Lenin's Kisses

Lenin's Kisses is a novel by the Chinese writer Yan Lianke, published in 2004.

Plot

The story is set in an isolated village where the economy failed to improve during either the Mao-era or after Reform and Opening Up.
A freak mid-summer blizzard that begins the novel sets into motion initiatives to improve the village's economic development. Inspired by the trend of red tourism, a local cadre develops a plan to buy the preserved corpse of Vladimir Lenin to build a memorial hall and make the village a tourist destination. The village collects funds for buying the preserved corpse and to build a monument around it. To do so, the village organizes a touring performing troupe of an all-handicapped ensemble. The profits of the project consumes the village and the solidarity of its citizens. The chief of the district is able to make grand constructions, until his superiors find out what is happening.

Themes

"That the dead body of socialism's most important role model is being commercialized, can serve as an illustration of the hypercapitalism of contemporary China", according to Klassekampen. Academic Hang Tu writes that the novel illustrates the desacralizing effect of market logic in China.

Translated publications

English: Lenin's Kisses
French: Bons baisers de Lénine
Norwegian: Lenins kyss
Swedish: ''Lenins kyssar''