Saotu
by Cai Tonghai
About This Novel
Lao Cun's novel "Sao Tu" tells the story of Yangu Village at the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution". It describes rural life in a teasing and comedic style: When Ji's working group entered Yangu Village, he pointed out things in a serious way, and kept saying "class struggle" in every sentence, as if he was a villager. It is a political machine that does not eat the fireworks of the world; and those Party Secretary Ye, Company Commander Lu, etc. Who circle around this "imperial envoy" all day long, are all servile... The author uses "The True Story of Ah Q"-style plots to allow readers to see their ridiculous and humble souls in the cartoon-like characters.
What Readers Think
Rating
Community(0)
Official(3)Scraped 11d ago
"Sao Tu" describes the daily life in Yangu Village, but expresses the long-lasting proposition of how power harms the countryside. In a seemingly false and absurd way, it extremely realistically restores the suffering of the countryside and the suffering of farmers.
Most of Lao Cun's works describe the bitterness and struggle at the bottom of society. Lao Cun is far away from the literary world and sticks to the cultural integrity and aesthetic orientation of the lower class literati with an independent attitude. "Sao Tu" is also Lao Cun's first full-length novel.
"Sao Tu" realizes the refinement and fusion of classical novel language and modern Chinese narrative, vernacular and folk dialects, and continues the soul of Chinese novels in the strict sense. It can be called a contemporary work with the most national spirit and Chinese spirit.
Rating
Community(0)
Official(3)Scraped 11d ago
"Sao Tu" describes the daily life in Yangu Village, but expresses the long-lasting proposition of how power harms the countryside. In a seemingly false and absurd way, it extremely realistically restores the suffering of the countryside and the suffering of farmers.
Most of Lao Cun's works describe the bitterness and struggle at the bottom of society. Lao Cun is far away from the literary world and sticks to the cultural integrity and aesthetic orientation of the lower class literati with an independent attitude. "Sao Tu" is also Lao Cun's first full-length novel.
"Sao Tu" realizes the refinement and fusion of classical novel language and modern Chinese narrative, vernacular and folk dialects, and continues the soul of Chinese novels in the strict sense. It can be called a contemporary work with the most national spirit and Chinese spirit.
