Ninth Building

A fascinating collection of vignettes based on the author’s life in China during the Cultural Revolution"A kaleidoscopic & understated collection of interlocking tales of life in an apartment building under the Cultural Revolution – the daily tedium of its inhabitants, lit by brief & tenuous moments of shared humanity." - The 2023 International Booker Prize JudgesNinth Building is a fascinating collection of vignettes drawn from Zou Jingzhi’s experience growing up during the Cultural Revolution: first as a boy in Beijing & then as a teenager exiled to the countryside, Zou captures a side of the Cultural Revolution that is seldom talked about - the sheer tedium & waste of young life under the regime, as well as the gallows humour that accompanies such desperate situations. "These blunt, tamped-down translations of tales of youth during [the] cultural revolution in Beijing address the grim cruelty of that time." - PEN AmericaJeremy Tiang’s enthralling translation of this important work of fiction was awarded a PEN/Heim Grant.°°° Zou Jingzhi (Chinese name: 邹静之) is highly regarded in China as a fiction writer, poet, essayist, screenwriter, & playwright. He is a founding member of the Chinese theatre collective Longmashe. As a screenwriter, the films he wrote for Zhang Yimou & Wong Kar Wai have been well-received at film festivals across the world. His plays & operas have been performed in China as well as internationally, & his poems & essays have been very influential, going into multiple reprints.Jeremy Tiang is a novelist, playwright & Sinophone translator. Recent translations include Liu Xinwu's The Wedding Party, which was shortlisted for the National Translation Award, as well as novels by Zhang Yueran, Shuang Xuetao, Lo Yi-Chin, Yan Ge & Yeng Pway Ngon. Their novel State of Emergency won the Singapore Literature Prize in 2018... Ninth Building is a fascinating collection of vignettes drawn from Zou Jingzhi's experience growing up during the Cultural Revolution, first as a boy in Beijing and then as a teenager exiled to the countryside. Zou poetically captures a side of the Cultural Revolution that is less talked about—the sheer tedium and waste of young life, as well as the gallows humor that accompanies such desperate situations. Jeremy Tiang's enthralling translation of this important work of fiction was awarded a PEN/Heim Grant. A first-hand look at growing up during Mao's Cultural Revolution. Follows the author's life as a boy in Beijing and then as an exile in the countryside. Of interested to anyone curious about life under Mao. Authored by one of Chinas leading writers