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To Live: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Yu Hua (Author), Michael Berry (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 687 ratings
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Originally banned in China but later named one of that nation’s most influential books, a searing novel that portrays one man’s transformation from the spoiled son of a landlord to a kindhearted peasant. 

“A work of astounding emotional power.” —Dai Sijie, author of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

From the author of Brothers and China in Ten Words: this celebrated contemporary classic of Chinese literature was also adapted for film by Zhang Yimou. 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 gritty authenticity, buoyed by his appreciation for life in this narrative of humbling power.
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  1. Print length
    246 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Anchor
  5. Publication date
    December 18, 2007
  6. File size
    557 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

One man's mythically tragic life encapsulates the horrors of communist China in this nearly overpowering yet vivifying saga. Initially banned in China, internationally acclaimed, made into an award-winning movie, and newly translated into English, Yu Hua's close-to-the-bone tale portrays the reckless son of a wealthy landowner who gambles away the family fortune. Fugui is humbled by the loyalty of his loved ones, and comes to accept the severe hardships of his altered life, but fate has only begun its brutal work. Fugui is forcibly conscripted into the army, then, barely alive upon his release, struggles with so-called land reform and the ensuing famine. As Fugui's family die terrible, often bitterly ironic deaths and this stoic survivor makes do with less and less in an increasingly surreal world, Yu Hua, writing with masterful simplicity about the unfathomable complexities of existence, tells a galvanizing story that is at once a shattering indictment of China's ongoing nightmare and testimony to the tenacity of the human spirit. A translation of Yu Hua's Chronicle of a Blood Merchant is on the way. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“A work of astounding emotional power.” —Dai Sijie, author of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

“Yu Hua is the most profound voice coming out of China today. To Live reaches not only into the very essence of China and the Chinese people but into the blood and bones core of what it means to be a human being.” —Lisa See, author of On Gold Mountain

“A Chinese Book of Job, To Live is a heart-wrenching saga, written with beauty, defiance, and hope. Yu Hua’s books deserve a place on the highest shelf.” —Wang Ping, author of Aching for Beauty and Foreign Devil

“A major contemporary novelist, Yu Hua writes with a cold eye but a warm heart. His novels are ingeniously structured and exude a mythical aura. Though unmistakably Chinese, they are universally resonant.” —Ha Jin, author of Waiting

“A book of subtle power and poignant drama. You love Yu Hua’s characters because they are flawed, vibrant, soulful, and real: you celebrate with them the small wonders of life, and feel their pain as they overcome tragedy. Ultimately, To Live is a redemptive story of the human spirit, one that is universal in its emotional depth.” —Terrence Cheng, author of Sons of Heaven

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000XU8DU6
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Anchor (December 18, 2007)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 18, 2007
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 557 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 246 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 687 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Michael Berry

    Michael Berry

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    Michael Berry is Professor of Contemporary Chinese Cultural Studies and Director of the Center for Chinese Studies at UCLA at UCLA. He is the author of Speaking in Images: Interviews with Contemporary Chinese Filmmakers (2006), A History of Pain: Trauma in Modern Chinese Literature and Film (2008), Jia Zhangke’s Hometown Trilogy (2009), Boiling the Sea: Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Memories of Shadows and Light (2014), and An Accented Cinema: Jia Zhangke on Jia Zhangke (2021); the editor of The Musha Incident: A Reader in Taiwan History and Culture (2020) and co-editor of Divided Lenses (2016) and Modernism Revisited (2016). Current projects include a recently completed monograph, Translation and the Virus, which explores the intersection of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, disinformation campaigns, and Fang Fang’s Wuhan Diary; and a book that explores the United States as it has been imagined through Chinese film, 1949-present.

    He has contributed to numerous books and periodicals, including The Oxford Handbook of Chinese Cinemas, A Companion to Chinese Cinema, Electric Shadows: A Century of Chinese Cinema, Columbia Companion of Modern Chinese Literature, Harvard New Literary History of Modern China, and The Chinese Cinema Book. He is also the translator of several books, including Wild Kids (2000), Nanjing 1937: A Love Story (2002), To Live (2004), The Song of Everlasting Sorrow (2008), Remains of Life (2017), and Wuhan Diary (2020).

    He is a two time NEA Translation Fellow (2008, 2021), and has received Honorable Mentions for the MLA Louis Roth Translation Prize (2009) and the Patrick D. Hanan Book Prize (2020); he has served on the jury for the Dream of the Red Chamber Prize (2012-2018) and has served as a Jury Member for numerous film festivals, including the Golden Horse Film Festival (2010, 2018).

    For more information, see: http://www.alc.ucla.edu/person/michael-berry/

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  2. Hua Yu

    Hua Yu

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    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
687 global ratings
A Beautiful Novel!
5 Stars
A Beautiful Novel!
This novel was written in a very sensitive way and it is difficult how anyone could not be moved by the plight of the peasants and what happens to them over the generations. This novel and Yu Hua's Chronicle of a Blood Merchant are two of the best books I have read recently. To Live was also a fine film. It involves so much: war and suffering, and the horrible lives so many people have actually lived. Well done, a masterpiece!
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Top reviews from the United States

