Hard Like Water

Hard Like Water is a thrilling story about an erotic affair during China's Cultural Revolution. Returning to his hometown—and his wife—soldier Aijun sees a young woman, Hongmei, wandering barefoot along the railway tracks in the late-afternoon sun. From that moment on, Aijun and Hongmei spend their days and nights writing pamphlets and attending rallies: they are the engines of history. But soon their sexual and revolutionary fervour merge and a crazed new love explodes between them. The party bosses are impressed by the ardour of the pair's work. Emboldened, the couple build a 'tunnel of love'—to further the revolution, of course, but also to connect their homes for their secret rendezvous. What will happen to their dreams of a life together? Hard Like Water is an irresistible tale about sex and revolution, and a compelling drama about the nature of political power—by one of China's greatest contemporary writers. Yan Lianke was born in 1958 in Henan Province, China. He is the author of numerous novels and short-story collections, including Serve the People! , Dream of Ding Village , Lenin's Kisses , The Four Books , The Explosion Chronicles and The Day the Sun Died . He has been awarded the Hua Zhong World Chinese Literature Prize, the Lao She Literary Award, the Dream of the Red Chamber Award and the Franz Kafka Prize. He has also been shortlisted for the International Man Booker Prize, the Principe de Asturias Prize for Letters, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the FT/Oppenheimer Fund Emerging Voices Award and the Prix Femina Étranger. The Day the Sun Died won the Dream of the Red Chamber Award for the World's Most Distinguished Novel in Chinese. His memoir Three Brothers was published in 2020. He lives in Beijing. Carlos Rojas has translated seven books by Yan Lianke. Hard Like Water is a thrilling story about an erotic affair during China's Cultural Revolution.Returning to his hometown—and his wife—soldier Aijun sees a young woman, Hongmei, wandering barefoot along the railway tracks in the late-afternoon sun. From that moment on, Aijun & Hongmei spend their days & nights writing pamphlets & attending rallies: they are the engines of history. But soon their sexual & revolutionary fervour merge & a crazed new love explodes between them.The party bosses are impressed by the ardour of the pair's work. Emboldened, the couple build a 'tunnel of love'—to further the revolution, of course, but also to connect their homes for their secret rendezvous. What will happen to their dreams of a life together?Hard Like Water is an irresistible tale about sex & revolution, & a compelling drama about the nature of political power—by one of China's greatest contemporary writers.Yan Lianke is the author of the memoir Three Brothers & numerous novels & novellas, including Hard Like Water, The Day the Sun Died, The Explosion Chronicles, The Four Books, Lenin’s Kisses, Serve the People!, Dream of Ding Village, & The Years, Months, Days. He was awarded the Newman Prize for Chinese Literature & the Franz Kafka Prize, among many accolades. He was twice a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize, & he has been shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the Man Asian Literary Prize, & the Prix Femina Étranger. He has also received two of China’s most prestigious literary honors, the Lu Xun Prize & the Lao She Award.Carlos Rojas has translated seven books by Yan Lianke "Returning to his village invigorated by success in the army, Gao Aijun sees the beautiful Xia Hongmei walking barefoot alongside the railway track in the warm afternoon sun, and is instantly smitten. Hiding their relationship from their spouses, the pair hurl themselves into the struggle to bring revolution to their backwater village. They wait to consummate their relationship until Aijun has managed to dig a literal tunnel of love between their homes, where underneath the village their revolutionary and sexual fervor reaches a boiling point. While the unsuspecting villagers sleep, they sing revolutionary songs and shout Maoist slogans to each other before making earth-moving love. But when their relationship is finally uncovered, the couple finds themselves dangerously at odds with the doctrinaire and self-disciplined ideals of party higher-ups. Will their great revolutionary energy save their skins, or will they too fall victim to the revolution? Upturning the ideals of socialist realism, Hard Like Water is an operatic and surprisingly moving human drama about power's corrupting nature and the brute force of love and desire"-- Provided by publisher A Laugh-out-loud Political And Sexual Satire About The Chinese Cultural Revolution, By The Acclaimed Author Of Serve The People!