Brothers

In a reader's lifetime, there will be a handful of books that stand out among all the rest. For whatever reason, these have touched his heart, his intellect, his person in an incomparable, uncommon way. They speak to him personally, relate to him, and he to them, like bonds of blood. intimate spirits. They are not only artfully composed pieces of literature, but familiar companions, sharing, somehow, a comradery in love and life experience. I think of Tender is the Night, and The Blithesdale Romance, and Norwegian Wood; of Moby Dick and Les Miserables, of Tortilla Flat and Sweet Thursday and The Pickwick Papers.

Added unto these now is Brothers, or Dua Bersaudara (as I read the book in Indonesian), a long, perpetually engaging, tragic, heartbreaking, laugh-out-loud funny, delightfully quirky picaresque novel by Chinese author, Yu Hua. This is the story of two stepbrothers, Li Gundul and Song Gang, a story of cringeworthy violence and unspeakable joy, of poverty and struggle and fate and wealth and love and betrayal and hilarity and sacrifice. It is the story of family and of the bonds that can be bent and hammered but never broken. It's not for everyone--and I can imagine that some might actually dislike this novel--but, for me, it is a rare treasure and earns an honored place among the sentinels of my affection.