Michael J. Reeves
5.0 out of 5 stars The Social and Cultural effects of political change in China
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2018
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This is a beautifully written novel covering the years after 1912 and the revolution that ended the Qing Dynasty through to post-revolution (1949) and the establishment of People’s Republic of China.
The story unfolds as a “city boy” walks in the rural area, wandering, meeting and talking with the locals. During his travels, he meets an old farmer who tells him his life story. Our wanderer takes on the role of narrator, and intertwines the chapters of a life with breaks where one chapter ends and another chapter begins. It is the narrator that ties all the chapters together into a cohesive whole that describes what it means “To Live” during those turbulent times.
The story offers insights into human temptations and mistakes we all make, and how politics and revolution affect the non-combatants, perhaps, more so than the combatants.
The novel offers some deep insights into Chinese society and culture, and the poverty and deprivation that is a consequent of the revolution. I could see some of the same pitfalls in the novel that are seen in our own society.
Overall, a most excellent story that communicates the idea that China, Chinese and Chinese Culture are not so very different from the United States, and European derived culture.
I highly recommend if you are interested in Chinese society and culture.
14 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Novel About Life and Hardship
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2018
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I read this book in college and wanted to read it again. It was a class on Chinese film and fiction where we would read the book and watch the film that was based off the book. I love the story of hardship the main character faces and how he deals with his circumstances. As I am reading it currently the lessons of the story give me a sense of humility to be greatful for what I have, and I have a sense of being content with the way things are. One of the best lessons in the story, in my opinion, is very Taoist. What seems like a calamity when first experienced may be a blessing in the the long run that could very well be a life saver. I highly recommend this novel to enjoy its wisdom and learn about its time period of Chinese history and culture.
One person found this helpful
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Kristina
4.0 out of 5 stars Endurance Against All Odds
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2015
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This is one of those novels that wring you out to dry, yet you love every moment of suffering. And boy, does the author know how to make a guy suffer.

TO LIVE takes place before, during, and after the Communist takeover of China, but it's not really about that. It's about a guy named Fugui--a sort of guy that you would find anywhere, be it the United States or India or China--who fritters away his wealth in a drunken night of gambling. Hard lessons in humility and capricious luck don't end when he loses his family's land and honor. He gets forcibly drafted into the Nationalist army, faces starvation as he survives the bloody civil war, and tries to endure the long string of tragedies that face him.

This isn't a book for someone who's looking for a finely drawn piece of artful prose, as the tale is told in a no-nonsense and stotic way as Fugui narrates his life to a journeyman. This isn't a book for one who wants an in-depth portrayal of a man's feelings or thoughts. The downright blase attitude that Fugui has can be downright disturbing at times. If you, however, want a tale of an ordinary man enduring hardships--both of his own and others' doing--this book is for you.
14 people found this helpful
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Kitty Bryant
5.0 out of 5 stars Tremendously life affirming
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2019
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When I read of the epic scale of this novel, I imagined receiving a book of at least 400 pages. Instead I was offered a slim volume that accomplished a sweep of Chinese history through the portrayal of one man and his family and his village. The writing style is a wonderful mixture of deadpan humor and heartfelt emotionalism and matter-of-fact acceptance of the tragic and the absurd. I loved all the characters. Many bad and sad occurrences befall our hero, and you'd think such a book would be depressing but I found it exactly the opposite - tremendously life affirming.
5 people found this helpful
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Mary Reinert
5.0 out of 5 stars One man's hard yet resilient life
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2012
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Almost unbelievable job of taking the reader into the life of a common man in China when the country was undergoing drastic change. Fugui begins life as a privileged son but his life evolves into one of hardship and sorrow interspersed with tiny drops of hope and joy. The ability of the author to depict the everyday life of the Chinese peasant in the countryside is extraordinary. Despite a different time period, there is some similarity to "The Good Earth" by Pearl Buck, but with Fugui as the narrator the story becomes even more personal.

I must admit I had a bit of trouble getting into the book and felt the wording or phrasing seemed awkward in places. The format of Fugui telling his life story to a man collecting popular folk songs seemed strained. Once into Fugui's story, I was totally immersed into his life. Only once or twice does the listener (the folk song collector) interfere and then it seems so appropriate allowing the reader to see Fugui as another would see him: "the old man's dark face smiling in the sunlight was quite moving. The wrinkles on his face moved about happily." The happiness on Fugui's face tells so much after the reader has heard his life story. In short, this is a look at a man who accepts the life that was handed him; there is no whining, no second guessing, none of our Western world's internal angst and second guessing. It's a good book and one that should be read.
12 people found this helpful
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Website's Mom
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Brutal
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2023
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is a poor man's life. This book made me laugh and it made me cry. In the end as l finished it, it made me smile.
2 people found this helpful
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Nancy from Ohio
3.0 out of 5 stars Raw and unfiltered
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2023
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It’s an interesting story, but I do have to question the interpretation of it. Perhaps Chinese people actually do speak in such an uncaring and vulgar way, but it reads much more like something a young American of today would’ve written.
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Karl Johnson
4.0 out of 5 stars Book was is in good condition!
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2019
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Binding was solid and there was no writing on the pages of the text. A dog ear or two but otherwise condition was as expected.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful book
Reviewed in Mexico on April 16, 2021
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very beautiful book. the order came earlier than expected. totally recommend
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W.Z.
5.0 out of 5 stars Geschenkkauf
Reviewed in Germany on December 20, 2022
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Alles i. O.
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Pedro
5.0 out of 5 stars Todo OK.
Reviewed in Spain on July 25, 2021
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Buen estado. Todo OK!
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Caroline Cheng
5.0 out of 5 stars I hate reading, but love the book
Reviewed in Canada on May 31, 2018
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It is the first book that I have finished in English, and the story is so realistic and interesting. I hate reading, but love the book!
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Vee
5.0 out of 5 stars completely immersed
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 3, 2013
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This was my first book from this author and was a great starting point for my newly found interest in Chinese writing. The characters are well developed allowing one to completely relate and empathise -'feel' their experiences. Because of his writing and the way the ending is put together Yu Hua masterfully managed to leave me okay with everything that had happened throughout the book and accept it as..well..life-but not manage to depress - leaving one still optimistic about good things to come.

A definite must read!
5 people found this helpful
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