The Corpse Walker

Starred review from February 18, 2008
In this rich, often harrowing oral history, Chinese writer (and notorious target of censors) Liao travels to the margins of Chinese society, interviewing 27 outsiders from China's forgotten classes. The book contains an incredible cast of characters: a grave robber, a composer, a leper, a professional mourner paid to wail at funerals, a human trafficker and a delusional peasant who has anointed himself emperor. These conversations, largely recorded from memory, showcase Liao's empathy for his subjects and a particular talent for getting into tight situations; on one occasion, the author is forced to leap out of a three-story building when he fears the Communist government is targeting him for talking to a Falun Gong supporter. Liao's research took 11 years, and his final product is a stunning series of portraits of a generation and class of individuals ignored in history books and unacknowledged in the accounts of the “new” China.

April 15, 2008
A popular and much-censored author in China, Laio here illuminates the lives of those at the very bottom of Chinese societypeople who don't officially exist in today's modern China and who were often the most affected by the Cultural Revolution. Based on conversations Laio had between 1990 and 2001 and presented in interview format, this book offers the oral histories of 27 intriguing men and women, who range from grave robber to former Red Guard, migrant worker, political prisoner, and Buddhist abbot. One even recalls the lowly work of the title's traditional corpse walker, who returns to their homeland the bodies of those who died elsewhere. While their lives are often tragically sad, these individuals are often humorous in their reflections, and each has such a distinct voice that you are not likely to forget any of them soon. Highly recommended for larger libraries and for all libraries with Chinese collections.Melissa Aho, Univ. of Minnesota Lib., Minneapolis

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2008
Poet and novelist Liao, imprisoned for four years by the Chinese government for his poem condemning the massacre at Tiananmen Square, offers intimate portraits of ordinary people in China. Using interviews with hundreds of villagers whose lives have not benefited from the astounding economic growth of the new China, he offers oral histories of their lives lived day to day. Among his interview subjects are professional mourners, a former Red Guard, a trafficker in women, a grave robber, and a former political prisoner. Liao talked to people in villages where traditions have changed little as well as those where the old ways have clashed with the Revolution. A man recounts how fear of leprosy and evil dragons prompted villagers to burn his wife alive. The shocked husband was then obligated to feed them at a festival afterward. A retired government official recounts the hardships during the Cultural Revolution, the passion of the villagers and the hypocrisy of leaders, and the need for an honest assessment and apology. Liao offers rich detail about people who live well outside the spotlight trained on China.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)