Ma Jian Bücher

Meili, a young peasant woman born in the remote heart of China, is married to Kongzi, a village school teacher, and a distant descendant of Confucius. They have a daughter, but desperate for a son to carry on his illustrious family line, Kongzi gets Meili pregnant again without waiting for official permission. When family planning officers storm the village to arrest violators of the population control policy, mother, father and daughter escape to the Yangtze River and begin a fugitive life. For years they drift south through the poisoned waterways and ruined landscapes of China, picking up work as they go along, scavenging for necessities and flying from police detection. As Meili’s body continues to be invaded by her husband and assaulted by the state, she fights to regain control of her fate and that of her unborn child.

«Peking-Koma ist nicht nur die poetische Betrachtung eines Landes, das sich an einem einschneidenden Moment in seiner Geschichte befindet, sondern erinnert auch daran, dass jeder Mensch das universelle Recht auf Erinnerungen und Hoffnungen hat. Es ist in jeder Hinsicht ein bahnbrechender Roman.» The Telegraph «Ma Jian ist eine der wichtigsten und mutigsten Stimmen der chinesischen Literatur.» Literaturnobelpreisträger Gao Xingjiang