Monday, December 29, 2008

The Making of a Peasant Doctor by Yang Hsiao

I found a choice novel of interest published in Peking in 1976 at one of the used-bookstalls in Wuxi, China's Nanchang Market. Entitled, The Making of a Peasant Doctor, the novel written by Yang Hsiao, is pure Communist propaganda. Here are some choice passages I have come across in my cursory reading today:

Here as elsewhere, the countryside seethes with activity as men and women, old and young, grasp revolution and promote production. An invigorating revolutionary atmosphere prevails.

Chairman Mao has taught us: It is necessary to sum up experience conscientiously.

That was what the party secretary was like, for he first thought of the collective and the country, and never of himself.

The novel is unintentionally hilarious. I will have a joyful time reading it. The English is suprisingly well-done. But I have been told that in those times to make a mistake in English was to invite severe punishment.

I was able to get the book for 28 rmb. The original asking price was 30 but the lady was a hard bargainer and she gave me two rmb off out of sympathy.

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