Raise the Red Lantern Three Novellas
Raise the Red Lantern Three Novellas by Su Tong is a collection published by HarperCollins on July 6, 2004, featuring 272 pages in English. This edition presents a vivid exploration of life in 1930s provincial China, where themes of prostitution, poverty, and drug addiction are intricately woven into the narratives. The title novella, “Raise the Red Lantern,” follows the story of Lotus, a young woman who becomes a concubine after her father’s suicide, navigating a world filled with despair and cruelty.
Readers will encounter a stark portrayal of human struggles through the other novellas as well. “Nineteen Thirty-Four Escapes” chronicles a family’s disintegration amid disease and the false hopes of a better life, while “Opium Family” examines the decline of a landowning clan due to corruption and treachery. Each story reflects the brutal realities of the time, presented with Su Tong’s striking prose that captures the essence of these dark yet poignant experiences.
Official synopsis Publisher
The brutal realities of the dark places Su Tong depicts in this collection of novellas set in 1930s provincial China — worlds of prostitution, poverty, and drug addiction — belie his prose of stunning and simplebeauty. The title novella, “Raise the Red Lantern,” which became a critically acclaimed film, tells the story of Lotus, a young woman whose father’s suicide forces her to become the concubine of a wealthy merchant. Crushed by loneliness, despair, and cruel treatment, Lotus finds her descent into insanity both a weapon and a refuge.
“Nineteen Thirty-Four Escapes” is an account of a family’s struggles during one momentous year; plagued by disease, death, and the shady promise of life in a larger town, the family slowly disintegrates.
Finally, “Opium Family” details the last years of a landowning clan whose demise is brought about by corruption, lust, and treachery — fruits of the insidious crop they harvest.
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