Used book "My Imperial Life" [99% new]

"My Life as Emperor" is a historical novel by Su Tong that blends realistic techniques with modern literary approaches. It is also a work where Su Tong exercises his creative imagination, freely constructing a palace setting and concocting a historical narrative according to his own recipe. The eras, dynasties, and characters are fictional, yet the story is told with convincing realism. The entire work employs a first-person narrative, telling the story of a naive and ignorant prince named Duan Bai. Manipulated by the Empress Dowager's lust for power, he becomes the puppet king of Xie. Although he holds the power of life and death over his subjects, he constantly lives in fear and anxiety. He is a political tool used by his grandmother and mother, and he is powerless to resist. A person who should not be emperor, who has no ambition to be emperor, and no ability to be a good emperor, becomes emperor. No wonder Duan Bai and the mad old eunuch Sun Xin repeatedly utter an ominous phrase: "The calamity of Xie is coming!" Disaster could strike at any moment, casting a deep shadow over Duan Bai's heart. Thus, he is full of lament and helplessness. The entire novel is filled with an elegiac and melancholic atmosphere, exquisitely poignant.

Su Tong, a renowned writer and professor at Beijing Normal University. He graduated from the Chinese Department of Beijing Normal University in 1984 and began his literary career during his university years. He has since written and published numerous novels, novellas, and short stories, including "Remembrance of the Mulberry Garden," "The House of Poppies," "Raise the Red Lantern," "Rouge," "Women's Lives," "Rice," "The River's Edge," and "The Thrushes." His works, such as "Raise the Red Lantern" and "Rouge," have been adapted into film and television productions. His short story "Cigu" won the 5th Lu Xun Literary Prize, his novel "The River's Edge" won the 3rd Man Asian Literary Prize, and his novel "The Thrushes" won the 9th Mao Dun Literature Prize.