Three Brothers: Memories of My Family

In this loving, episodic memoir, Chinese novelist Lianke (The Explosion Chronicles) recalls his family%E2%80%99s experiences%E2%80%94specifically that of his father%E2%80%99s two brothers%E2%80%94during the 1960s and %E2%80%9970s Cultural Revolution. After spending his teen years as a student in the Henan province, Lianke helped to support his family by joining his uncle, Siyue, working 16-hour days at a cement factory in the city of Xinxiang in 1975. He then joined the army at 20 to further help his family, during which time his father died. %E2%80%9CIt was because I wanted to join the army that he fell ill in the first place,%E2%80%9D he writes, feeling guilt over leaving his family. He then pays homage to his father%E2%80%99s younger brother, Dayue, a poor but generous man who wove socks for free for his fellow villagers and gave Lianke treats he could barely afford. (%E2%80%9CI still vividly recall the sweetness of those candies in a lifetime of endless bitterness,%E2%80%9D Lianke writes.) Siyue, meanwhile, who left the family%E2%80%99s village to manage the Xinxiang factory, %E2%80%9Cshouldered the miseries of both urban life and rural life%E2%80%9D as a %E2%80%9Cbowed-head%E2%80%9D worker who aspired to a greater life in the city but remained stuck between social classes. Told in straightforward prose, this is a powerful family memoir of a tumultuous era of China%E2%80%99s recent past. (Mar.)