Dai Wei, a PhD student and protestor in Tiananmen Square in June 1989, was caught by a soldier's bullet and fell into a deep coma. But as the millennium draws near, he begins to emerge from unconsciousness, and to sense the massive changes in his country. At once a powerful allegory of a rising China, and a seminal story of the Tiananmen Square protests, Beijing Coma is Ma Jian's masterpiece.
Industry Reviews
"An extraordinarily effective novel . . . for all its savagery, it is one of the most optimistic novels I've encountered in a long time." --Jess Row, The New York Times Book Review
"[A] masterful new novel . . . Ma Jian offers the Chinese people an avenue through which to retrieve their souls." --Belle Yang, The Washington Post
"There are passages of extraordinary power, which, in chronicling the horrors perpetrated by the Chinese government in the Mao era and after, belong in the pantheon of dissident literature." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
"Evocative . . . Part of what gives [Beijing Coma] its highly energized, manic edge is the fierceness of Ma Jian's conviction that it might be possible for a work of literature to function as a lifeline to cast out into the world." --Francine Prose, The New York Review of Books
"A courageous and clarion writer." --Donna Seaman, Booklist
"An epic novel that reminds us of the capacity of fiction to stir the conscience and exhorts us to believe in the power of even one voice." --Tom Cooper, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"So remarkable is it that we should suddenly receive this gift, an account of Tiananmen as breathless as John Reeds' gee-whiz account of the Russian Revolution, Ten Days that Shook the World, I've almost neglected to mention how carefully Ma Jian constructs his time capsule." --John Leonard, Harper's Magazine An extraordinarily effective novel . . . for all its savagery, it is one of the most optimistic novels I've encountered in a long time. "Jess Row, The New York Times Book Review"
[A] masterful new novel . . . Ma Jian offers the Chinese people an avenue through which to retrieve their souls. "Belle Yang, The Washington Post"
There are passages of extraordinary power, which, in chronicling the horrors perpetrated by the Chinese government in the Mao era and after, belong in the pantheon of dissident literature. "Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times"
Evocative . . . Part of what gives ["Beijing Coma"] its highly energized, manic edge is the fierceness of Ma Jian's conviction that it might be possible for a work of literature to function as a lifeline to cast out into the world. "Francine Prose, The New York Review of Books"
A courageous and clarion writer. "Donna Seaman, Booklist"
An epic novel that reminds us of the capacity of fiction to stir the conscience and exhorts us to believe in the power of even one voice. "Tom Cooper, St. Louis Post-Dispatch"
So remarkable is it that we should suddenly receive this gift, an account of Tiananmen as breathless as John Reeds' gee-whiz account of the Russian Revolution, "Ten Days that Shook the World, "I've almost neglected to mention how carefully Ma Jian constructs his time capsule. "John Leonard, Harper's Magazine"" A "NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW "NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR
A "WASHINGTON POST "BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A "SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE" BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
"An extraordinarily effective novel . . . for all its savagery, it is one of the most optimistic novels I've encountered in a long time."--Jess Row, "The New York Times Book Review
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"[A] masterful new novel . . . Ma Jian offers the Chinese people an avenue through which to retrieve their souls."--Belle Yang, "The Washington Post"
"There are passages of extraordinary power, which, in chronicling the horrors perpetrated by the Chinese government in the Mao era and after, belong in the pantheon of dissident literature."--Michiko Kakutani, "The New York Times"
"Evocative . . . Part of what gives ["Beijing Coma"] its highly energized, manic edge is the fierceness of Ma Jian's conviction that it might be possible for a work of literature to function as a lifeline to cast out into the world."--Francine Prose, "The New York Review of Books"
"A courageous and clarion writer."--Donna Seaman, "Booklist"
"An epic novel that reminds us of the capacity of fiction to stir the conscience and exhorts us to believe in the power of even one voice."--Tom Cooper, "St. Louis Post-Dispatch"
