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Sounds of the River
Da Chen
HarperCollins
February 2002
On Sale: February 1, 2002
320 pages
ISBN: 0060199253
EAN: 9780060199258
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Memoir
Teenager Da Chen gathers soil from the riverbank near his
village before he leaves to attend university in Beijing.
Those grains bear witness to his past and contain the now
silent sounds of the river. Later, spilled onto the dry
earth of the North, they will merge two parts of Da's life,
as does the second volume of his lyrical trilogy of memoirs. Beginning with his first train ride to Beijing from his
farm, we rumble along with him in the overcrowded and
disease-ridden car to the university. Here the author faces
a host of ghastly challenges, including poor living
conditions, lack of food, and suicidal roommates. Undaunted
by these hurdles and armed with a dogged determination to
learn English and "all things Western," he must compete with
every other student to win a chance to study in America -- a
chance that rests in the shrewd and corrupt hands of the
almighty professors. In a richly textured tale -- by turns
poetic, ribald, hilarious, and heartbreaking -- Da keeps his
indomitable spirit, but will he be any closer to attaining
his goal? The bestselling author of Colors of the Mountain, Da Chen
gives us an engrossing, gloriously written coming-of-age
saga that chronicles a remarkable journey -- a travelogue of
the heart.
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