When the smoke subsides

Alai (b. 1959) is a modern Chinese writer of Tibetan origin who has so far been the only Tibetan to win the most prestigious Chinese literary prize, the Mao Tung Prize (2000).

In the novel "When the smoke settles" (1998), which made Alai famous and was adapted into a television series, explores the psychology of power as it appears in the context of Tibetan life in the middle of the 20th century, before the arrival of the Chinese Red Army in the region and the accession of Tibet to the People's Republic of China. In the center of the novel is the life of the local ruler's family. The story is told on behalf of his supposedly dim-witted younger son. The reader gets acquainted not only with the way of life of Tibetans, but also with the ruling order in the country, where there was a magic potion and feudal feuds, hunger and prostitution, marriages and wars, which were fought for the sake of seizing land and power - and all this against the background of beheading , widespread beatings, cutting off tongues, hands and feet...