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Sat 02 Feb 2009A tale of being human
FICTION: EILEEN BATTERSBYreviews The VagrantsBy Yiyun Li 4th Estate, 337pp, £12.99
ALL IT TAKES is one act, one horrible deed so repulsive as to shame and lessen any individual who even hears about it, never mind was involved. Such a crime is perpetrated in this astonishing novel, a book that opens our eyes and forces us to think. The sheer power of The Vagrantshas to be experienced at first hand, reading a review is meaningless, as is the writing of one. The narrative tears strips off the reader, each page brings us closer to the bone, to the very gut of existence and the inevitable question – how can such things happen?
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