Yes, once you are at intermediate level and ready for a first real novel. Yu Hua's To Live uses plain, simple prose and a storyteller's voice, so you can read a respected work of Chinese fiction without a dictionary on every line.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Format
- Book
- Year
- 2003
Why it works for learners
An old farmer tells his life story in direct, unadorned sentences, and that spoken quality makes the book readable. Vocabulary centres on family, farming, hunger, money and village life. Because one voice narrates throughout, you get used to his rhythm and his repeated turns of phrase. It is also a short novel by adult standards, which means finishing it is realistic, and finishing a whole book in Chinese does a great deal for confidence.
What makes it hard
The prose is simple but the setting is not: rural life and political campaigns of twentieth-century China bring words and history you may not know. Regional farming vocabulary appears too. The story is also emotionally heavy, which can slow you down as much as the language.
How to use it
Read a few pages a day and look up only words that block the sentence or keep coming back. Read one early chapter aloud to hear the storyteller's rhythm. Aim to finish the book, not to master every word on the page.
More for Chinese learners: our Chinese guides.
Keep it where you'll see it
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