![]() First edition (French) | |
Author | Qiu Xiaolong |
---|---|
Original title | Cité de la Poussière rouge |
Language | English |
Genre | Short stories |
Published |
French translation in 2008 English book in 2010 |
Pages | 240 |
ISBN | 9781429942614 |
Years of Red Dust is a collection of short stories by Qiu Xiaolong. The book in English was published in 2010; [1] but the stories were originally published in Le Monde [1] and a book in French was published in 2008. [2]
It is a story about China between 1949 and 2005, told through changes experienced by people living in the Red Dust neighbourhood in Shanghai. [3]
Each chapter tells a story from a different year, consisting of two strands, slice-of-life personal histories of ordinary people living in Red Dust Lane, mixed with the ever-changing narrative of China’s socialist history. [4] Most of the stories begin with non-fiction excerpts from wall newspapers of China's past. [5] Incidents involve neighbors who are academics, those who own businesses, those who join the military, as well as manual laborers. One chapter includes a fictionalized account, based on a real life event, of preparations for the day U.S. President Richard Nixon visited Shanghai. [6]
The setting is in Shanghai where "the flow of the green slime of corruption, pollution and greed (for money), races with the flow of blood and champagne", according to Aftenposten. [7]
The book has been on best-seller lists in France and Germany. [8]
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (February 2014) |
The book has been translated to other languages, including:
![]() First edition (French) | |
Author | Qiu Xiaolong |
---|---|
Original title | Cité de la Poussière rouge |
Language | English |
Genre | Short stories |
Published |
French translation in 2008 English book in 2010 |
Pages | 240 |
ISBN | 9781429942614 |
Years of Red Dust is a collection of short stories by Qiu Xiaolong. The book in English was published in 2010; [1] but the stories were originally published in Le Monde [1] and a book in French was published in 2008. [2]
It is a story about China between 1949 and 2005, told through changes experienced by people living in the Red Dust neighbourhood in Shanghai. [3]
Each chapter tells a story from a different year, consisting of two strands, slice-of-life personal histories of ordinary people living in Red Dust Lane, mixed with the ever-changing narrative of China’s socialist history. [4] Most of the stories begin with non-fiction excerpts from wall newspapers of China's past. [5] Incidents involve neighbors who are academics, those who own businesses, those who join the military, as well as manual laborers. One chapter includes a fictionalized account, based on a real life event, of preparations for the day U.S. President Richard Nixon visited Shanghai. [6]
The setting is in Shanghai where "the flow of the green slime of corruption, pollution and greed (for money), races with the flow of blood and champagne", according to Aftenposten. [7]
The book has been on best-seller lists in France and Germany. [8]
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (February 2014) |
The book has been translated to other languages, including: