In this cross-generational, allegorical novel of the struggle between oppression and liberation played out in the streets of a tumultuous China, critically acclaimed author Ma Jian guides us through the furthest extremes of human suffering, hope, and imagination. Beijing Coma centers on the life of Dai Wei, a man trapped inside his own mind, the victim of a bullet to the head during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Now, after ten years in a coma, Dai Wei has only the memories from his life to reflect upon while China continues to change around him. His aging and at times mentally unstable mother is left to care for him while facing complete disillusionment with the Communist Party she once so fervently defended. 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.