"So remarkable is it that we should suddenly receive this gift, an account of Tiananmen as breathless as John Reeds' gee-whiz account of the Russian Revolution, "Ten Days that Shook the World, "I've almost neglected to mention how carefully Ma Jian constructs his time capsule."--John Leonard, "Harper's "Magazine "An extraordinarily effective novel . . . for all its savagery, it is one of the most optimistic novels I've encountered in a long time."--Jess Row, "The New York Times Book Review ""An epic novel that reminds us of the capacity of fiction to stir the conscience and exhorts us to believe in the power of even one voice."--Tom Cooper, "St. Louis Post-Dispatch"
"So remarkable is it that we should suddenly receive this gift, an account of Tiananmen as breathless as John Reeds' gee-whiz account of the Russian Revolution, "Ten Days that Shook the World, "I've almost neglected to mention how carefully Ma Jian constructs his time capsule."--John Leonard, "Harper's "Magazine "Once in a while - perhaps every 10 years, or even every generation - a novel appears that profoundly questions the way we look at the world, and at ourselves. Beijing Coma is a poetic examination not just of a country at a defining moment in its history, but of the universal right to remember and to hope. It is, in every sense, a landmark work of fiction" -Tash Aw, "Daily Telegraph"
"Epic in scope but intimate in feeling ... magnificent" -Tom Deveson, "The Times"
"Simultaneously a large-scale portrait of citizens writing in the grip of the party and the state and a strikingly intimate study of the fragility of the body and the persistence of self and memory" -Chandrahas Choudhury, "Observer"
"[Beijing Coma] merits the term 'masterpiece'. . . . [T]he narrative strategy succeeds at creating suspense page after page and lends a poignant, inexorable flavour to the events after the massacre." -"The Vancouver Sun"
"A work of fiction so realistic that it can be read as a tragic memoir of a time of hope, turmoil and atrocity. . . . An immaculate lesson in history, it is a vivid reminder that all things change and all is swept away." -"The Owen Sound Sun Times
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"Already notorious for writing novels banned in his homeland due to their criticism of China's policies on human rights and Tibet, the now London-based Ma Jian here launches his most sustained and intricate indictment of his former country. . . . As novelist, he painstakingly recreates the cycle of idealism, arrogance, confusion and despair that characterized the experience of demonstrators on the ground in [Tiananmen] square." -"Toronto Star
""[Beijing Coma] will make waves across the world. . . . Ma combinesa gift for densely detailed, panoramic fiction with a resonant prophetic voice. . . . Beijing Coma" "may have huge documentary value, but it grips and moves as epic fiction above all . . . Beijing Coma has the visceral physicality that stamps all of Ma Jian's work. He is a poet of the body in all its ecstasies, embarrassments and agonies." -"The Independant"
"A huge achievement . . . a landmark account through fiction of a country whose rise has amazed the world, but which remains cloaked in shadows. . . . finely written and translated." -"The Times
""This is an epic yet intimate work that deserves to be recognised and to endure as "the "great Tiananmen novel." -"Financial Times
""This timely yet dazzling piece of fiction will be seen simply for what it is: a modern literary masterpiece."-"Sunday Express
""This vivid, pungent, often blackly funny book is a mighty gesture of remembrance against the encroaching forces of silence." -"Guardian
""Astonishingly brave... the most important Chinese book since Wild Swans." -"London Lite"
"[A] bleak, wrenching generational saga . . . Ma Jian achieves startling effects through Dai Wei's dispassionate narration, making one man's felled body a symbol of lost possibility." -"Publishers Weekly" "From the Hardcover edition." 'Once in a while - perhaps every 10 years, or even every generation - a novel appears that profoundly questions the way we look at the world, and at ourselves. Beijing Coma is a poetic examination not just of a country at a defining moment in its history, but of the universal right to remember and to hope. It is, in every sense, a landmark work of fiction' - Tash Aw, "Daily Telegraph"
'Epic in scope but intimate in feeling ... magnificent' - Tom Deveson, "The Times"
'Simultaneously a large-scale portrait of citizens writing in the grip of the party and the state and a strikingly intimate study of the fragility of the body and the persistence of self and memory' - Chandrahas Choudhury, "Observer" "From the Hardcover edition."
