To Live
Yu Hua · b. 1960 · China
Originally Huozhe (Chinese) · translated by Michael Berry
Why it matters
Fugui gambles away his family's fortune, then survives civil war, famine, and the Cultural Revolution: losing everyone, keeping life. Devastating calm; banned at home, and China's most beloved novel abroad.
At a glance
historical fictiontragedy
Difficulty 3/10fast pace240 pagesPlain, folkloric storytelling voice despite its accumulating tragedy.
Deep dive
How successive catastrophe becomes the source of this novel's strange calm, why Fugui's own gambling ruin ends up saving his life, and what the folk-song frame is doing to keep this from turning into melodrama.
Where to go next
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Lao She · 1937Rickshaw BoyLvl 3Medium pace
Lu Xun · 1921The Real Story of Ah-Q and Other TalesLvl 5Fast paced
Ding Ling · 1928Miss Sophie's DiaryLvl 4Fast paced
Xiao Hong · 1935The Field of Life and DeathLvl 6Slow burn
Franz Kafka · 1915The MetamorphosisLvl 4Medium pace