Xuemo’s
novel is set in the Gobi Desert in western China where Xuemo himself grew up.
One of the first authors to write about the lives of farmers in the dessert, he
has already produced a considerable body of recognized works, including, Desert
Trilogy大漠三部曲 (2013), comprised of three novels, Desert Rites大漠祭, Desert
Hunters獵原and White Tiger Pass白虎關 -- considered an iconic work of contemporary
literature on western China. The changing culture of the Desert in Western
Chinese is described in detail in Xuemo’s works. He not only describes the
farmers’ poor and harsh life and offers reflections on traditional agriculture
and civilization, but also presents the crises and challenges people faced in
the transition from traditional lifestyles to modern industrialization. In the
process, ordinary people’s farming, eating, marriage
bartering, cheating, quarreling, coping with illness and feeling grief over
death and over an empty life are revealed in detail as well.
