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Overview
A beautiful new translation of beloved Chinese author Lao She's masterpiece of social realism, about the misadventures of a poor Beijing rickshaw driver
First published in China in 1937, Rickshaw Boy is the story of Xiangzi, an honest and serious country boy who works as a rickshaw puller in Beijing. A man of simple needs whose greatest ambition is to one day own his own rickshaw, Xiangzi is nonetheless thwarted, time and again, in his attempts to improve his lot in life.
One of the most important and popular works of twentieth-century Chinese literature, Rickshaw Boy is an unflinchingly honest, darkly comic look at a life on the margins of society and a searing indictment of the philosophy of individualism.
Editorials
Library Journal
This new translation of Lao She's masterpiece of social commentary is a somber tale. Farm boy Xiangzi moves to the big city and works three long years to scrape together money to buy his own rickshaw, but soldiers commandeer his rickshaw for the army. Xiangzi saves up again, but his earnings are stolen when his employer's house is raided for political reasons. He is tricked into marrying the daughter of a rickshaw renter, and she bleeds him dry with her profligate spending. When his wife dies delivering a stillborn child, the burial fees set him back again. Soon, to make ends meet, he must abandon his new love in order to get back on his feet. He finally locates a steady rickshaw gig and returns for her, only to find unbearable tragedy. Beaten, Xiangzi begins to fade away, losing his health, livelihood, and drive to excel. The reader feels tremendous sympathy for Xiangzi, even as the book comes to its inevitable conclusion. Verdict This is an impressive novel of an individual struggling against and defeated by a corrupt society. Recommended for readers who enjoy modern tragedies such as Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres.—Amy Ford, St. Mary's Cty. Lib., Lexington Park, MD(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.