Haunted by the passing of the men in his father's generation, Yan Lianke--one of China's most awarded, lauded authors--transforms his loss into Three Brothers: Memories of My Family. At the burial of their last uncle in 2007, his sister prompted him, "Brother Lianke, you've written so many books, why don't you write one about our family?" Yan's decision to "absolutely... write something for them" becomes an "epiphany" about family bonds in life, unbreakable even in death. Duke University professor Carlos Rojas, who worked on Yan's previous four titles published in the U.S., returns as Yan's excellent translator.
Born in rural Song county in Henan Province, Yan survived a childhood of onerous deprivation during China's Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and '70s. And yet, "While I was growing up, virtually the only thing I didn't lack was a feeling of warmth and protection." Yan's father, prematurely dead at 58, managed to fulfill his life goal of providing a residence for each of his four children upon their marriage.
Yan's First Uncle was the next to die, albeit at a more reasonable 83. Supporting a family of eight children on almost nothing, First Uncle's regular distribution of candies and crackers to the village children remains a joyful memory. A generation ends with Fourth Uncle's death at 69, from whom Yan learns the difference between living--"enduring day after day"--and life--"a sense of richness, of progress, and the future." Meandering through his past, Yan shows you can--and should--go home again. --Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon