Happy Dreams, Jia Pingwa
Happy Dreams, Jia Pingwa
List: $44.99 | Sale: $31.50
Club: $22.49

Happy Dreams

Author: Jia Pingwa, Nicky Harman

Narrator: Robert Wu

Unabridged: 12 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Published: 06/05/2018


Synopsis

From one of China's foremost authors, Jia Pingwa's Happy Dreams is a powerful depiction of life in industrializing contemporary China, in all its humor and pathos, as seen through the eyes of Happy Liu, a charming and clever rural laborer who leaves his home for the gritty, harsh streets of Xi'an in search of better life.After a disastrous end to a relationship, Hawa "Happy" Liu embarks on a quest to find the recipient of his donated kidney and a life that lives up to his self-given moniker. Traveling from his rural home in Freshwind to the city of Xi'an, Happy brings only an eternally positive attitude, his devoted best friend Wufu, and a pair of high-heeled women's shoes he hopes to fill with the love of his life.In Xi'an, Happy and Wufu find jobs as trash pickers sorting through the city's filth, but Happy refuses to be deterred by inauspicious beginnings. In his eyes, dusty birds become phoenixes, the streets become rivers, and life is what you make of it. When he meets the beautiful Yichun, he imagines she is the one to fill the shoes and his Cinderella-esque dream. But when the harsh city conditions and the crush of societal inequalities take the life of his friend and shake Happy to his soul, he'll need more than just his unrelenting optimism to hold on to the belief that something better is possible.

About Jia Pingwa

Born in 1952 in Dihua Village, Danfeng County, Shaanxi Province, Jia Pingwa went on to graduate from Northwestern University's Chinese department in 1975. He is deputy chair of the China Writers' Association Presidium and chair of Writers' Association Shaanxi branch. Among his best-known works are the novels Shaanxi Opera (QinQiang), Ruined City, Turbulence, Old Kiln Village, The Lantern Bearer, Master of Songs, The Pole Flower, White Nights, Earth Gate, Gao Lao Village, and In Memory of Wolves. He is also the author of several short story collections and novellas.Passionate about spreading Chinese literature to English readers, Nicky Harman has translated the works of many renowned Chinese authors into English. They include Anni Baobei's The Road of Others, Chan Koon-Chung's The Unbearable Dreamworld of Champa the Driver, Chen Xiwo's Book of Sins, Han Dong's A Phone Call from Dalian: Collected Poems, Jia Pingwa's Happy Dreams, Dorothy Tse's Snow and Shadow, Xinran's Letter from an Unknown Chinese Mother, Xu Xiaobin's Crystal Wedding, Xu Zhiyuan's Paper Tiger, and Yan Ge's The Chili Bean Paste Clan.Harman has won several awards, including the Mao Tai Cup People's Literature Chinese-English translation prize 2015 and the 2013 China International Translation Contest, Chinese-to-English section. When not translating, she promotes contemporary Chinese fiction to the general English-language reader through literary events, blogs, talks, a short story project on Paper-Republic.org, and with the Writing Chinese project 2014-2016 at Leeds University. She also mentors new translators, teaches summer schools, and judges translation competitions. Harman resides in the United Kingdom and tweets as the China Fiction Bookclub @cfbcuk.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Michael on November 07, 2019

I really don't know how I found myself buying this book but I'm glad I read it. It is the perfect book for "anyone". It examines the concept of living happily, realizing your passions and discovering your purpose in life. I liked it very much (4 stars). Some parts were 'ho-hum' for me but everyone w......more

Goodreads review by Diego on November 08, 2020

Em português o livro chama Não Viva Pela Metade. Autor inicia falando sobre o objetivo de vida de cada um e de como alcançar o propósito. Sempre atento na jornada e não no destino, a vida muda e temos que estar atentos as oportunidades para poder agarrá-las e talvez alternar o caminho. Pois a vida é......more

Goodreads review by Aaron on November 29, 2012

This brief, insightful book helped me better understand why it can be so difficult to find purpose in one's life, and laid out concrete steps to get there. One must create action and movement in order to fulfill a purpose, and one can (only?) find happiness in this process. It argues vehemently agai......more

Goodreads review by Mare on December 31, 2009

I found this book to be of great use to me. it's definitelly not for everyone, but if you're in search of something and trying to figure out how to be happier with your lot in life, this isn't a bad place to start. It's one I'd actually recommend buying as there are exercises to complete. I found so......more

Goodreads review by Linda on March 03, 2013

Great little trilogy to read - philosphical and inspirational in a light hearted manner. When you reach that point when you say - "Is that all there is to life?" Read over and over and define the new you!......more


Quotes

"The writing, in Harman's translation, is a delight—rich and lively." New York Times Book Review"Interwoven with references to China's tumultuous political history and rich artistic tradition, Pingwa's novel captures a nation undergoing change and brutally illustrates what that change might actually cost…[An] optimistic yet heartbreaking tale of the life of Hawa 'Happy' Liu." Publishers Weekly (starred review)"Although the characters suffer the socioeconomic upheavals of contemporary China, they accept their plights and muddle through…" Kirkus Reviews