Heart Sutra

‘One of those rare geniuses who finds in the peculiar absurdities of his own culture the absurdities that infect all cultures.’ * Washington Post *
‘Yan Lianke speaks to the agitation and absurdity of human existence, and the unquenchable need to believe in a cause greater than ourselves.’ * Jessie Au, author of Cold Enough for Snow *
‘Picaresque, but with serious matters of faith, love, and political wrangling at its fast-beating heart.’ * Kirkus Reviews *
‘Intriguing satire…[Yan Lianke’s] barbs against organised religion frequently hit their targets…[T]here is plenty to admire.’ * Booklist *
‘Heart Sutra is a warm-hearted, if not gentle, satire that skewers religious institutions without mocking faith itself…by its end, it has moved through absurdity, darkness, and body horror into a strange and flickering form of hope…a deeply satisfying read…Yan’s storytelling has a luminous, irrepressible quality…in its darkness, it shines.’ * NPR *
‘Extremely intriguing…Glimpses of early Salman Rushdie.’ * RNZ: Nine to Noon *
‘In the realm of Olga Tokarczuk…There are a lot of things that I really love about this book.’ * 95bFM Loose Reads *
‘Complex and multi-layered; simultaneously a love story, a commentary on contemporary China, and a satire…Lianke’s writing is lush, surreal, and not afraid to laugh at the absurdity of existence. He excels in creating a highly sensual world in which weather, food, and surroundings have a life of their own and divine beings may appear at any moment.’ * Otago Daily Times *
‘Picaresque, but with serious matters of faith, love, and political wrangling at its fast-beating heart.’ * Kirkus (starred review) *

Yan Lianke is the author of the memoir Three Brothers and numerous novels and novellas, including Hard Like Water, The Day the Sun Died, The Explosion Chronicles, The Four Books, Lenin’s Kisses, Serve the People!, Dream of Ding Village, and The Years, Months, Days. He was awarded the Newman Prize for Chinese Literature and the Franz Kafka Prize, among many accolades. He was twice a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize, and he has been shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the Man Asian Literary Prize, and the Prix Femina Étranger. He has also received two of China’s most prestigious literary honors, the Lu Xun Prize and the Lao She Award.

Carlos Rojas has translated seven books by Yan Lianke.

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