Should I go?

Must I Go

Renowned Chinese-American writer Li Yiyun authorizes the first Chinese translation of her novel. A fiery passion and an all-consuming grief veer the human heart back and forth between these two extremes, yet it is forced to seek a home and an outlet...
I don't think I ever leave my characters behind. I don't reread my books, but I remember them, and sometimes I seem to run into them in real life, on a street corner or on the subway. I once asked William Trevor this question. I told him that his characters often stayed with me months or even years after I'd finished reading them. He said he remembered them, too, and that he sometimes felt sad for them. I think I feel that way, too.
—Li Yiyun Any new book by Li Yiyun is worth celebrating, and now more than ever, we need her clear and compassionate vision. Should I Go? takes us into Li Yiyun's familiar and powerful emotional territory. It masterfully explores how what we love, lose, and mourn shape, restore, and reshape us to become who we are.
—Sigrid Nunez: This remarkable novel examines life as it unfolds, the mounting loss, and the ambiguity of perception. Li Yiyun writes history with depth, nuance, and grace, even as it unfolds. She is one of my favorite writers, and Should I Go? is a remarkable work.
—Meg Wolitzer
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Lilia has been married three times, raised five children, and is now looking forward to the birth of her seventeenth grandchild. She has dedicated her life to helping those around her understand themselves. At the age of eighty-five, she became fascinated by the diary of her late friend Roland - with whom she had a brief romance in their youth - and wanted to see what she could leave behind.
The diary meticulously records Roland's love affairs. Lilia tirelessly adds footnotes to each incident. A decades-long secret relationship slowly unfolds, including the existence of Roland's daughter, Lucy, unknown even to himself. The human heart oscillates between these two extremes, forced to seek a home and an outlet to continue its journey. Li Yiyun's novel celebrates the complexities of life, about Lilia and about everyone who comes and goes in our lives.

2023-11-01

上海译文出版社

Archipelago Books

394

9787532793464