Reading "Life and Death Fatigue"#
Mo Yan, because I had previously, to be precise, in high school, done a reading exercise with his article as the text. I found that article too oppressive when I read it, so I never liked it. So even though I had a collection of his short stories, "White Dog on a Swing," on my bookshelf, I never flipped through it.
"Life and Death Fatigue" can be considered the first book of his that I've read.
Also during high school, my Chinese teacher recommended this book, and I remember the recommendation clearly: it tells the story of a person's multiple reincarnations, very interesting. I wanted to read it back then, but it wasn't until the day before yesterday, several years later, that I finally started reading it.
On the evening of March 7th, during an elective class, I chose this book to pass the time, but I couldn't stop once I started reading.
There is a saying that people tend to associate unfamiliar things with things they are more familiar with to gain a sense of security. Although I don't particularly like the following description, I unconsciously linked "Life and Death Fatigue" with "One Hundred Years of Solitude." Because I feel that they both use the brushstrokes of magical realism to describe a family. I also thought of "Ordinary World" and "White Deer Plain" because they both describe stories from the eve of the founding of the nation to the period after the reform and opening up.
These are my impressions of this book:
- Change of perspective. It's very interesting. When I was reading the first few chapters, suddenly there was a "you," and I found it very abrupt. It wasn't until later that I realized it was Ximen Nao, who had been reincarnated as an adult, or rather, it was Lan Qiansui having a conversation with Lan Jiefang. I find this change of perspective very interesting. What attracted me most in the book were the events that happened around an animal with human-like thoughts. But there are places animals cannot go, things animals cannot see, and the animal's perspective can become tiresome. At these times, using this dialogue format is really clever.
- The frequent appearance of the author. Among the novels I've read, this is probably the first time I've seen the author's name appear in the story, and it almost runs through the development of the story, even driving the story forward. Mo Yan takes Lan Jiefang to see Lan Jinlong mating with Huang Huzhu in a tree, and later introduces Pang Chunmiao and Lan Jiefang meeting. The main narrator of the story also appears multiple times in the book, giving evaluations of Mo Yan. This is also very novel. Although I don't particularly like it because I feel it's a bit excessive, I thought of that picture: someone holding "To Live" and asking Mo Yan for an autograph, and he signed it, but signed it as Yu Hua. Thinking of this, I have a good impression of Mo Yan.
- The ending. In fact, in the second to last chapter, Mo Yan is about to end the story, and he says this:
Dear readers, the novel should end here, but many characters in the book do not have a final ending, and the desire to see the final ending is the wish of most readers. So, let our narrative protagonists - Lan Jiefang and Big Head - take a rest, and let me - their friend Mo Yan - continue their conversation, and add a tail to this seemingly endless story.
I think Mo Yan's words are really good. I appreciate endings that tie things up nicely, but as a reader, as someone who has immersed themselves in the story, I still want to know what happens to the characters in the book. So I read these fifty-four chapters, and after finishing it, I even felt a bit regretful. Because when things are explained thoroughly, when they are finished, they often lose some of their beauty. I prefer Chapter Fifty-Three as the ending, with that sentence as the ending:
Everything that comes from the land will return to the land.
Recently, I watched Hayao Miyazaki's "Porco Rosso," and at the end, the author deliberately left out some details, which made it even more beautiful.
Let's talk about some of the characters in the book:-
Blue Face.
I have never planted anything for a day, but I have worked in the fields. However, I still have a special fondness for the land. I thought about the reasons, and it may be related to the time I spent at my grandparents' vegetable stall during primary school, or it may be related to the rice fields that accompanied me for more than two years in high school, or it may be related to the descriptions in the short stories I have read. In short, I have some feelings towards the land and agriculture. Therefore, not only for this reason, I will talk about Blue Face first.
What I appreciate most is when he toasts the moon, which appears twice in the book, at least that's how I remember it. One time is when the children get married, and his wife Yingchun gives him a bottle of wine, and his first glass is a toast to the moon.
He poured the wine from the bottle and waved it towards the moon, shouting with a fervor and a tragic and desolate tone that I rarely saw: "Moon, for over a decade, you have accompanied me in my work. You are the lantern given to me by the heavens. You shine on me as I plow and hoe the fields, as I sow and transplant seedlings, as I harvest and thresh... You remain silent, without anger or complaint. I owe you a great deal of gratitude. Tonight, let me offer you a pot of wine to express my heart. Moon, you have worked hard!"
There is also a time during the Mid-Autumn Festival family banquet.
Your father held a cup of wine and poured it towards the moon. The moon trembled, and the moonlight suddenly dimmed, as if a layer of mist covered its face. After a moment, the moonlight became bright again, more gentle and melancholic. Everything in the courtyard, the houses, trees, people, and dogs, seemed to be immersed in clear light blue ink.
It's so beautiful, so romantic. Toasting the moon is not an invention of Mo Yan or Blue Face. Li Bai's "Drinking Alone Under the Moon" has the line:
I raise my cup to invite the moon, with my shadow we become three people.
But I feel that it doesn't have the same beauty as Blue Face pouring wine to the moon. He treats the moon as a partner in labor, rather than enjoying himself out of loneliness like Li Bai. When Blue Face makes an agreement with the dog Xiao Si, he also mentions the moon.
"Old Dog, you bear witness, and let the moon bear witness too. This place, I have laid on it, occupied it, and no one can take it away."
I like his attitude towards the moon.
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This could be considered my first book review, or it would be better to call it my thoughts after reading. I don't have the qualifications to evaluate or criticize these books. I'm just expressing my thoughts on reading. After finishing a book before, I naturally had some thoughts, but due to laziness and the habit of immediately searching for other people's book reviews after finishing a book, my originally vague thoughts were occupied by the thoughts of others, so I didn't write them down. This can be said to be the first time I have overcome that laziness and consciously chose not to search for book reviews. After finishing this one, I feel pretty good. At least I have expressed some of my thoughts in writing as much as possible.
- March 9, 2023