Soul Mountain
- Soul Mountain
- Gao Xingjian
- HarperCollins Publishers Inc., New York, 2000
Xingjian’s work was considered subversive by the Chinese government of the 1980′s. According to Wikipedia, after being misdiagnosed with lung cancer, Xingjian started hearing rumours that government officials were planning to send him to a prison farm.
So in 1987 he emigrated to France. In 1992 he was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for exceptional contributions to the world of art and literature.
He is a prolific playwright, a translator, a poet, a gifted artist and writer. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000, the year this book came out in English translation. Mabel Lee was the translator.
Soul Mountain got mixed reviews, but most critics agree that it is an important contribution to Chinese literature.
This true first English language copy is in fine/fine condition. Values vary wildly for this book on-line, but unsigned copies like this one average about $100.
Signed first editions range from about $300 to $850.
In 2006, a signed limited edition was published by Easton Press. These are well-crafted, leather-bound, gilt edged volumes with silk bookmarks sewn-in, and silk moire endpapers, and they can be found for between $150 and $300.
As you can see, FIRST AMERICAN EDITION is stated on the copyright page, and there is also a year/printing number line that shows the year 00 on the left and the print number 1 on the right. It also acknowledges the original first printing in Chinese by the Taiwanese publisher Lianjing Chubanshe in 1990. (Xingjian’s work is banned in China.)
