Red Sorghum
by Mo Yan
First published 1988 · English · 373 pages
- Novels
- Historical fiction
- Essays and criticism
Red Sorghum is a historical novel set in Shandong during the 1920s and 1930s, as Japanese forces invade China. A narrator recalls the lives of his grandparents and their neighbours, who live among vast fields of sorghum and run a distillery. Told in vivid, sometimes violent images, the book follows love, village struggle and resistance in a time of war. It made Mo Yan famous and was the basis for a well-known film.
Quotes
Finally, she mused that human existence is as brief as the life of autumn grass, so what was there to fear from taking chances with your life?
I sometimes think that there is a link between the decline in humanity and the increase in prosperity and comfort. Property and comfort are what people seek, but the costs to character are often terrifying.