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To Live
To Live | Hua Yu
5 posts | 13 read | 3 to read
An award-winning, internationally acclaimed Chinese bestseller, originally banned in China but recently named one of the last decade's ten most influential books there, ""To Live tells the epic story of one man's transformation from the spoiled son of a rich landlord to an honorable and kindhearted peasant. After squandering his family's fortune in gambling dens and brothels, the young, deeply penitent Fugui settles down to do the honest work of a farmer. Forced by the Nationalist Army to leave behind his family, he witnesses the horrors and privations of the Civil War, only to return years later to face a string of hardships brought on by the ravages of the Cultural Revolution. Left with an ox as the companion of his final years, Fugui stands as a model of flinty authenticity, buoyed by his appreciation for life in this narrative of humbling power.
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To Live | Hua Yu
Mehso-so

This has a strong reputation but I didn't actually like it that much. I don't see how it's anything besides check boxes mediocre historical fiction. Still readable.

review
tipsy
Pickpick

excellent

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ErnestB

What a book!!!!!

To Live is a celebration and treatise on the ordinary, the ones who twist and writhe in the hands and whimsies of fate and circumstance - an antidote to our American exceptionalism. He rises again and again and again accompanied with tears, duty, and the hope of the affected for his progeny's tomorrow.

He buried so many and carried many . You have to like Fugui. He doesn't win - he does better - he persists and continues.

review
sanem
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Pickpick

It was a sad story, but never melodramatic. It reminded me of why I love reading literature, discovering about other people's lives and cultures.

2 likes2 stack adds
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sanem
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1 like1 stack add