{"product_id":"a-dictionary-of-maqiao-shaogong-han-9780231127448","title":"A Dictionary of Maqiao","description":"\u003cp\u003eOne of the most-talked about works of fiction to emerge from China in recent years, this novel about an urban youth \"displaced\" to a small village in rural China during the Cultural Revolution is a fictionalized portrait of the author's own experience as a young man. Han Shaogong was one of millions of students relocated from cities and towns to live and work alongside peasant farmers in an effort to create a classless society. Translated into English for the first time, Han's novel is an exciting experiment in form--structured as a dictionary of the Maqiao dialect--through which he seeks to understand and translate the local life and customs of his strange new home. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHan encounters an upside-down world among the people of Maqiao: a con man dupes his neighbors into thinking that he has found the fountain of youth by convincing them that his father is in fact his son; to be scientific\" is to be lazy; time and relationships are understood using the language of food and its preparation; and to die young is considered \"sweet,\" while the aged reckon their lives to be \"cheap.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs entries build one upon another, Han meditates on the ability of a \u003ci\u003ewaidi ren\u003c\/i\u003e (outsider) to represent the ways of life of another community. In this light, the Communist effort to control the language and history of a people whose words and past are bound together in ineluctably local ways emerges as an often comical, sometimes tragic exercise in miscommunication.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Shaogong Han\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0231127448\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780231127448\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Columbia University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/02\/2003\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 400\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.29lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.22h x 6.32w x 0.95d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/16\/2003 pg. 49\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/15\/2003 pg. 101\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/15\/2003 pg. 937\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/31\/2003 pg. 17","brand":"Shaogong Han","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44056685183231,"sku":"9780231127448","price":37.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_aeaab8a3-0127-4333-ae8c-45813bc30dc6.jpg?v=1685042694","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-dictionary-of-maqiao-shaogong-han-9780231127448","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}