Against a broad historical canvas, the novel centers on the interplay between its female protagonist, Sun Meiniang, and the three paternal figures in her life. One of these men is her biological father, Sun Bing, an opera virtuoso and a leader of the Boxer Rebellion. As the bitter events surrounding the revolt unfold, we watch Sun Bing march toward his cruel fate, the gruesome “sandalwood punishment,” whose purpose, as in crucifixions, is to keep the condemned individual alive in mind-numbing pain as long as possible.Filled with the sensual imagery and lacerating expressions for which Mo Yan is so celebrated, Sandalwood Death brilliantly exhibits a range of artistic styles, from stylized arias and poetry to the antiquated idiom of late Imperial China to contemporary prose. Its starkly beautiful language is here masterfully rendered into English by renowned translator Howard Goldblatt.

    Second edition, revised

    The year is 1949. "Focusing mainly on the actual life-and-death struggles inside the camps on the eve of the city's liberation, the story extol's the revolutionary martyrs whose unfailing optimism, fortitude and resourcefulness enable them to overcome the ordeals of torture, hunger and truth drugs. They finally establish contact with the Party Underground outside the prison, strengthening the overall revolutionary struggle. "On the basis of the authors' intimate knowledge of the events in the countryside, factories, schools, U.S.-Chiang spy organizations and concentration camps as China's War of Liberation draws to a victorious close, the characters are superbly delineated and the story is magnificently built scene after scene into an intricately woven plot. The reader will be gripped, moved and inspired after following these heroic people through the pages of this novel as they fight for a better world."