Red Poppies
Alai
Translated by Howard Goldblatt, Syliva Li-chun Lin
A Tibetan epic - winner of the Mao Dun Prize, China's highest literary award
Within the territory governed by Chieftain Maichi, everybody knew that the son born to the Chieftain's second woman was an idiot.
That idiot was me. Filled with unforgettable characters, panoramic settings and high drama, this epic novel opens a window on to a forgotten world: Tibet before the Chinese occupation. Here over twenty turbulent years to the very eve of invasion in 1950, the wealthy Maichi family, feudal chieftains with a history of ruthless violence and extravagant passion, use the opium trade to retain power as communism presses in and the world changes around them.
Ambitious, sensuous and riveting, a personal and a political epic and a moving elegy to the lost kingdom of Tibet in all its cruelty, beauty and romance, Red Poppies is the first novel in a projected trilogy.
"Conjures up a faraway world ...an historical novel that's panoramic and intimate at the same time" New York Times
"A work of fiction of an altogether higher order" Los Angeles Times
"An atmosphere of decadence and decline fills the book, as Alai offers Western audiences a new and thought-provoking perspective on Tibetan history" Times Literary Supplement
"The juxtaposition of kindness and cruelty, the awesome beauty of Tibet and its barren earth during the famine, permeate this compelling story" Glasgow Herald
"With great artistry, Alai has revealed the rich and mysterious inner world of Tibetans. Chinese literature has never seen a work such as Red Poppies...it is a true masterpiece" Mo Yan, author of Red Sorghum
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