Title: People in the Sun

Author: Ghassan Kanafani (Palestinian)

Translator: Zhi Puhao

Publisher and Distributor: Sino-Culture Press

Edition: 1st Edition, May 2018

Printing: 3rd Printing, August 2022

Format: Hardcover, 16 - mo

Printed Sheets: 7.5

Word Count: 60,000 words

ISBN: 978 - 7 - 5075 - 4900 - 3

Price: 38.00 CNY

People in the Sun depicts three Palestinians of different ages who, driven by life's hardships, dream of crossing the desolate desert to Kuwait, the so - called land of gold. Lacking passports, they are forced to hide in the empty water tank of a water - truck to cross the border secretly in the scorching August heat. Due to the long duration, all three suffocate to death. Through realistic description and moral implications, the novel points out that the passive escape from suffering by Palestinians is unfeasible. At the end, the author, through the words of the driver, shouts out the following questions: "Why didn't you knock on the wall of the tank? Why didn't you shout? Why? Why? Why?" This is a cry that breaks through the dull reality and a call for revolution.

The novella Return to Haifa is set against the backdrop of the Third Middle East War in 1967. It tells the story of a couple who go to the occupied Palestinian areas to search for their son who was lost in childhood. However, they find that their son is full of hostility towards his relatives and the just cause of the Arab people, making it impossible for them to recognize and reunite. This shows the tragedy of two generations of Palestinians. The novel also reveals a profound question: for countless Palestinians, what exactly is the motherland? Is it the lost things remaining in memory, or the struggle for a new cause?

Ghassan Kanafani was a renowned Palestinian writer and one of the leaders of the national liberation movement. He was born in Gaza City, Palestine in 1936. In 1956, he went to Kuwait to teach for a living while actively engaging in literary creation. His early novel The Stolen Shirt won the first prize in the Kuwait Short Story Contest. In 1963, he wrote People in the Sun, a landmark work in the history of Palestinian literature. On July 8, 1972, he was assassinated, becoming an example in the history of Palestinian and even Arab literature of closely integrating literature with the revolutionary cause until his sacrifice. Ghassan Kanafani also visited China, wrote travelogues about China, and had a friendly sentiment towards the Chinese people.

Zhi Puhao, pen - names Yani and Shalian, is a researcher at the Institute of Foreign Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He graduated from the Department of Oriental Languages, Peking University in 1964 and studied at the University of Damascus and Cairo University successively. He served as the director of the Oriental Literature Section of the Institute of Foreign Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, an adjunct professor at the Center for Oriental Literature Studies, Peking University, a member of the Tunisian "National Society for Translation, Research, and Documentation", vice - president of the Chinese Association for Arab Literature, and a member of the Chinese Writers Association. His monographs include Interpretation of Arabian Literature, Myth and Reality - On One Thousand and One Nights, etc., and his translations include A History of Arabic Literature, Midaq Alley, People in the Sun, One Thousand and One Nights, etc.

People in the Sun / 001

    Abu Qais / 003

    Esad / 013

    Marwan / 021

    The Deal / 031

    The Journey / 039

    The Sun and the Shadow / 051

    The Tomb / 061

Return to Haifa / 065