Brothers 9780330452748

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| THE CHINESE BESTSELLER

From the acclaimed — and controversial — Chinese

novelist, Brothers is a big-spirited comedy of society running amok in modern China that follows two

brothers riding the dizzying rollercoaster of life in a newly capitalist world. Yu Hua has created a book that will resonate with Western readers just as it dazzled — and scandalized — millions of Chinese.

When Baldy Li’s mother marries Song Gang’s father,

the two boys become brothers. Although they are inseparable as children, their ambitions and

personalities are very different and, as they grow into adulthood, these differences become more rather

than less pronounced. Song Gang is thoughtful and serious, and puts his brother first in everything he

does; Baldy Li, meanwhile, is obsessed by sex (even before he fully understands what the act involves) and an unquenchable desire to make something of

himself — for Baldy Li plans to become a man of the

world. In all senses of the word. And because Baldy Li is a man who always (well, almost always) keeps his word, he does, indeed, become successful—

beyond even his wildest imaginings. In fact, as he grows older, and richer, it becomes

obvious that there is just one thing missing from Baldy Li’s life, and that’s a wife with whom to share it. There is only one woman for Baldy Li, however: Lin Hong, the town beauty; Lin Hong, who just

happens to be the love of Song Gang’s life. . .

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Cries in the Drizzle Chronicle of a Blood Merchant To Live The Past and the Punishments

BROTHERS

YU HUA Translated from the Chinese by Eileen Cheng-yin Chow and Carlos Rojas

PICADOR =~

First published 2009 by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

First published in Great Britain 2009 by Picador an imprint of Pan Macmillan Ltd Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR Basingstoke and Oxford Associated companies throughout the world

www.panmacmillan.com ISBN 978-0-330-45274-8

Translation and translators’ preface copyright © Eileen Cheng-yin Chow and Carlos Rojas 2009 Originally published in China in two volumes as Xiong Di by

Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House in 2005 and 2006. Volume One copyright © 2005. Volume Two copyright © 2006.

The right of Yu Hua to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance

with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved, No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored in or introduced intoa retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission ofthe publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized

;

act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. 135798642 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Mackays, Chatham ME5 8TD

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CONTENTS

TRANSLATORS’

PREFACE

Vii

PART

ONE

PART TWO 201

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