Imagine a long coma for a young man shot in a military atrocity, namely the June 4, 1989, Beijing Massacre of Chinese students who had protested in Tiananmen Square. Already, that’s a firm foundation for a powerful novel. Extend the medical condition, with its forced unconsciousness, to an entire nation of 1.3 billion people, and the novel starts to sound exceptional.

An advance reader’s excerpt of such a story, Beijing Coma by Ma Jian (2008, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 704 pages, translated by Flora Drew), has arrived by mail. Based on that 42-page sample, the book seems momentous.

It’s “one of the strangest, most powerful, most harrowing and moving novels I’ve ever read,” said Eric Chinski, the publisher’s editor-in-chief.

The author says, “The Tiananmen tragedy was a defining moment in 20th century history, but in China no one’s allowed to discuss it. Remembering has become a crime. Today, the Chinese are a people who ask no questions and have no past. They live in a coma, blinded by fear and new-found prosperity.”

A former watch-repair apprentice, propaganda-sign artist and photojournalist, Ma visited Tiananmen Square to support the protesters 19 years ago. After leaving China as a dissident, he settled in Hong Kong. When that city reverted to Chinese sovereignty, he moved to Europe and now lives in London. His earlier books, The Noodle Maker, Stick Out Your Tongue and Red Dust, have attracted a ban on the Chinese mainland.

As for Beijing Coma, “I wanted to write a book that would bear witness to recent history and help to reclaim a people’s right to remember,” he said. “Through my protagonist Dai Wei – a student lying in a coma after being shot in the Tiananmen Massacre – I was able to write about brutality and injustice, but also about the things that make life worth living: love, hope, freedom, truth and the quest for the sublime.

“Imprisoned in his body for 10 years, Dai Wei is forced to turn inwards and confront his past, and in doing so becomes freer and more alive than the comatose crowds that surround him. The act of remembering gives life its meaning. It’s an act of defiance against tyranny and death.”

Thankfully, hope persists. When a sparrow enters by an open window and perches on the immobilized Dai Wei’s bare chest, is that a sign he’ll revive? Can the Chinese people awaken too?

As Beijing Coma circulates internationally, readers may accomplish several things with it. Probably they’ll enjoy the powerful and emotional story. It’s also a valid way to remember and honor victims of the Beijing Massacre as the event’s 19th anniversary nears. By August, the book may work best as a badly needed antidote for Beijing’s Olympics-flavored propaganda.

For more information: www.fsgbooks.com or www.beijingcoma.com

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