I'm super glad that I decided on a whim to try a contemporary novel by a Chinese author; a quick search led me to Mo Yan and The Garlic Ballads. And as serendipity would have it, the novel takes place during the reign of Deng Xiaoping, whose biography I finished in recent weeks.
The Garlic Ballads paints a vivid picture of the rural, poor peasant life in China of the 1980s. Families struggle against the government, in this case demanding that the farmers of Paradise County grow garlic, only later placing limits on its purchase of the commodity, bringing devastation and ruin to countless farmers. The resulting riots against the county government lead to further repression, criminal sentencing and pain for many.
But the novel also shows how Chinese traditions and culture cause equal harm. Gao Ma and Jinju want to marry, but her family has already betrothed her to another man so her older, lame, brother can marry as part of the same contract. Inevitably Gao Ma and Jinju run away together, only to be captured by her family, ultimately leading to the suicide of Jinju with her unborn baby still inside of her. Gao Ma is shot to death in the final sentences of the book, a victim of both family tradition and the authoritarian government.
The Garlic Ballads portrays a dark, dirty, unfathomable life for these poor, rural farmers. I have no doubt of its truth, but I also can't help contrasting it with the many advances in Chinese life since Xiaoping's tenure. As I said when writing of his biography, China is far from perfect, but improving in so many ways since its revolutionary days.
The story brings a certain reality my perspective on Chinese life. I'm so glad that I've discovered how fiction can bring history to life.
And that reminds me, I need to find some great Indian novels...
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