English version of Xuemo’s Novels launched—Letting the World see the Depth of the Desert in China

English version of Xuemo’s Novels launched—Letting the World see the Depth of the Desert in China

The launching ceremony for the English version of Xuemo’s novels, Desert Rites and Desert Hunters, was held at Shanghai Writers Bookstore. The two thick tomes are more than 1500 pages in combined length. The translators of the books are well-known American Sinologist Howard Goldblatt and his wife Sylvia Li-chun Lin. It is noteworthy that Howard Goldblatt was also the translator of the novels by the famous Chinese writer and Nobel Prize winner Moyan.

Desert Ritesis an realistic and astounding epic that tells the stories of western China in an energetic and emotional manner. It took Xuemo a total of twenty years to complete! Desert Hunterstells the stories of poaching and anti-poaching in the depth of the desert in western China, and of the bloody fights between hunters and herders for grass land and water source. In its depiction of the hunting field in western China that is gradually encroached by the desert and sand storms, the book engages in deep reflection on the traditional culture of agriculture and farming.

“I believe many people will be touched by my works, including many English-speaking readers. As long as human beings are beings of emotions, they will inevitably need literature of this kind,” said Xuemo.

Reading Xuemo’s works, Mr. Goldblatt noted, was a whole new experience, and so was translating his novels. Ms Sylvia Li-chun Lin has an even stronger feeling towards Xuemo’s works. “Xuemo’s novels is filled with the unique flavor of the wilderness of western China. His words enable you to feel the desert’s power, the desert’s ruthlessness that destroys life, while at the same time they enable you to feel the incomparable beauty of the great desert”.