“Three Brothers” by Yan Lianke chronicles the life of a writer in China in the 1970s who comes from the “peasant stock” and seeks city life

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Yan Lianke opens the second chapter of his memoir, Three Brothers , with these words: “Historical eras exist because of memories.” It is true that his memoir is filled with personal memories. But how can we gauge the “truths” of his memories, the memories that some view as coming from a controversial writer in China? Should we gauge it by sincerity? By honesty? By its emotions? In his tales, Lianke colors family life with siblings, village order and further details of a rural genre. What he goes further on to say is that he has always hoped to cross the...