Pow!

the long version

"A benign old monk listens to a prospective novice's tale of depravity, violence and carnivorous excess while a nice little family drama--in which nearly everyone dies--unfurls. But through this tale of sharp hatchets, bad water and a rusty Second World War-mortar, we can't help but laugh. Reminiscent of the dark masters of European absurdism like Günter Grass, Witold Gombrowicz or Jakov Lind, Mo Yan's Pow! is a comic masterpiece." -- inside cover