莫言大笔淋漓，勾绘出一个被遗忘的农民世界，其中的一切都被写得活灵活现，即便它的氛围乌烟瘴气，也弥漫有肉欲的气息，其中虽充斥惊人的残忍，却仍浸润着欢快的无私；读起来从不让人感到枯燥乏味。各种手工艺，铁匠活，盖房，挖渠，养殖，土匪伎俩——所有这一切他无所不知，无所不写，人世间的一切几乎都被他罗列到笔下。
He is more hilarious and more appalling than most in the wake of Rabelais and Swift — in our time, in the wake of García Marquez. His spice blend is a peppery one. On his broad tapestry of China’s last hundred years, there are neither dancing unicorns nor skipping maidens. But he paints life in a pigsty in such a way that we feel we have been there far too long.
Ideologies and reform movements may come and go but human egoism and greed remain. So Mo Yan defends small individuals against all injustices – from Japanese occupation to Maoist terror and today’s production frenzy.
