Cheng Qing, winner of the Lao She Literature Award and writer, recently visited the people's literature publishing house with his new book "Feast" to conduct an in-depth discussion with Zhang Li, a professor at the College of Literature of Beijing Normal University, and Shi Yifeng, a post-70s representative writer and deputy editor-in-chief of Contemporary Magazine, with the theme of "Without material love, will it be indestructible?" ”。 The on-site golden sentences were frequently published, the number of viewers in the live broadcast room was large, and the feedback from readers in the discussion area was warm.
The novel "Feast" is the work of writer Cheng Qing who condenses many years of experience and emotion in urban life. The story of Feast is not complicated. Sunshine Lake, Garden House, the place where the feast takes place - "Qinfang Garden" begins with "I" and her husband Old Tang's experience of buying a house and staying in the reader's field of vision. As an intellectual, "I", even if I am not rich enough, still try my best to live in this high-end community. As a result, in the home of neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Li, professors, doctors, financial and Internet executives, businessmen, artists and other elites from all walks of life gradually appeared, even if they were full-time wives, they were all returnees from famous schools. With the intrusion and inquiry of "I" as a bystander and Mr. Old Tang, in the "Qinfang Garden", the golden years, the feasts, the noise and xiaosuo, the world is alive.
Gaze at life with deep affection, meaningful literary refinement
Cheng Qing entered the literary world earlier and created a wealth of creations. On the subject of urban life and contemporary elites, she has accumulated a large number of miscellaneous, fresh and solid life materials. Over the years, he has written a series of works to observe life and realize life: "Spider Weaving Webs", "Adult Games", "Ten Years Old", "Love Lesson", "Warmest Cold Night", "Angel", "Echo" and so on.
Writer Cheng Qing
When talking about the creation process of the new book "Feast", Cheng Qing mentioned that the book was created during the epidemic in 2020, although she did not face the cruelty of the epidemic, she was still worried about the individual survival in the epidemic environment, but the usual life around her made Cheng Qing fall into a state of self-contradiction. At this time, "Feast" was written very smoothly. As Cheng Qing himself said, sometimes "the state of the author and the state of the work often do not coincide." For Cheng Qing, writing "Feast" is like "a shot in the mind" for her to escape from real life for a short time. Lifting the pen, Cheng Qing honestly wrote out the most daily and authentic aspect of the middle-class life she saw and lived in, led us to re-examine the ordinary life of the habit of noticing, salvaged our respective experiences from the fireworks that were overlooked, confirmed each other, and then suddenly said: This is the way it is.
Shi Yifeng, deputy editor-in-chief of Contemporary Magazine, also shared his feelings when reading Cheng Qing's works over the years. Shi Yifeng mentioned that Cheng Qing's "all works are extracted from the sensibility of life." Unlike many writers who first have rational thinking and then carry out figurative writing, Cheng Qing often has feelings first, and she "first discovers phenomena from life", such as discovering the living situation of a person or a group of people, and then presenting emotional things to do her own refinement and thinking. Shi Yifeng also added, "Her thinking is often relatively specific to the times, not a very abstract thinking." At the same time, years of writing experience have enabled Cheng Qing to firmly grasp the atmosphere and texture of the novel, thus achieving her meaningful "literary refinement" of life and the times.
About Love: The Beauty and Darkness of Love
Zhang Li, a professor and critic at Beijing Normal University, commented that "Cheng Qing is a magician", in the novel "Feast", in the face of the so-called seamless perfect marriage, Cheng Qing sets up problems like a magician, arousing the reader's interest and thinking, and bringing readers a strong sense of reading pleasure. Zhang Li mentioned a detail in the novel, in a Truth or Dare game, the heroine was asked "when her husband cheated on him, will he choose to forgive", her answer is "he cheated on me and I will forgive him". In fact, however, she was still displeased when she saw her husband take off his coat and drape it on another girl. This is Cheng Qing's reflection on intimate relationships - is it enough love, or is it not loving enough to forgive the other half's infidelity? People at different stages of the relationship will presumably have different answers to this.
Zhang Li believes that such details show that Cheng Qing's writing is based on real emotional experience, and she writes "capillaries in emotional relationships.". Cheng Qing wrote the beauty of love, but also had the courage to write the gray and dark of love in the eyes of others. She wrote about the complexity of love, the subtlety of love, the spirituality of love.
In the history of Chinese and foreign literature, there are a series of female figures deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, such as Nala in "Doll's House", Zijun in "Wounded Death", Anna in "Anna Karenina"... Several guests invariably mentioned that seeing Mrs. Lai in "Feast", we can easily think of her literary "predecessors". In the eyes of others, Mrs. Li has a perfect marriage and a happy life, but why should she tear up the marriage contract and destroy the superficial harmony?
In response to this problem, Shi Yifeng put forward his own understanding, he believes that the choice of Mrs. Li in "Feast" is slightly different from that of literary "predecessors" such as Anna Karenina, and Mrs. Li is afraid of the "end of personal history". Shi Yifeng added, "In the past, there was a saying in the academic circles called 'the end of history', which actually said that the end of history was a beautiful picture, and all your problems were solved. But for individuals, the end of history is a frightening thing, and [it shows] that there is no possibility of any change and development in your life. ”
Cheng Qing said that she followed a simpler and more intuitive logic when creating the character of Mrs. Li, but Shi Yifeng's understanding is a sublimation in a philosophical sense. Cheng Qing believes that Mrs. Li is essentially an innocent person, whether it is studying or falling in love, it is very smooth, and she is blessed with the care and tolerance of others. But it is such a woman who finally chooses to leave. Zhang Li believes that Cheng Qing is writing about a woman who is "particularly pure of emotion", such a woman may not be found in life, but there are still many details that resonate in the inner tearing when deciding. "Everyone cuts into our time in a different way, and Cheng Qing sees so many lice under a gorgeous robe that looks unfazed, perfect-looking." Yangzi Evening News/Purple Cow News reporter Huang Yanwen
Source: Purple Cow News