Life

By: Lu Yao, Chloe Estep - translator, Ming Ming Lu - contributor, Eric Abrahamsen - foreword

Narrated by: Robert Wu

Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

An essential masterwork from Chinese literary giant Lu Yao - winner of the Mao Dun Literature Prize - available for the first time in English.

Lu Yao published only two novels before his untimely death - but their extraordinary influence catapulted the author to the top tier of Chinese contemporary fiction, establishing him as one of the most widely read and respected figures in Chinese literature.

In this first-ever translation of Lu Yao’s Life, we meet Gao Jialin, a stubborn, idealistic, and ambitious young man from a small country village whose life is upended when corrupt local politics cost him his beloved job as a schoolteacher, prompting him to reject rural life and try to make it in the big city. Against the vivid, gritty backdrop of 1980s China, Lu Yao traces the proud and passionate Gao Jialin’s difficult path to professional, romantic, and personal fulfillment - or at least hard-won acceptance.

With the emotional acuity and narrative mastery that secured his reputation as one of China’s great novelists, Lu Yao paints a vivid, emotional, and unsparing portrait of contemporary Chinese life, seen through the eyes of a working-class man who refuses to be broken.

©1982 Lu Yao (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2019 by Chloe Estep.

Hidden Gem

I don't normally review audiobooks but I just finished Life by Lu Yao and I thought it was really something special. You get to see a drastically different way of life than most of us are used to, but on the other hand the problems of the characters are very much universal and easy to relate to.

I found the narrator Robert Wu to be excellent. At first the tonal Mandarin pronunciation of names was a bit off-putting, but I came to appreciate it. It gives the work a very unique feel. It's true some of the voices are a bit cartoony, but that does a good job of making each character feel unique. And the narrator is still able to convey a great deal of emotion in the characters' words. A few of the scenes were absolutely heart-wrenching and brought tears to my eyes.

Terrible performance of a 5-stsr story

Audible should replace this version of Lu Yao's excellent story about the life and loves of Gao Jia Ling. The text juxtaposes the evolution of Jia Ling's romantic triangle with that of the lives of rural peasants in any valley of China's mountains south of, say, Hebei. As the former brigade system imposed by the Party under Mao opens up, bringing new opportunities for mobility and also corrupt nepotism, educated villagers like Jia Ling are faced with new possibilities. Unfortunately Jia Ling falls victim to petty jealousy and at the end of the book is left facing a life of labour.

Enjoyment of this audiobook is destroyed by Robert Wu's awful characterizations and unnecessary imposition of Chinese tones on the names of all characters. Very distracting and very annoying.

Good book

I loved this read and was determined to finish it. The transitions of the main character are priceless.

Surprised

I bought this book by accident. I am not fiction reader so I didn’t i would like this book. But I was pleasantly surprised. I couldn’t put the book down and finished it nearly in on sitting. Excellent story about love and life set in China. If anything, one should read this to help raise cultural awareness and understanding. Lovely story. Highly recommend.

Comical narration, but good story

The narrator’s voice went into cartoon-funny mode with some characters. Weird. But the story was good - sad and timeless. Kindness in the midst of heartache. Forgiveness and understanding, even though nothing will ever be the same. I didn’t expect that ending. Not exactly a happily ever after ending. But at the same time, an ending full of love. Read it. See for yourself.

Read the book. Don’t listen to this recording.

The narrator really almost ruined this story for me. The voices were atrocious, and many were so cartoony. Save your credit. Read the book, skip audio book until it is redone with a new narrator.

Moving Contemporary Chinese Fiction

In "Life", Lu Yao describes the opportunities and struggles protagonist Gao Jialin goes through at a pinnacle time in his young life. This is not only a portrait of contemporary Chinese life, but also representative of universal difficulties people face when making important relationship, career, and lifestyle choices that will undoubtedly affect their future financial security and social life.

While the story, characters, and world-building itself were all quite good, and I'm really glad I read this, there are some things that might have gotten lost in translation. There are a couple of clichés that are used, and some of which I do not believe exist in either Mandarin or Cantonese, so I'm not sure if the translator used clichés as an easy way out or as a necessity when there was a Chinese phrase for which there is no real way to translate it into English. Similarly, there was a poem or song or two that were super awkward in English--which I completely understand--but I wish there had been footnotes or a translator's introduction or reading of the original side-by-side or something to help build the intending mood of said poem/song.

Another side note: while I do recommend anyone interested to pick this up, I do NOT recommend the Audible version narrated by Robert Wu. He did ridiculous voices for EVERY character that wasn't the protagonist; it was so frustrating and stupid. Wu made Gao Jialin's father sound like a doofus and his mother sound like Dobby! I have no idea why he chose to narrate this way; was he trying to insert comedy where there was none? Are his over-the-top voices supposed to be making fun of the countryside folk, and if so, isn't that super offensive and exactly NOT what the author is going for here? Wu's horrible narration almost made me want to stop reading, but it isn't a super long book, so I made myself power through. I was just ashamed to have this on while anyone else was in the same room. Read a different narration or get a physical copy, please.

Those snafus aside, this story has heart and realistic characters and good symbolism. I recommend to those who like contemporary fiction, Chinese fiction, Charles Dickens, Emily Bronte, Amy Tan, Lisa See, Pearl S. Buck, historical fiction, 1980's fiction, translated fiction, international fiction, rural vs. city life struggles, love triangles, and open endings.

Not My Cup of Tea

I liked the exposure to Chinese life during its revolutionary past, and there were some interesting insights about attitudes toward relationships and class, but I had very little sympathy for the heartaches most of the main characters caused themselves and the very vulgar language that regularly popped up.