Mo Yan: 蛙 (Frog)

The latest addition to my website is Mo Yan‘s 蛙 (Frog). The basic theme of this novel is family planning and, in particular, the Chinese one-child policy. As usual the novel is set in Northeast Gaomi Township, the fictionalised version of Mo Yan’s hometown. We follow the narrator, Wan Zu, also known as Xiaopiao and as Tadpole, and, more particularly, his aunt, known as Gugu. She is a midwife – Wan Zu was the second child she delivered – and she delivers over nine thousand babies. However, she is also an enthusiastic supporter of the one-child policy and much of the novel involves her attempts to get people to adhere to it and their attempts to evade it. We also follow Wan Zu’s attempts to have a son as well as the usual multiple side stories about the inhabitants of Northeast Gaomi Township, including Gugu’s own less than successful romantic life. Given the subject matter, it is somewhat more serious than Mo Yan’s usual novels but it certainly is an eye-opener about the One-Child policy and the effect it had on people.

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