One Man’s Bible /Gao Xingjian ,Harper Collins

I have always felt that a great part of literary value of any work is lost in translation. It is often difficult to capture the native charm of certain words, phrases and expressions in a translated version. Transcreation is a better word to use. But one cannot underestimate the worth of translators. I would have never read a Chinese Nobel laureate’s work otherwise but for Mabel Lee’s lucid translation of the original Chinese work.

One Man’s Bible is my second attempt to get a flavour of Chinese literature. I had struggled with the former a story about wolves. This one was much better. The book captures the history of the Chinese cultural revolution with its many excesses in detail.”The masses were like a pack of dogs slinking off to bite as the whip directed, thereby ensuring that they themselves would not be lashed.” The book is a literature of protest, of human dignity and of freedom from tyranny of any kind. People interested in political history of the times will find the book extremely informative.

Gao’s handling of human relationships demonstrates his skill as a master storyteller. When Margareth says “No you don’t understand, its impossible for a man to understand “ or when he writes “what she wants is love and what you want is freedom. You have paid too high a price for the small freedom of controlling your own freedom….” the voices could be from any part of the world from any period of human history.

Born in 1940 Gao Xingjian is a Chinese novelist, translator, dramatist, director, critic and artist, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 2000. “During the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), Gao was sent to a re-education camp because of his learning. He had started to write for himself, but fearing the consequences the aspiring writer burned a suitcase full of manuscripts, including novels, plays and articles, and spent six years at hard labor in the fields.”Part autobiographical in nature One Man’s Bible is a highly enjoyable book.



Ref:

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/gao.htm