Sandalwood Punishment

Author: Mo Yan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Tian Xiang Xing (Sandalwood Death) is a long new work completed by Mo Yan after five years of dedicated effort. In this masterful novel, set against the historical backdrop of German construction of the Jiaozi Railway in Shandong in 1900, Yuan Shikai suppressing the Shandong Boxer Movement, the Eight-Nation Alliance capturing Beijing, and Empress Dowager Cixi's hasty escape, Mo Yan employs a captivating and expressive writing style, profound emotions, and insightful thoughts to vividly narrate a moving movement, a shocking torture, and a thrilling love story that unfolds in the "Gaoqi Northeast Township." The plot revolves around the protagonist Mei Niang and her relationships with her biological father, adoptive father, and father-in-law. This novel is a reaction against magical realism and Western modernist fiction, as well as a bold challenge to the popular historical novels of the time. The entire work possesses the vividness and widespread appeal of folk literature, passed down and cherished by the people. Mo Yan uses an openly dazzling structural framework—"Phoenix Head—Pig Stomach—Leopard Tail"—to tell a complex story that alternates between chilling and tender moments. This is a truly national novel, a work that truly originates from the people and is dedicated to the masses.