Rickshaw Boy; translated from the Chinese by Evan King; 1945 first year editon; includes the original "Rickshaw Boy" flier (pic); book very good condition; beautiful color images inside front and back covers; great red and black drawings throughout book; Reynal & Hitchcock publisher; no dust jacket
 
description -
Rickshaw Boy or Camel Xiangzi (Chinese: 骆驼祥子; pinyin: Luòtuo Xiángzi; literally: "Camel Auspicious Lad") is a novel by the Chinese author Lao She about the life of a fictional Beijing rickshaw man. It is considered a classic of 20th-century Chinese literature.
 
Set in the 1920s, the novel's protagonist is an orphan peasant who leaves for Beijing to earn a living. Xiangzi is a young, hardworking, well-built rickshaw puller who dreams of owning his own rickshaw. Just when he has earned enough to buy one, it is confiscated by warlord soldiers. By a twist of fate he comes across some camels during his escape from the military, which he later sells, earning the nickname Camel. However, the cash Xiangzi obtains from this is not enough for him to buy another new rickshaw - providence decrees that he must toil once more. A police secret agent later extorts him into paying him his savings, leaving Xiangzi impoverished again. Left with no choice, Xiangzi returns to work for Old Master Liu, the boss of a thriving rickshaw rental company.