Rice
Su Tong · b. 1963 · China
Originally Mi (Chinese) · translated by Howard Goldblatt
Why it matters
A starving village boy claws his way to power in a corrupt rice-shop dynasty, his hunger curdling into cruelty toward everyone who ever pitied him. Su Tong's harshest novel, as claustrophobic as Raise the Red Lantern but without any of its lyricism's mercy.
At a glance
family sagatragedypsychological novel
Difficulty 6/10medium pace256 pagesAn unsparing, morally bleak descent offers no sympathetic vantage to soften its cruelty.
