Re-read Wang Xiaobo's "Golden Age"

Wang Xiaobo

After reading Wang Xiaobo's "Golden Age" again many years later, I still feel relished and have a lot of thoughts. "Golden Age" is written in a novel way and with a unique language, and the whole article is full of the beauty of rhythm, rhythm, logic, wisdom and humor brought by the text. The positive writing of sex, the criticism and ridicule of reality, the reflection on the living conditions of human beings, and the manifestation of human freedom and authenticity are very different from other novels.

The novella "Golden Age" was first published in Taiwan's Lianhe Pao in 1991 and won the journal's Literary Award. In 1994, Huaxia Publishing House published a collection of novels entitled "Golden Age", which included five novels: "Golden Age", "Thirty and Standing", "Like Water Flowing Year", "Love in the Revolutionary Period", and "My Yin and Yang Two Worlds".

The Golden Age is about 33,000 words long and is written in the first-person genre of reminiscence. It first decomposes all the themes and plots into multiple small logic blocks or small logical clues, and then uses large logical clues to connect them together, so that the outline of each plot alternates many times in the whole novel, but the specific details are appropriately described and expanded according to the needs of the overall logical main line of the text and the overall structure of the novel, so that each reproduction of a scene has different perspectives, different sides, different text descriptions, plus changes in language rhythm and rhythm, so that readers can accept the story content at the same time, You can also appreciate the interlocking sense of logic and humor of the text, and even let the reader imagine the mood and emotions of the protagonist, although the theme of the novel is taken from the life of the Zhiqing interstitial team during the Cultural Revolution.

Although many plot descriptions are a bit abrupt in chronological order, this is in line with the characteristics of the brain's recall activity; on the other hand, it is logically related; therefore, such descriptions help to express the logical beauty and interest of the novel's content. Could it be that "The Golden Age" is also a stream-of-consciousness novel? I feel that the main purpose of the author's writing is: to dilute suffering, highlight human nature, highlight wisdom and humor, and pursue the artistry and readability of the novel.

"The Golden Age" has many sexual depictions, which I think are suitable for most adults to read and appreciate. I greatly appreciate mr. Wang Xiaobo's writing attitude in "Golden Age: Afterword":

"Although being positive is the norm for people, it should not be on the lips all the time. I thought it was my duty to write novels as well as possible, rather than mixing them with some deliberate preaching. My writing attitude is to write some works for people who read novels, rather than to teach bad young people.

I know that there are many sane and able-bodied people who need to read novels, and this book is written for them. As for what people who are confused and unclear about good and evil need to read, I haven't thought about it yet. In any case, I think that there are enough readers in the former category in our country to have a kind of serious literature; if all the adults in our country are in a state of innocence, good and evil, and need to preach all the time, I can never believe it. ”

"Write a novel as good as you can," The Golden Age did.

Reading "The Golden Age" again, I can deeply feel that the author achieved this work "with heart". Here, I would like to express my deep regret and nostalgia for the untimely death of the writer Wang Xiaobo. The synopsis of "The Golden Age" goes like this: Wang Er, a 21-year-old beijing intellectual youth, came to work on a state-run farm in Yunnan. When Wang Er went to the infirmary to see a doctor, he met Chen Qingyang, a 26-year-old female doctor. Chen Qingyang was unjustifiably described by everyone around her as a broken shoe, and everyone was hostile to her, so she was not guarded all day, so she wanted Wang Er to help prove that she was not a broken shoe, so many exchanges and stories occurred between them. They were criticized by the people, criticized by the farm leaders, wrote many confessions, accepted public criticism and dictatorship many times, and even suffered personal humiliation.

