Beijing Coma Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, and our BookBrowse Review of Beijing Coma.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

Introduction
Through an interweaving and often overlapping narrative, Ma Jian leads us through the life of Dai Wei, using memories as his stepping stones from the past to the present. As we follow Dai Wei from childhood through adolescence to his years as a student at university, we bear witness to an entire nation’s struggle against corruption and oppression and its citizens’ collective movement toward freedom.

1. What was your initial reaction to the opening passage of the novel, written with second-person pronouns that appear to address you directly? How did your understanding of this passage change at the end of the novel?
   


2. In what ways do the political affiliations of his father impact Dai Wei as a child? How does his mother’s reaction further influence Dai Wei’s life? How do his parents resolve the clash of family obligation and civic duty?
   


3. Ma Jian writes, “The literal meaning of the Chinese characters for ‘revolution’ is ‘elimination of life’” (p. 55). How does this apply to Dai Wei’s understanding of the Cultural Revolution in which his father participated? How does this statement play out in the novel’s themes?
   

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Picador. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.