The Malaysian Insider :: Books

China’s Mo Yan feeds off suffering to win Nobel literature prize

Posted: 11 Oct 2012 04:24 AM PDT

Chinese writer Mo Yan smiles during an interview at his house in Beijing in this file photo of December 24, 2009. Mo Yan won the 2012 Nobel prize for literature on October 11, 2012 for works which the awarding committee said had qualities of 'hallucinatory realism'. – Reuters/China Daily

BEIJING, Oct 11 – Mo Yan, who has won the Nobel literature prize, was forced to drop out of primary school and herd cattle during China's Cultural Revolution and was sometimes so destitute he ate tree bark and weeds to survive.

But Mo, 57, credits this early suffering for inspiring his works which tackle corruption, decadence in Chinese society, China's family planning policy and rural life.

"Loneliness and hunger were my fortunes of creation", the author of the novel Red Sorghum said once.

The decision to award Mo the prestigious prize will be greeted with elation and consternation in China – he is the first Chinese national to win the literature prize.

The author, whose pen name Mo Yan means "don't speak", is regarded by critics as being too close to the Communist Party, although some of his books were banned. His book titles include "Big Breasts and Wide Hips" and "The Republic of Wine".

Influenced by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, D.H. Lawrence and Ernest Hemingway, Mo uses fantasy and satire in many of his books, which have been labelled by state media as "provocative and vulgar".

Red Sorghum portrays the hardships endured by farmers in the early years of communist rule and was made into a film by Oscar-nominated director Zhang Yimou.

The threat of a book being banned in the domestic market means Chinese authors have to step carefully if they want to make a living, even if the censorship system today is not as terrifying as it was during the hardline Maoist era.

"A writer should express criticism and indignation at the dark side of society and the ugliness of human nature, but we should not use one uniform expression," Mo said in a speech at the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair, according to China Daily.

"Some may want to shout on the street, but we should tolerate those who hide in their rooms and use literature to voice their opinions."

Books of Chinese writer Mo Yan are on display during the book fair in Frankfurt, October 11, 2012. The world's largest book fair runs from October 9 to October 14. – Reuters pic

A number of rights activists and other writers had said Mo was unworthy of the prize and denounced him for commemorating a speech by Chairman Mao Zedong.

Mo, together with other Chinese writers, copied out sections of Mao's speech for a special book to mark the 70th anniversary of the speech. It had said writers who did not integrate their work with the Communist revolution would be punished.

"On the political front, he is singing the same tune with an undemocratic regime," prominent rights lawyer Teng Biao said before the award. "I think for him to win the Nobel Prize for Literature is inappropriate."

"As an influential writer, he (Mo) didn't use his influence to speak up for intellectuals and political prisoners – instead he catered to the government's interests by handwriting the speech."

Teng said that Mo, a vice-chairman of the government-backed Chinese Writers' Association, shied away from commenting on the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize award to Liu Xiaobo, who was sentenced in 2009 to an 11-year jail term for inciting subversion.

Mo, whose real name is Guan Moye, was born into a peasant family in Gaomi, a village in eastern Shandong province.

When the Cultural Revolution ended, he joined the People's Liberation Army. He studied at the army's institute of arts and literature and later at Beijing Normal University, where he received a master's degree in literature and art.

"I think writers write for their consciences, they write for their own true audiences, for their souls," Mo said in an interview with China Daily. "No person writes to win awards."

An employee of the sales department of a publishing house that prints Mo's works said Mo, who is in Shandong, is declining media interviews. Mo could not be reached as his mobile phone was turned off.

"He thinks it's too noisy now, he wants to concentrate on his writing," said the employee, who declined to give her name, adding that Mo has been working on his new book for three to four months.

"Mo Yan is a person who has very high expectations for himself."

Gao Xingjian, who won the prize in 2000, was born in China but was a French national when he won the award. A spokesman for the Chinese Writers' Association dismissed the prize as one used for "political purposes, and has therefore lost its authority".

Gao's novels and plays have been banned in his homeland since 1986. – Reuters

Slim former US Governor Sarah Palin working on fitness book

Posted: 10 Oct 2012 10:35 PM PDT

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who has recently been photographed looking slimmer, is working on a book about personal fitness, she told a celebrity magazine. — Reuters pic

LOS ANGELES, Oct 11 — Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who has recently been photographed looking slimmer, is working on a book about personal fitness, she told a celebrity magazine.

"Our family is writing a book on fitness and self-discipline focusing on where we get our energy and balance as we still eat our beloved homemade comfort foods!" Palin told People magazine in an article posted to its website on Tuesday.

Palin quickly became a top star in Republican circles after she was named as the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008. She resigned as governor of Alaska in 2009 and went on to publish two books, the memoir "Going Rogue: An American Life" and "America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag."

Palin, who competed in Alaska beauty pageants in the 1980s, has been photographed recently looking thin, which sparked speculation in the media about her health.

After playing a prominent role in the 2010 mid-term elections by endorsing certain Republican candidates for Congress, Palin has been less visible in the current campaign season leading up to the November presidential election. Meanwhile, her daughter, Bristol, is back on television in the ABC show "Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars."

Attorneys for Palin did not return calls seeking comment on her plans for a fitness book. It was not clear if Palin or her family have a publisher lined up.

In the past, Palin has criticised first lady Michelle Obama's anti-obesity campaign, telling a talk radio show in 2010 the "Let's Move" program aimed at schools was government intrusion and that parents and families should decide for themselves what children eat.

Palin, 48, played on a championship high school basketball team in the 1980s and she has been an avid runner, completing a marathon in Anchorage in 2005 in less than four hours. Her father, a retired teacher, is a former track-and-field coach.

Palin's husband, Todd, is a four-time champion of the Iron Dog, a 2,000-mile event in Alaska that is billed as the world's longest snowmobile race.

"We promise you what we do works and allows a fulfilling quality of life and sustenance anyone can enjoy," Palin told People about her fitness book project. — Reuters

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Khamis, 11 Oktober 2012

The Malaysian Insider :: Books

The Malaysian Insider :: Books

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