Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out
In Mo Yan’s sweeping, darkly humorous epic *Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out*, Ximen Nao, a wealthy landowner wrongfully executed during China’s 1950s land reform, refuses to let go of his anger—even when the King of Hell sends him back to Earth not as a man, but as a series of animals. Over five reincarnations, he becomes a donkey, ox, pig, dog, and monkey, each time retaining memories of his past life. Through his animal eyes, he witnesses the turbulent decades of 20th-century China: the rise of collective farming, the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, and the dizzying shifts of the reform era. He watches his former servants, enemies, and family members navigate love, betrayal, and survival in his hometown of Gaomi Northeast Township. By the time he is finally reborn as a human boy, Lan Qianshui, he confronts the weight of his lifelong grudges—and discovers that letting go might be the only way to find peace.