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    Rickshaw Boy: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Rickshaw Boy: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Rickshaw Boy: A Novel
    Ebook339 pages6 hours

    Rickshaw Boy: A Novel

    By Lao She

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “Lao She’s great novel.”
    —The New York Times

     

    A beautiful new translation of the classic Chinese novel from Lao She, one of the most acclaimed and popular Chinese writers of the twentieth century,  Rickshaw Boy chronicles the trials and misadventures of a poor Beijing rickshaw driver. Originally published in 1937, Rickshaw Boy—and the power and artistry of Lao She—can now be appreciated by a contemporary American audience.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 7, 2010
    ISBN9780062010643
    Unavailable
    Rickshaw Boy: A Novel

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    Reviews for Rickshaw Boy

    4/5

    71 ratings5 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Ever wonder what it's like to be a human pack animal? I think it's better for the humans than for animal slaves. Still, it's a hard life. A sad book but an uplifting ending.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book. It kept me engaged from beginning to end. The protagonist is an interesting character the you keep rooting for.
    • 3/5
      Xiangzi is a country boy who moves to Beiping (Beijing). He works as a rickshaw puller, and through hard work, saving, clean living, and honesty, he plans to save until he can buy his own rickshaw and eventually own a rickshaw stand. Despite his best efforts, he is thwarted every time he starts to get ahead, through no fault of his own, and eventually gives up his grand dreams, and then his basic dreams as well.An easy read, but fairly repetitive and obvious once you catch on to the pattern. Also sad and predictable.——————This novel has been very popular in China, and is an indictment of the philosophy of individualism (per the back cover)--one man, working hard alone, is unlikely or unable to move ahead given a lack of safety net or family/friend network.
    • 4/5
      Hsiang Tzu is an orphaned village boy who has come to Beijing, as so many millions have done before and since, looking for work. In the 1920's the rickshaw is still the primary means of urban transportation, and Hsiang Tzu's great size and strength, youth and good health, make him a natural for the job of rickshaw puller. He both enjoys and excels in his work and dreams of the day when he will own his own rickshaw.But fate has many lessons in store for Hsiang Tzu. Renegade soldiers, corrupt police, and the seductive boss's daughter will have their turn at confounding the young man's ambitious plans. Gradually beaten down, Hsiang Tzu nonetheless clings to his belief that honesty, clean living, and hard work will bring rewards.Lao She was a champion of left-wing causes in nationalist China. In Rickshaw he repeatedly deplores capitalist greed and "Individualism's blind alley," implying that China's poor can only receive justice through collective action. He would seem to have been a natural prophet for the Communist revolution. Tragically, though, he was either murdered or forced into suicide during the Cultural Revolution. Nonetheless he provides an exceptionally vivid, yet balanced, picture of urban poverty.The novel has been translated into English under three titles. The first translation, by Evan S. King in 1945 under the title Rickshaw Boy is heavily modified and bowdlerized. The James translation, which I read, is beautifully rendered and claims to be faithful to the original. It does, however, use the now-discarded Wade-Giles romanization. There is a newer translation, published in China, using Pinyin and titled Camel Xiangzi. Lao She was an admirer of Charles Dickens, but I find his more explicit and humorless brand of realism closer to that of Émile Zola. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      This classic of modern Chinese literature is the story of the life of Xiangzi, who comes to Beijing as a youth, hoping to make his fortune as a rickshaw boy. More universally, it is the story of a life of poverty and the difficulties of overcoming the hardships and inequities that afflict the poor in most societies.Xiangzi works hard and scrimps so that he can ultimately purchase his own rickshaw, rather than renting it. He is initially successful, but through a series of events loses that rickshaw. Over and over again, as Xiangzi appears about to better his life, circumstances intervene which push him to the bottom again. For the most part, he seems to accept these setbacks as his due, and he recognizes the futility of fighting back against the corruption of his society. This was a touching book, as well as being informative and historically important. Although it involves a segment of the undersociety in 1930's China, it could just as well have been written by Zola or Dickens. While Lao She was never a rickshaw puller, his parents were illiterate and worked menial jobs. He was well acquainted with poverty, and many of the characters and events in the book are based on people he knew in childhood. The book is written in simple prose, and ends thusly:"Watching a skinny stray dog waiting by the sweet-potato vendor's carrying pole for some peel and rootlets, he knew that he was just like this dog, struggling for some scraps to eat. As long as he managed to keep alive, why think of anything else?"Highly recommended.