Name: The Four Books
ISBN: 9780802123121

Lianke Yan

In a reeducation compound for intellectuals during Maos Great Leap Forward, a diverse group of intellectuals are subjected to hard labor and encouraged to inform on one another, until famine leads the regime to leave those in the compound to fend for themselves.

The Four Books

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2016 'One of China's greatest living authors and fiercest satirists' Guardian In the ninety-ninth district of a sprawling labour camp, the Author, Musician, Scholar, Theologian and Technician - and hundreds just like them - are undergoing Re-education, to restore their revolutionary zeal and credentials. In charge of this process is the Child, who delights in draconian rules, monitoring behaviour and confiscating treasured books. But when bad weather arrives, followed by the 'three bitter years', the intellectuals are abandoned by the regime and left on their own to survive. Divided into four narratives, The Four Books tells the story of the Great Famine, one of China's most devastating and controversial periods. WINNER OF THE FRANZ KAFKA PRIZE 2014 NOMINATED FOR CZECH AWARD MAGNESIA LITERA 2014 HUA ZHONG WORLD CHINESE LITERATURE PRIZE 2013 FINALIST FOR THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2013 WINNER OF THE HUA ZHONG WORLD CHINESE LITERATURE PRIZE 2013 SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDEPENDENT FOREIGN FICTION PRIZE 2012 SHORTLISTED FOR THE PRIX FEMINA ETRANGER 2012 SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN ASIAN LITERARY PRIZE 2011 WINNER OF THE LAO SHE LITERATURE AWARD 2004 WINNER OF THE LU XUN AWARD 1997

An interesting, though emotionally difficult, read. Something of the mythic in its elements, and I was constantly reminded of Grass’ ‘The Tin Drum’. This is not that, but there’s a similarity in the treatment of historical fact, I think. 

Jan Jackson

Jade Flynn

If you pick this up in a bookshop based solely on the blurb you aren't going understand the novel, in my opinion you need at least a basic understanding of Mao's China, particularly The Great Famine. If you know nothing you aren't going to appreciate The Four Books as more than a piece of fiction and it deserves to be understood in relation to the history it deals with.