In an unusual year, literature still accompanies us deeply. Just now, the 2021 (sixth) harvest literature list was freshly released, and Yu Hua's "Wencheng" ranked first in the long-form list.
The 14 final judges voted for the final list: 5 works in the Long Fiction List, 5 works in the Non-Fiction List, 10 works in the Novella List, and 10 works in the Short Story List.
Wencheng, which topped the best-selling lists of major books last year, is Yu Hua's sixth novel, eight years after his last novel came out. The novel tells the story of a man and his lifelong search, as well as a group of people and a turbulent era. The protagonist, Lin Xiangfu, travels all the way south from the north to find a place called "Wencheng", thus leading to the story of the difficult choices and survival of ordinary people in the waves of fate in the turbulent years.
With sometimes delicate and comfortable brushstrokes, sometimes brave and sharp brushstrokes, mixed with unique black humor, "Wencheng" tells the love, hate, sorrow, joy and ups and downs of Lin Xiangfu, Ji Xiaomei and the various characters connected with them.
The righteousness of the rivers and lakes and the kindness of men and women in the chaotic world are the simple texture of the novel, and the compassion is infiltrated between the words and lines of the work. Between mother and son, father and daughter, mother and daughter, husband and wife, lovers, masters and servants, and people who meet in Pingshui, there is an indescribable love... Critic and professor Zhang Li believes that this is a "sentient" call, which summons the endless folk feelings in our land and the benevolence and virtue that arise from within our national tradition. Yu Hua wrote a long, long, and vast sense of destiny, and wrote about the permanence of blood chaos away from the world. Those seemingly ruthless but tender, both stoic and strong, humble and noble survival patterns are mixed inside the novel, forming a novel tone that belongs to Yu Hua alone, which is a "continuous maturity" of the outstanding novelists of our time.
Many works have opened up the boundaries of the literary imagination and made the critics call "surprise". Taking the novelist Lin Zhao's second novel "Tidal Chart" as an example, "With the emergence of the giant frog, a language feast began, and the world of both real and fantasy swarmed, and readers could not help but be wrapped up and dragged to a fresh and unfamiliar regional journey, a language journey, and a miracle journey." In Zhang Li's view, as a new face of contemporary literature, Lin Zhao has abundant imagination and subtle and keen sense of touch. In her energetic, unbridled language, she created for us a female giant frog called "fiction." The boundaries of the literary imagination are expanded again and again in the novel, and the novelist's "giant frog" is as exclamatable as the understanding and perception of women. "Tidal Chart" has the creativity and aesthetic temperament of novelist Lin Zhao, which subverts the aesthetics of ordinary literature, and is a surprise harvest for contemporary Chinese novels in 2021.
The long-form non-fiction on the list is particularly prominent in the open-mindedness and sincere emotions that writers have when dealing with historical and realistic themes. Critic and researcher Liu Daxian believes that Chen Fumin's "Forty Degrees North Latitude" picks up the old facts, collects and compiles old stories, uses the folding of specific geographies to break through the scattered records of history books, recounts the narrative of the middle belt with a smooth and smooth brushwork, organically blends historical understanding and judgment with literary expression and enlightenment, integrates the collision of settled civilization and nomadic civilization into a complete Chinese cultural picture, and restores the tradition of writing literature and history with affection and knowledge.
In addition, many short and medium stories are also observing the ups and downs of the times and the sadness and joy of people's hearts. Xu Kun, a writer and editor-in-chief of "Selected Novels", commented that Tie Ning's "Messenger" is an affectionate story of love and punishment, and also a fairy tale of enlightenment and redemption. With the usual gentle and clear brushstrokes, the writer has created the image of the beautiful "messenger" Li Huakai - she is the rural girl Xiangxue who appeared in Tie Ning's works, the girl in red Enron, the little Su Mei in "Rose Gate", and the White Province in "How Far Forever". Along the way, their original intentions did not change, with the fragrance of pear blossoms and the strength of dendrobium, they grew into the plum blossoms in "The Messenger". Li Huakai's jump after learning the truth is a leap of faith and morality, and it is also a wonderful fight to step into the corridor of classic female character images.
It is reported that after more than two months of selection, critics in many parts of the country have selected a total of 50 shortlisted works from the long novel list, the novella list, the short story list and the non-fiction list from many literary works published publicly this year.
Trong > long fiction list
1. "Wencheng" Yu Hua (Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House, New Classic Culture, March 2021)
2. "Tide Chart", Lin Zhao (Harvest, No. 5, 2021, Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, November 2021)
3. "North Stream" Lindbergh (October 2021 Double Month Issue No. 3 and No. 4)
4. "Echoes" East and West (People's Literature, No. 3, 2021, People's Literature Publishing House, June 2021)
5. "The Sun Turns" Fan Wen (Contemporary, No. 5, 2021, People's Literature Publishing House, November 2021)
Long-form non-fiction list
1. "Forty Degrees North Latitude" Chen Fumin (Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, August 2021)
2. "What Should I Say When It's My Turn" Chen Chong (Shanghai Literature, No. 7-No. 11, 2021)
3. "WildLand Aura: The Days I Lived in a Mental Hospital" Li Lanni (People's Literature Publishing House, August 2021)
4. "To the North" Li Hongmei, Liu Yangdong (Jiangsu People's Publishing House, June 2021)
5. "Re-Walking: Finding the Southwest United Congress on Highways, Rivers and Postways", Yang Xiao (Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, May 2021)
List of novellas
1. "In the Name of Birds and Beasts" Sun Pin (Harvest, No. 2, 2021)
2. "Luthier" Huang Liyu (Weeds, No. 6, 2021)
3. "Past" Ai Wei (Zhong Shan, No. 1, 2021)
4. "My Father's House of Whimsy", Han Songluo (Flower City, No. 2, 2021)
5. "Ghost Finger Root" Yin Xueyun (Harvest, No. 5, 2021)
6. "Rose on the Forehead" Bai Lin (Harvest, No. 5, 2021)
7. "Starlight" Wang Kai (October, 2021 Single Month Issue No. 3)
8. "Moon Hermit" Li Hongwei ("Furong", No. 2, 2021)
9. "Look Up" Lin Nabei (Harvest, No. 6, 2021)
10. "Dream City" Silent Sound (Xiangjiang Literature and Art, No. 3, 2021)
Short Story List
1. "The Sky on the Ground" Zhong Qiushi (Harvest, No. 5, 2021)
2. "Waiting for Snow" Zhao Song (Novel Circle, No. 1, 2021)
3. "The Messenger" Tie Ning (Beijing Literature, No. 6, 2021)
4. "Peacock" Ye Xinyun (Harvest, No. 4, 2021)
5. "Fruit Hard Candy" Wan Ma Tse-dan (Harvest, No. 3, 2021)
6. "Permafrost Observation Section" Dong Xia Qingqing (Harvest, No. 4, 2021)
7. "Late Spring", 33 (People's Literature, No. 7, 2021)
8. "Vaulting Horse" Lu Nei (Novel Circle, No. 4, 2021)
9. "Half a Face" Shi Yifeng (Weeds, No. 5, 2021)
10. "The Sound of Drinking Soup" Chi Zijian (Writer, No. 7, 2021)
Author: Xu Yang
Image source: publisher, magazine party
Editor-in-Charge: Xiaofang Xing
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