The Day the Sun Died

[3] His father Tianbao,[5] who makes funerary wreaths,[3] is involved with hiding oil generated from dead bodies instead of allowing it to be sent to factories.

[3] Niannian knows Yan Lianke,[2] who appears in the novel and also suffers from somnambulism in addition to writer's block.

James Kidd of the South China Morning Post stated that Niannian "makes an engaging, if unlikely narrator" who has "unadorned" words that belie "complex layers" from a "rhythmic and heavily metaphorical style".

[6] Seán Hewitt of the Irish Times called it "a brave", "masterful", and "unforgettable novel" that is "poetic, both in structure and imagery.

"[5] Kirkus Reviews stated that the book "belongs in the company of Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo and even James Joyce’s Ulysses.