"I had always dreamed of a chance to go to the front lines and become a hero. If I returned alive, I would get what I deserved; otherwise, my parents would receive the honor of a martyr's family, which would change their political status, and their raising of me would not have been in vain. I was not the only one who thought this way... This might be a simple and immature way of thinking, but it is the convoluted way simple peasant children think. A grand and glorious death is better than a miserable and desperate life."

In his book, *Change*, Mo Yan, the 2012 Nobel Laureate in Literature, presents a personal account of the political and social changes in his country over the past few decades. This novel is disguised as an autobiography, or perhaps the other way around. Unlike most historical novels about China, which are confined by political events, this work represents a "people's history"—a bottom-up view of a country in constant flux. By moving back and forth in time and focusing on small events and the daily lives of ordinary people, Mo Yan breathes life into history by describing the impact of monumental events on the average citizen.

"Through a mixture of fantasy and reality, historical and social perspectives, Mo Yan has created a world whose complexity is reminiscent of the worlds found in the writings of William Faulkner and Gabriel García Márquez, while at the same time finding a starting point in ancient Chinese literature and oral traditions." – The Nobel Committee for Literature

• Publishing House: Arab Scientific Publishers/Lebanon
• Author: Mo Yan
• ISBN: 9786140107083
• Number of Pages: 110
• Year of Publication: 2013