Raise the Red Lantern Three Novellas
Raise the Red Lantern Three Novellas by Tong Su, published by Penguin Books in 1996, presents a collection of narratives set in 1930s provincial China. This edition, comprising 267 pages, explores the harsh realities of life through the lens of prostitution, poverty, and drug addiction, all conveyed with stunning and simple beauty. The title novella follows Lotus, a young woman thrust into the role of a concubine after her father’s suicide, as she navigates a world filled with loneliness and despair.
Readers will encounter a vivid portrayal of struggle and disintegration in these stories. “Nineteen Thirty-Four Escapes” chronicles a family’s challenges during a pivotal year marked by disease and death, while “Opium Family” examines the decline of a landowning clan beset by corruption and treachery. Through these interconnected tales, Su Tong delves into themes of survival and the human condition, offering a poignant reflection on the darker aspects of society.
Official synopsis Publisher
The brutal realities of the dark places Su Tong depicts in this collection of novellas set in the 1930s provincial China-worlds of prostitution, poverty, and drug addiction-belie his prose of stunning and simple beauty. The title novella 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 in insanity both weapon and 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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