- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; Open market ed edition (25 April 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140245286
- ISBN-13: 978-0140245288
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,957,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
The government encouraged the farmers to plant garlic. But a glut on the garlic market leaves the farmers of Paradise County watching their crops rot and blacken in the fields. A blind minstrel incites the masses to take the law into their own hands, with savage and unforgettable consequences.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A story of simple people exposed to the horrors of corruption and cruelty. All suffer, some pass the brutality on to their family members, others attempt to resist but their lack of confidence undermines them. A moving tale akin to The Grapes of Wrath.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
8 reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
A Undiscovered Masterpiece
10 Jan 2001
Format:Paperback
I discovered Mo Yan and this title years ago through Amazon, when it was recommended as an "undiscovered" work. Sadly, it is still the case that very few people have read either The Garlic Ballads or Red Sorghum, Mo's other masterpiece, let alone heard of the author. This is tragic, given that he is immensely talented, one of the true literary masters writing today. The Garlic Ballads tells the tale of a group of Chinese peasants whose lives are dependent upon selling their garlic crop; when harvests exceed governmental estimates, officials curb the amount of garlic that can be brought to market, setting off a violent chain of events. Against this backdrop, Mo weaves presents three stories: that of two lovers, which dominates the novel, as well as a familial conflict and the relationship between two friends. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the Chinese equivalent of The Sound and the Fury or 100 Years of Solitude; Mo's voice is inventive, poetic and urgent, yet he never loses sight of the plot, making this book difficult to put down. Goldblatt also deserves a great deal of credit for his translation. I do not read Chinese, but I often have the sense in reading English translations, even of great works, that a great deal has been lost, that there is something missing from the original work. Goldblatt's translation is so good as to make the reader mistake this for an English novel; the prose is nearly flawless. Any reader interested in literature would be wise to pick up this novel, if just for the ending, which is unsettling yet poetically rendered, and will stick with the reader for years. Years from now, probably when Mo wins a Nobel, I am sure he will have a wide following, but for now, The Garlic Ballads is a novel that cries to be read.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
captivating
13 Feb 1999
Format:Paperback
It's difficult to let go of the book. If you consider Arundhati Roy's A God of small Things graphic and captivating, this book is ten times more. You can smell Gao Ma's sweat, feel Fourth aunt's anguish, almost to the point of having a lump in your throat.... you want to warn Jinju...... I must say it is one of the best books I have read.... it depicts simple people living in hard times, in very helpless circumstances. Basically there was no way out, and people could only console themselves that their lives were `fated'. To have a better understanding, it would really help if you read Wild Swan: three daughters of China by Jung Chang. It literally gives you heartache.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Amazingly Depressing
1 Dec 2000
Format:Paperback
This is one of those book that makes you both depressed and inspired at the same time. Set in rural China, the Garlic Ballads explores the misfortune of ordinary Chinese farmers during the post revolutionary period. Having read this book for a Political Science class on China, it was interesting to see how the policies implemented in Beijing could harm the common people so severly. Because the government told these people to grow Garlic, a non-staple food, instead of rice for instance, when they couldn't sell it they were left with nothing. you cannot survive on Garlic. This poor regional planning by the PRC leads to the ruin of many lives. The book, while not overtly political, must have rubbed someone in Beijing the wrong way because it was banned in China. Great Book, Great Author!
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