You Should Read This House Special Book: Brothers by Yu Hua

Wow!





If I thought it wasn't cheating to give just a one word review of the book, I wouldn't go any further. But I do, so I will.

Back in January I was listened to Fresh Air's Maureen Corrigan review Brothers by Yu Hua. She used Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities as a reference point for the review. Wolfe is one of my favorite writers. His fiction isn't as strong as his earlier work, but I enjoy reading the fruits of his literary philosophy that modern fiction should embrace realism. So this comparison got my attention. By the end of the review Maureen said that Wolfe's own fiction was a pale imitator of his literary philosophy when compared with Yu's Brothers (the details appear to have been changed in the transcript).

She was right. No where was this more apparent than in the conclusion. Wolfe went pretty far off the deep end in the epilogues of Bonfire and A Man in Full. Charlotte Simmons was a bit more reasonable. Brothers was more satisfying in that I wasn't left scratching my head with character twists that were not in character.

But this website purports to be about China law and business, so I'm gonna step away from the literary criticism and look at what Brothers might teach us about China.

I didn't live in China during the Cultural Revolution, thus I can't illuminate my readers as to the accuracy of Yu's portrayal of it. Instead I'm going to assume that the book's overwhelmingly positive reception in China, and the governments refusal to ban it speaks to its authenticity. The only work of fiction I've read that touches on the CR is Wolf Totem. The treatment: we were students in Beijing, we got sent to Mongolia, it was pretty awesome. Not the typical CR story that the history books evoke. Brothers seemed somehow more typical, and Yu did a fine job of addressing the CR from a variety of perspectives, if not voices.

The book is worth the read for the CR story alone. But it will stick with you because of Baldy Li. Baldy is the stereotypical self-made man. He loves his brother, but I was was never convinced he didn't hold more love for his golden john. He is that troubling new man.

There is a particular passage about Baldy I wanted to include, but everyone quotes that one. Alternatively, here's a taste of Baldy:

The two steaming bowls of noodles were placed in front of Baldy Li, who then pointed at them with his chopsticks and asked with a smile, “Which will I eat first? The advantage of starting with the house special is that I would eat the best one first, but then I wouldn't be able to appreciate the plain one. This strategy would be one of seeking quick profits. On the other hand, if I start with the plain one followed by the house special, I would be able to appreciate the flavor of each, and furthermore they would get increasingly flavorful through the meal. This latter strategy is one of long-range ambition.

Baldy Li hadn't even finished his speech when he heard his fourteen loyal minions all swallow eagerly. He could see the idiots drooling and realized that if he didn't stop talking, they were likely to pounce on his noodles, so he said loudly, “I'll fucking eat the house special one first!”

If you're stuck on what book you're going to read next, I recommend that you fucking read this one first.