Half a Life in the Soil

With grounded, unadorned prose, Half a Life in the Soil recounts the journey from childhood to young adulthood of Chen Shi, an orphan from the countryside.

From growing up alone in a ruined house in a desolate village, to scraping by amid the dirt and dust on the outskirts of the city; from sitting silently by himself at a vocational school, to drifting from place to place after entering the workforce, the times move slowly forward.

Dirt roads turn to concrete, buildings rise one after another, and his peers set off into their own lives with smartphones in hand. Chen Shi, meanwhile, continues alone through the world, carrying an old Nokia that can do little more than make calls.

Half his life is spent trudging along dirt roads, and the other half making a life amid the daily bustle. In the quiet routines of everyday life, the novel captures the full flavor of the human condition, revealing in its silences the fragility and resilience of lives on the margins.