Sandalwood Death

Sandalwood Death (Chinese: 檀香刑) is a 2001 novel by Nobel prize-winning author Mo Yan.[1] The English version, translated by Howard Goldblatt, was released in 2013 by the University of Oklahoma Press.[2]

Sandalwood Death
First edition (Chinese)
AuthorMo Yan
Original title檀香刑
Published2001
Published in English
2013

Plot summary

Maoqiang (猫腔) opera singer Sun Bing, a leader of the Boxer Rebellion, is sentenced to death for attacking at the hands of his daughter's father-in-law, an executioner known for killing by "sandalwood death," a slow method of punishment in which the victim is skewered with a cured sandalwood rod.[3]

In his author's note, Yan writes that he had difficulty telling friends what his book was about, eventually electing to tell them it was "all about sound."[4]

References

  1. "Mo Yan, Chinese author". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  2. "Press Release: MO YAN WINS THE 2012 NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE | Chinese Literature Today". www.ou.edu. University of Oklahoma Press. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  3. Buruma, Ian (31 January 2013). "Folk Opera". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  4. "Fiction Book Review: Sandalwood Death by Mo Yan, trans. from the Chinese by Howard Goldblatt . Univ. of Oklahoma, $24.95 (424p) ISBN 978-0-8061-4339-2". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
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