The Mao Dun Literature Award is the highest honor for novels sponsored by the Chinese Writers Association. The prize is awarded every four years, and the entries must be novels with a word count of more than 130,000. So far, the Mao Dun Literature Award has been selected for 10 sessions, and 48 award-winning works have been awarded. If only 1 work is recommended to read in each session, according to my personal reading experience, I recommend the following 10:
(See end of the article for the overall list)
01The first Mao Dun Literature Award Recommendation: Yao Xueyan "Li Zicheng"
Liu Zaifu, Yao Xueyu's nemesis in the polemic in his later years, said that in the past ten years of catastrophe, China has left only two novels and eight model plays, these two novels are: "Golden Light Avenue" and "Li Zicheng". Liu Zaifu is a famous literary critic and once a leading figure in the literary elite of the new era. His appraisal is very sharp ironic, juxtaposing "Li Zicheng" and "Golden Light Avenue", showing that the writing background, creative ideas, and artistic achievements of the two are similar, and the most important thing is that both are wrong works concocted with wrong ideas in the wrong era.
However, it is undeniable that Yao Lao has been diligently writing this three-million-word epic masterpiece for decades, which is the first historical novel, and its plot arrangement is all compounded with historical facts, and many details are rigorously examined, which is definitely worth reading.
Attached: The Winning Articles of the First Mao Dun Literature Award (1977-1981):
Zhou Keqin, Xu Mao and His Daughters, Hundred Flowers Literary and Art Publishing House
Wei Wei, Oriental, People's Literature Publishing House
Mo Yingfeng, "General Yin", People's Literature Publishing House
Yao Xueyu, Li Zicheng (vol. 2), China Youth Publishing House
Gu Hua, "Furong Town", People's Literature Publishing House
Li Guowen, Spring in Winter, People's Literature Publishing House
02 The 2nd Mao Dun Literature Award recommended: Liu Xinwu's "Bell and Drum Tower"
"Bell and Drum Tower" tells the story of what happened in the Beijing Bell and Drum Tower area from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on December 12, 1982, and it is nothing more than the short and trivial life of the parents in Beijing. The author actually describes a day in the life of ordinary people without a personal point of view, there is no beginning and no end, life is originally so trivial and ordinary. Everyone's joys and sorrows are their own novels. It's not out of date to read now.
Attached: Winning Articles of the 2nd Mao Dun Literature Award (1982-1984)
Li Zhun, "The Yellow River Flows East", Beijing Publishing House
Zhang Jie, Heavy Wings (Revised Edition), People's Literature Publishing House
Liu Xinwu, Bell and Drum Tower, People's Literature Publishing House
03The 3rd Mao Dun Literature Award Recommendation: Lu Yao's "Ordinary World"
This one doesn't need to be explained. If you only choose 1 book, there is no comparison between the other books. However, in addition to this book, Ling Li's "Young Heavenly Son" is actually worth reading, and "The Funeral of a Muslim" was also brilliant for a while, and now it seems to be silent.
Appendix: Winning Articles of the 3rd Mao Dun Literature Award (1985-1988)
Lu Yao, "Ordinary World", China Literary Association Publishing Company
Ling Li, "Young Heavenly Son", Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House
Sun Li and Yu Xiaohui, Urban Winds, Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House
Liu Baiyu, The Second Sun, People's Literature Publishing House
Hoda, "The Funeral of a Muslim", Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House
honorable mention
Xiao Ke, "Blood Luo Xiao", People's Liberation Army Literature and Art Publishing House
Xu Xingye, "Jin Ou Lack", Straits Literature and Art Publishing House
04The 4th Mao Dun Literature Recommendation: Chen Zhongzhong's "White Deer Plain"
This does not seem to need to be explained too much, the most widely read in the Mao Dun Literature Award is "Ordinary World" and "White Deer Plain".
At the same time, I would like to recommend Liu Sifen's "White Door Willow".
Attached: Winning Articles of the 4th Mao Dun Literature Award (1989-1994)
Wang Huo, War and Man (I, II, III), People's Literature Publishing House
Chen Zhongzhong, White Deer Plain (Revised Edition), People's Literature Publishing House
Liu Sifen, Baimen Liu (I and II), China Youth Publishing House
Liu Yumin, "The Autumn of Turmoil", People's Literature Publishing House
05The 5th Mao Dun Literature Award Recommendation: Wang Anyi", "Long Hate Song"
Although I personally like Wang Xufeng's "Tea Man Trilogy", I have to say that "Long Hate Song" is too classic, both real and magical, both trivial and readable. Some people commented that Zhang Ailing is weaving the scenery of the world into a period of male and female love, but Wang Anyi is laying out a piece of human scenery from the love of men and women. Although Zhang Ailing's brushstrokes are gorgeous, they have the unkind slaughter of heaven and earth; although Wang Anyi's tone is cold, he hides the tree as if he were intolerable. Zhang is close to Taoism, and Wang is almost Confucian.
Attached: Winning Articles of the Fifth Mao Dun Literature Award (1995-1998)
Zhang Ping, "Choice"
Alai, "The Dust Settles"
Wang Anyi, "Long Hate Song"
Wang Xufeng, The Tea Man Trilogy (I and II)
06The 6th Mao Dun Literature Award Recommendation: Xiong Zhaozheng "Zhang Juzheng"
The quality of these works that won the sixth prize is not bad, Zhang Jie's "No Word" is strong and heavy; Xu Guixiang's "The Sky of History" is humorous and funny, full of revolutionary optimism; Zong Pu's "Records of Dongzang" is thick and square, elegant and readable. But out of my love for historical novels, I still recommend Xiong Zhaozheng's "Zhang Juzheng".
