The Banished Immortal
A Life of Li Bai (Li Po)
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The Banished Immortal
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Narrated by:
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David Shih
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Written by:
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Ha Jin
About this listen
From the National Book Award-winning author of Waiting: a narratively driven, deeply human biography of the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai - also known as Li Po.
In his own time (701-762), Li Bai's poems - shaped by Daoist thought and characterized by their passion, romance, and lust for life - were never given their proper due by the official literary gatekeepers. Nonetheless, his lines rang out on the lips of court entertainers, tavern singers, soldiers, and writers throughout the Tang dynasty, and his deep desire for a higher, more perfect world gave rise to his nickname, the Banished Immortal. Today, Bai's verses are still taught to China's schoolchildren and recited at parties and toasts; they remain an inextricable part of the Chinese language.
With the instincts of a master novelist, Ha Jin draws on a wide range of historical and literary sources to weave the great poet's life story. He follows Bai from his origins on the Western frontier to his ramblings travels as a young man, which were filled with filled with striving but also with merry abandon, as he raised cups of wine with friends and fellow poets. Ha Jin also takes us through the poet's later years - in which he became swept up in a military rebellion that altered the course of China's history - and the mysterious circumstances of his death, which are surrounded by legend.
The Banished Immortal is an extraordinary portrait of a poet who both transcended his time and was shaped by it and whose ability to live, love, and mourn without reservation produced some of the most enduring verses.
©2019 Ha Jin (P)2019 Random House AudioWhat the critics say
“Ha Jin’s masterful style and deep affection for his subject make the book a pleasure to read - especially for those unfamiliar with Li Bai or Chinese poetry in general... The Banished Immortal liberally quotes Bai’s work, sometimes reproducing complete poems in translation to show the depth of his imagery and style. A number of readers will pick up this book knowing its author but not Li Bai, and Ha Jin makes sure they see Bai’s prodigious talent. Newcomers will be swept up in Bai’s personal history while fans of his work will enjoy Ha Jin’s own take on the man and his influence.” (Shelf Awareness, starred review)
“A taut introduction to the life and poetry of the influential eighth-century Daoist poet.... Ha Jin's polished biography will give a wider audience access to the politics and beauty of a major Chinese poet." (Publisher's Weekly, starred review)
“Award-winning novelist and poet Jin offers a glimpse into the life of one of China’s most celebrated poets.... Jin creates a kind of hagiography that is both scholarly and emotionally engaging.... Essential.” (Herman Sutter, Library Journal, starred review)
“In Tang dynasty China, a poet could nurture high hopes. Becoming an imperial counselor exercising statecraft wasn’t inconceivable, especially if, like Li Bai (701–62), who is also known in English as Li Po, one had studied swordsmanship and history as well as literature... He once wangled a court placement but in less than two years resigned, disappointed at being treated as a writer only, not necessarily of poems; he never became a made man. His life as distinguished poet and fiction writer Ha Jin (The Boat Rocker, 2016) so limpidly relays it was peripatetic rather than domestic, usually away from the family he strove to support. Yet he was an unstaunchable fount of poems of friendship, drinking, dancing, nostalgia, and regret and, what is unusual and particular to him, poems adopting the perspectives of others, including ordinary men and women. Bai still stands, with his friend Du Fu, at the pinnacle of Chinese poetry, and his influence is extensive the world over.” (Ray Olson, Booklist)