Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners but is currently hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog. This meme is quite easy to follow – just randomly pick a book from your to-be-read list and explain why you want to read it. It is that simple.

This week’s book:

The Sun Shines Over the Sanggan River by Ding Ling

Blurb from Goodreads

The Sun Shines Over the Sanggan River, written in 1948 and based on the author’s personal experiences, reflects the life of peasants and the class struggle at the time of the implementation of land reform in north China. Under the author’s pen, the characters in the novel — Communist Party members, poor peasants, petty bourgeois intellectuals, rich peasants and landlords — achieve individuality. They are all based on people the author met and knew in the village.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday everyone! How was your weekend? Mine is rather slow and I am glad. I am currently in Taiwan for a long and badly needed holiday. I haven’t done much today either except eat and read. Not that I am complaining. Anyway, I hope everyone was able to rejuvenate themselves during the weekend. I hope you all spent it resting and preparing for what lies ahead in the coming week. I know, Monday is nearly everyone’s least favorite day of the week. Nevertheless, I hope everyone had a great start to the workweek. There are still four days before the next weekend so I hope you conserve your energy for the rest of the week. Despite what I surmise is a slugging start to the week, I hope everyone started the work week on a high note. I hope everyone makes it through the week. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in mind, body, and spirit, not only this week but for the rest of the year.

To commence another book blogging week, I am sharing a fresh Goodreads Monday update. Over the past couple of years, this has become a tradition. For years, it has developed into a perfect way to start the blogging and reading week. It allows me to share a book I am looking forward to; they are either books I already have or books that I just learned about on the day I featured them. The latter is the case for this week’s featured book, Ding Ling’s The Sun Shines over the Sanggan River Today is the first time I came across the Chinese writer while searching for female Chinese writers. You see, I haven’t read that many works of Chinese writers, more so female Chinese writers. This is one of the reasons why I commenced my reading year with the works of East Asian writers although the primary driver for this is my inability to host a Japanese Literature Month last year. In a way, this foray into the works of East Asian writers will redress the gap between books originally written in English and translated works I read.

Back to Ding Ling (丁玲, Dīng Líng). I was today years old when I learned that she is a prominent name in the ambit of Chinese literature. It is the penname by Jiang Bingzhi (蔣冰之, Jiǎng Bīngzhī) who is a very active voice in leftist literary circles connected to the Chinese Communist Party. Her brand of politics led to her imprisonment by the Chinese Nationalist Party. It was also her politics that she was denounced and purged during the Anti-Rightist Campaign in 1958. Wow. Learning about her is a walk through contemporary Chinese history. I am already fascinated. Anyway, she has also built a very credible literary resume. Among her most renowned literary works is The Sun Shines Over Sanggan River. The book was completed and published in 1948 as Taiyang zhao zai Sangganhe shang. The book won the Stalin Prize for Literature in 1951. It is also widely considered one of the best examples of socialist-realist fiction.

The Sun Shines Over Sanggan River also drew inspiration from the author’s experiences during the Land Reform. This makes it a little personal and also gives me more reason to look forward to it. I just hope I get to obtain a copy of the book. I am looking forward to the prospect of being introduced to a voice whose oeuvre I haven’t explored before. How about you fellow reader? How was your Monday? What books have you added to your reading list? Do drop it in the comment box. For now, happy Monday and, as always, happy reading!