Author:Yukio Mishima,Meredith Weatherby
'There is in this world a kind of desire like stinging pain'
A Japanese teenager is overcome with longing for his male classmate. He imagines his body punctured with arrows, like the body of St Sebastian in the painting that obsesses him. Over and over again, each night in his private fantasies, the objects of his lust are tortured, killed and maimed. But, in the rigid world of imperial wartime Japan there is no place for such transgressive desires. He must wear a false mask and hide his true nature, whatever the cost.
'A terrific and astringent work of beauty' The Times Literary Supplement
'Mishima is lucid in the midst of emotional confusion, funny in the midst of despair' Christopher Isherwood
'Never has a "confession" been freer from self-pity' Sunday Times
Mishima is lucid in the midst of emotional confusion, funny in the midst of despair
—— Christopher IsherwoodNever has a "confession" been freer from self-pity and emotional over-indulgence
—— Sunday TimesA writer of immense energy and ability
—— Time OutA terrific and astringent work of beauty... a work of art
—— Times Literary SupplementThe novel, a parody, sets itself up as a kind of Maoist Anna Karenina . . . At its core, Hard Like Water seeks to make a mockery of claims to political purity. As Hongmei and Aijun arouse each other with propaganda slogans and revolutionary citations, the novel pokes fun at how easily an ideology can be contorted to satisfy individual desires
—— Jennifer Wilson , New York TimesA piercing satire of Communism and the language of revolutions
—— Ángel Gurría-Quitana , Financial Times, *Books of the Year*Yan probes the darkness and absurdity of Chinese society and history with a sexy satirical tale of the Cultural Revolution as wrought in a small village . . . distinctive and punchy. Yan's exuberant and unflinching tragicomedy is undeniably appealing
—— Publishers WeeklySurreal and amusing, biting and fun
—— Caroline Overington , The AustralianA gritty, memorable story . . . Yan's study of power and class struggle becomes, in the end, a near-classic tragedy
—— Kirkus ReviewYan's signature biting wit creates another indelible work of bittersweet humor and socio-political insight
—— BooklistPredicted to become a new future classic . . . this is a powerful, multi-faceted book that questions everything from marriage to sexual desire, power and the dangers of hubris
—— Clara Strunck , BuroGao Aijun, the narrator of this boisterous novel, set during the Cultural Revolution, finds his life charmless: his village is like "a pool of stagnant water," and his wife makes him feel "a clump of cotton" in his throat. Then he meets a beautiful woman, also married, and, to attract her, sets out to lead the "revolution" in their village. In speech larded with Mao quotes and traditional maxims, Gao reveals how their romance, fuelled by the feverish political climate, pitches the village into ever-escalating extremism -- a years-long parade of self-advancing schemes culminating in an unthinkable end
—— New Yorker