Yan Lianke is one of my favorite authors so I was excited to read "Three Brothers: Memories of My Family." The book is certainly a departure from the anxious, seemingly absurdist fiction. It flows very well and can be read in a few sittings.

At the beginning, Yan says that a memoir was suggested by many people around him. Instead of focusing on himself, he focuses on his father and two uncles, the "Three Brothers" of the title. Unlike many other memoirs or even fiction that details life in the '60s and '70s, the poor economy is not discussed too much. There are tragedies but the book is not "scar literature" that dwells on misfortune. Instead, it is a masculine tribute to the three men, nearly deifying their contributions to the family as stoic, hard workers from a rural background.

The book is quite philosophical and features plenty of thoughts on what would be considered popular psychology in the West. For example, there is a thorough discussion of the difference between "life" and "living." Through the memoir, Yan writes a lot about the dignity of work.

There are so many memoirs about youth who were "sent down" to the countryside during national campaigns that they almost run together. Such books are always genuinely dire, but Yan gives a different perspective as a rural witness to the "sent down" youth. He saw them as privileged, gossipy, and urbane, and this was a in contrast to the image other memoirs present.

Yan is very self-critical in this memoir. He is ashamed of the times he stole money for sweets and left his village for the army. This shame gives him plenty of chances to discuss the importance of filial piety, a hugely important cultural trait that emphasizes relationships between generations.

Carlos Rojas' translation seems, as always, wonderful. The book reads very quickly and Rojas justifies a few language choices at the end of the book, but those choices never got in the way.

In all, the book is a bittersweet tribute to the men around Yan. ( )