Notes on Mo Yan

Cast of Characters:

Gao Yang. The first words uttered in the book is his name, as he is arrested for destroying the county offices.
Xinghua. Yang’s daughter, who is blind.

Gao Ma. Also arrested, at the same time (so presumably for the same crime). Escapes.
Mostly we know him as a fool for love.

Jinju. The love of Gao Ma’s life.
Fourth Uncle Fang. Jinju’s father.
Fourth Aunt.  Jinju’s mother. Also arrested.
Elder Brother Fang. Has a lame leg (and thus uncertain marriage prospects, which is one of the reasons for Jinju’s marriage.
Fang Yixiang. The impetuous and slightly preposterous second son.

Liu Shengli. The man who has contracted to marry Jinju. (A forty-year-old man with an infected windpipe.)

Zhang Kou. The balladeer of garlic. Protest songs. Political sensibility.
Gao Shileng. Keeper of parrots.
The horse-faced young man--fellow prisoner.

Assorted Police. Men are stammerers, have a head shaped like a drum, or are otherwise odd. Women look good in uniform (and wear high-heels on the job.)
The colt who witnesses the first rendezvous between Ma and Jinju.