Paul Greveillac's novel is a historical novel taking place in China in the years 1950-1989 (+ an epilogue in 2000). He tells about the life of a fictional character, which is a painter from the Sichuan village, Tian Kewei. His life and life of people close to him is inseparable from the communist revolution in China, with its most crucial moments. The author very cleverly linked historical events with the fictional characters, and also avoided the temptation of unnecessary translation of the historical background to the reader.
The third-level narrator presents the reader with a medium-wealthy Chinese (proletarian) agricultural family living far away from large cities, among fields, forests and mountains. It is at the foot of the nearby Himalayas that Yongmin, the father of the main character, gives him the secrets of developing the inherited talent of painting. And as Yongmin teaches Kewei, then Kevei will train his own son. Greveillac's aggrandizement of this vision breaks with the events that affect the family. In the country, communism is becoming more and more intense. Peasants with horror and hunger in their eyes work in the field to get the number of points to get a meal. The communist system deprives Kewei of his father and at the same time offers development opportunities. He is chosen as a candidate for the Beijing art school in order to spread propaganda painting, which to some extent improves his situation - he can even provide room and food to his wife and little son.
I think it's really interesting to know history of other countries so this is a good beginig to do that.
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