Journal, October 15, 2010
Readers: Adult
Published: 2011 (United States)