Attached: Winning Articles of the 6th Mao Dun Literature Award (1999-2002)
Xiong Zhaozheng, Zhang Juzheng, Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House
Zhang Jie, "No Words", Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House
Xu Guixiang, The Sky of History, People's Literature Publishing House
Liu Jianwei, The Age of Heroes, People's Literature Publishing House
Zong Pu, Records of Eastern Tibet, People's Literature Publishing House
07The 7th Mao Dun Literature Award Recommendation: Jia Pingwa", "Qin Cavity"
Jia Ping's books are thick, dense and readable. Although it is all trivial, you can read it, you can enter his state, and even live in the village where he wrote about it, watching their sorrows and joys. Among contemporary novelists, my favorites are Jia Pingwa and Liu Zhenyun.
At the same time, Chi Zijian's "Right Bank of the Erguna River" is recommended.
PS: In 2005, I still remember reading the long story of "Harvest" magazine, "Qin Cavity" and "The Right Bank of the Erguna River", which won the Mao Dun Literature Award, and Bi Feiyu's "Plain" and Dongxi's "Regret Record".
Attached: Winning Articles of the 7th Mao Dun Literature Award (2003-2006)
Jia Pingwo, Qin Cavity, Harvest Magazine, Writers Publishing House
Chi Zijian, "The Right Bank of the Erguna River", Harvest Magazine, Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House
Zhou Daxin, "Lakes and Mountains", China Writers Magazine, Writers Publishing House
Mai Jia, "Dark Calculation", Zhong Shan Magazine (published as "Dark Weapon"), World Knowledge Publishing House, People's Literature Publishing House
08 The 8th Mao Dun Literature Award Recommendation: Liu Zhenyun", "One Sentence Top 10,000 Sentences"
Although Mo Yan's "Frog" is very classic, if you only choose 1 recommendation, my personal favorite is "One Sentence Top Ten Thousand Sentences".
What Liu Zhenyun is best at is to say one thing into another; not one thing to say another thing, but to pull out a lot of things from one thing; not to pull out many things in one thing, that is, to roll a small snowball into a big snowball. Anyway, I don't know how Old Liu didn't wrap himself around, nor do I know how many broken things Old Liu really knows and how much human nature he knows.
Zhang Wei's "You Are in the Plateau" really can't be read. Bi Feiyu's "Tuina" is very Bi Feiyu and feels that it is worth reading.
Attached: The 8th Mao Dun Literature Award (2007-2010)
Zhang Wei, "You're in the Plateau"
Liu Xinglong, Skywalker
Mo Yan, "Frog"
Bi Feiyu, "Tuina"
Liu Zhenyun, "One Sentence Top 10,000 Sentences"
09The 9th Mao Dun Literature Award Recommendation: Ge Fei's "Jiangnan Trilogy"
To be honest, several of the works of the Ninth Edition are of similar level and well-written, but I don't have any works that I particularly like. In contrast, it is still recommended for Ge Fei's "Jiangnan Trilogy". There is a good evaluation on Douban: "Jiangnan Trilogy" is written about love, is a small daily life, is desire, ideals and reality, is the mysterious obscurity of fate and can not be explained by the logic of reason, is the dystopian utopia, but in the end let us perceive the curtain of the ubiquitous era. At the end of spring, Jiangnan is still there, because people's hearts and lives have never been absent.
Attached: The 9th Mao Dun Literature Award Winners (2011-2014)
Ge Fei, Gangnam Trilogy
Wang Meng, "This Side of the Landscape"
Li Peifu, Book of Life
Jin Yucheng, "Blossoms"
Su Tong, The Yellow Sparrow
10 The 10th Mao Dun Literature Award Recommendation: Li Er's "Ying Wu Brother"
Li Er's "Ying Wu Brother" is very controversial, and many people say that they can't watch it, but I still highly recommend it.
A "Ying Wu Brother", Li Er wrote for thirteen years. Drawing on the narrative style of a subset of the classics, Li Er recounts the speeches and behaviors of various contemporary people, especially intellectuals. Each chapter of the novel takes the two or three words of the first sentence as the title, and then it is either narrated or discussed, or praised or satirized, or song or crying, and unfolds calmly and calmly. The chapters are interconnected and constantly recombined, producing more diverse forms and meanings. Literary history will prove that for the art of Chinese novels, "Ying Wu Brother" has quietly moved the coordinates of the map of contemporary Chinese literature.
Each of us will find ourselves in this book.
Attached: Winning Articles of the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award (2015-2019)
"The World of Man" (Liang Xiaosheng)
"Drawing the Wind" (Xu Huaizhong)
"Going North" (Xu Zechen)
"Protagonist" (Chen Yan)
"Ying Wu Brother" (Li Er)
The specific list of recommended readings of the 10th 10th Department is as follows:
1st Session: Yao Xueyan "Li Zicheng"
The second session: Liu Xinwu", "Bell and Drum Tower"
The 3rd Session: Lu Yao's "Ordinary World"
The 4th session: Chen Zhongzhong,"White Deer Plain"
The 5th: Wang Anyi's "Long Hate Song"
The 6th: Xiong Zhaozheng "Zhang Juzheng"
The 7th: Jia Pingwa", "Qin Cavity"
The 8th session: Liu Zhenyun's "One Sentence Top 10,000 Sentences"
9th: Ge Fei's "Jiangnan Trilogy"
The 10th: Li Er's "Ying Wu Brother"