My Old Home

My Old Home
Orville Schell
RRP:
NZ$ 70.00
Our Price:
NZ$ 56.00
Hardback
h235 x 156mm - 624pg
9 Mar 2021 US
International import eta 7-19 days
9780593315811
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
It is 1950, and Li Tongshu is one of the few Chinese citizens to have graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Engaged to Vivian Knight, a Chinese American violinist, Tongshu is drawn by Mao' s promise "to build a new China" and by the enthusiasm so many other Chinese artists and scientists living abroad have expressed at that prospect. The odds of Tongshu ever having a successful career as a performer in the United States are small, and so when the new president of the recently established Central Conservatory of Music in China offers him a teaching position, he leaves San Francisco and returns home with his new wife. But now Tongshu is forced to contend with the erratic and unexpected shifts of a government determined to control the beliefs and convictions of its citizens, with suspicion of the Western culture that educated him, and with the ways in which his son, Little Li, becomes caught up in the maelstrom of political and ideological upheaval that not only threatens to destroy his family but will also ultimately destroy the essential fabric of Chinese society.
Absorbing, perceptive, heartbreaking, Orville Schell' s epic novel is a devastatingly true and moving portrait of what two generations of educated Chinese have experienced through the ordeal of the revolution and throes of reform. It is also a meditation on exile that plumbed, with rueful humor, the existential dilemma of living "in-between" China and America, a paean to the "cultural mongrels" who, in their search and struggle for belonging and dignity, are aided by the transcendental power of music. --Jianying Zha, author of Tide Players "Schell has put a lifetime of hope, sorrow, and wisdom about China into this remarkable book. The result is an epic and deeply moving story that few other people could have written. "--Adam Hochschild, author ofRebel Cinderella"A dazzling novel that is sweeping in its historical canvas and intimate in its psychological insights. The gripping narrative paints a granular, searing portrait of China under Communist rule, lived through magnetic characters and indelible scenes. Schell is an elegant craftsman, renowned scholar, and a virtuoso. The result is a splendid mosaic which deeply moves and informs the reader, evoking both the distinct and the universal. "--Winston Lord, former US Ambassador to China Can the world understand China? Intimately? With a lifetime of diligent non-fiction to his credit, Orville Schell now joins Albert Camus in the faith that ' fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth. ' The adventure succeeds, and we get some lovely original metaphors to boot. --Perry Link, author of An Anatomy of Chinese Enormously informative and illuminating, My Old Home vividly depicts the human impact of the Cultural Revolution and its aftermath. From the riveting first sentence, Schell through the experience of a young man torn beetween two cultures. --Elaine Pagels, author of The Gnostic Gospels Schell' s novel is a masterpiece. He has an amazing command of Chinese history, culture, daily life, as well as music and even downtown San Francisco!--Ezra Vogel, author of Deng Xiaoping "Schell astounds us with a novel of epic scope and pinpoint detail, revealing his depth of heart and the full heartbreak of the present moment. Masterful . . . Writing with humor and startling sensuality, Schell invests his real-life and imagined personae with yearning, daring, and his own irrefutable integrity. "--Peter Sellars, director, Nixon in China"Schell has spent a lengthy career immersed in Chinese history and culture, and it shows in his exacting depiction of the tumult that defined Chinese society in the late twentieth century. But his commitment to authenticity . . . gives way to a universal tale of displacement and loss. "--Booklist (starred)"Gripping . . . Lush lyrical descriptions . . . There' s no denying the riveting subject matter"--Publishers Weekly
ORVILLE SCHELL is the director of the Center on U. S. -China Relations at the Asia Society. From 1996 to 2007 he was the dean of the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He has written ten nonfiction books on China and contributed to many publications, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Nation, Foreign Affairs, and The New York Review of Books. He is also an Emmy Award-winning producer for PBS, NBC Nightly News, and 60 Minutes. He divides his time between New York City and Berkeley, California.
Status: Indent title, imported to order
ISBN-13: 9780593315811
Published: 9 Mar 2021
Published In: United States
Imprint: Pantheon
Publisher: Random House USA Inc
Format: Hardback
Height: 235mm
Width: 156mm
Pages: 624

In stock - for items in stock we aim to dispatch the next business day. For delivery in NZ allow 2-5 business days, with rural taking a wee bit longer.

Locally sourced in NZ - stock comes from a NZ supplier with an approximate delivery of 7-15 business days.

International Imports - stock is imported into NZ, depending on air or sea shipping option from the international supplier stock can take 10-30 working days to arrive into NZ. 

Pre-order Titles - delivery will vary depending on where the title is published, if local stock is available in NZ then 5-7 business days, for international imports it can be 10-30 business days. In all cases we will access the quickest supply option.

Delivery Packaging - we ship all items in cardboard sleeves or by box with either packing paper or corn starch chips. (We avoid using plastics bubble bags)

Tracking - Orders are delivered by track and trace courier and are fully insured, tracking information will be sent by email once dispatched.

View our full Order & Delivery information

Details of the product above will be automatically included with your enquiry.