Book of Death

Author: Li Ximeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: "The Book of Death" contains over twenty stories about death. It is a genealogy of death among the Hakka people, or rather, a chronicle of Hakka life, documenting various styles of death. The narratives are fragmented yet loosely connected, resembling a self-enclosed and cyclical village chain. It not only preserves our attachment to life but also becomes the hardest part of the collective memory. — Zhu Dake (Scholar, Critic) "The Book of Death" is a long novel composed of over twenty death events, depicting the brutal reality of rural China. It stands out as an unconventional work in Li Ximeng's writing but absolutely does not belong to the general category of rural literature. Hazi, who lost his father in childhood, follows his mother to the foreign village of Shuqiyuliu, where he records with his innocent eyes the eerie yet truly Chinese rural deaths that occur around him. These deaths, like wild grass in the village, appear humble and unvalued. Yet, the realistic and historical context in which they take place gives these death incidents profound significance.