Alai

Red Poppies: A Novel of Tibet

Alai, Howard Goldblatt, Sylvia Li-chun Lin

• 2002 Kiriyama-Fiction finalist
• Score: 6.52

Ambitious, beautifully told, filled with intriguing characters, panoramic settings, and high drama, Red Poppies opens a window on a unique region of pre-occupation Tibet, dispelling many of the popular myths about a uniformly pacifistic society peopled by devout worshipers. Set in the eastern part of the country, whose autocratic chieftains received their power to govern from Chinese emperors in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, this novel is about a feudal society in full, hot-house bloom. Lavish, sensual lifestyles, passionate romance, and bloody…