![]() ![]() Indeed, what Li’s novel seems to tell us from a capitalistic western center that communism too is about sources of power and how those power sources necessarily corrupt even the most well-intention individuals and how ethics are ultimately situational. The town’s name is perhaps more evocative of how obscure everyone’s morals have become following the failures of post-Cultural Revolution China to bring out the most optimistic elements in Mao’s reform policies. The setting is post-Cultural Revolution China, in a small, but growing provincial town, called Muddy River. It is a cruel novel with very few characters that one can sympathize with and it is also written from an extremely non-domestic context, with very few references to the United States if any at all. This novel is NOT for the faint of heart nor for those who might want a pleasurable read. ![]() A gifted prose stylist, she returns to the publishing scene with her first novel, the incredibly dark, The Vagrants (Random House, 2009). Yiyun Li is author of the well-received A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, a short story collection that was the recipient of the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. A Review of Yiyun Li’s The Vagrants (Random House, 2009). ![]()
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