Abstract
A Chinese soldier awakens during the Korean War in a prisoner’s camp near the Yalu River. In this excerpt from the beginning of Ai Wei’s story “The Captured,” the protagonist learns of his guards’ befuddling kindness and ignorance and becomes aware of how power is distributed within the prison camp, all the while struggling with the question of whether life is worth living as a captive. Narrated in a sparse yet vivid style, the soldier’s inner struggles become an absorbing drama set within the stark, arresting landscapes of war-torn Northeast Asia. Originally published in Contemporary Writers Review, 2005.
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