The novel begins with logical reasoning and speculation directly around "She is not a broken shoe", with flexible language and fluent writing, which can not only capture the reader's interest, but also lead to a series of themes and reflections: 1. Broken Shoes", sex; 2. Unjustifiably called Broken Shoes because she is beautiful; 3." When fighting her, several teams of people around her went to see" because she was beautiful; 4." People there are accustomed to referring to everything that is not a broken shoe as a broken shoe, and to let the real broken shoe go unchecked"; "Since she publicly exposed that she was a broken shoe and I was her wild man, no one said she was a broken shoe, and no one mentioned Wang Er in front of her"; 5." Those people actually don't go to see the doctor, but to see the broken shoes", but also because she is beautiful, because the "broken shoes" that are not beautiful are not wanted to be seen, and the "broken shoes" are the shields to see the "beautiful"; 6. The scene of the criticism fight, "come over a group of old wives and wives, and judge her." The conclusion is that she is really white, no wonder she broke her shoes", this is the reason for "broken shoes".

More than 20 years later, Wang Er and Chen Qingyang met again on the streets of Beijing. When they relive old dreams in a hotel, they recall what they experienced and still agree that it was their golden age.

Some readers believe that there is no love between Wang Er and Chen Qingyang and it is not worth writing. The evidence is that they didn't leave any contact information when they broke up. The relationship between the two of them was never for love, nor for marriage, and if there is a reason, it was just that they had a commitment to stick to a "great friendship" between them.

Readers who hold the above view may not understand the Golden Age. I think that although they have been confused, entangled, painful, and confused because of "great friendship/love/marriage/sex", from the beginning of "great friendship", after fleeing together, being criticized and fighting together, and working together, they finally have "love". The evidence is as follows:

Chen Qingyang later said that she had only made one friend in her life. ...... She hasn't been friends with anyone since.

……

When the two of us were on the mountain behind Liu Dapa, Chen Qingyang made himself a tube skirt,...... Go to Qingping to catch the street. But she couldn't even walk after she put it on. Walking to the south of Qingping, I encountered a river, and the water coming down from the mountain was as cold as ice, as green as red in the pickled snow, and the water was waist-deep and very urgent. I walked over, lifted her on one shoulder, and walked straight across the river before putting her down.

Carry her uphill on the way back. At that time, the dry season had just arrived, and the sky was white and the sun was shining. But there is still light rain in the mountains. The large plates of laterite are exceptionally slippery. I walked up the dirt board like I was on the ice rink for the first time. At that time, I clasped my right hand around her thigh, with a shotgun in my left hand and a basket on my back, and walked on the slippery slope with great difficulty. Suddenly I slid to my left, about to slide into the ravine, thankfully with a gun in my hand and holding it on the ground. At that time, my whole body was tense, and I fought hard for my life, and finally supported it. But this idiot came to add to the mess and threw herself on my back, asking me to let her go. That time I almost died.

When I could catch my breath, I handed the gun belt to my right hand, raised my left hand and slapped her on the buttocks twice..." (Golden Age VIII).

"I wrote for a long time to confess the material,...... So I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life in accounting. In the end, Chen Qingyang wrote an explanation material, did not show me, and handed it over to the people's insurance group. We haven't been asked to write material since. Not only that, but it does not call us on a struggle trip. Not only that, Chen Qingyang became cold to me. ...... What exactly she wrote, I can't guess.

Chen Qingyang said that her true sins were on the Qingping Mountain. ...... I just punched her twice in the ass, and it was so hard,......

Chen Qingyang said that at that moment, she felt weak, and she collapsed and hung on my shoulder. At that moment she felt like a spring vine wrapped around a tree, a bird clinging to a person, and she didn't want to pay attention to anything else,......。 In that instant she fell in love with me, and that could never be changed.

At the station, Chen Qingyang said that this material was handed over, and the regimental commander picked it up and read it. ...... Later, the people in the people's protection group approached her several times and asked her to take it back and rewrite it, but she said that this was the real situation and could not change a word. They had to put it in our file bags.

Chen Yang said that to admit this is to admit all sins. ...... People showed her all kinds of confession materials just to make her understand that no one wrote such an explanation. But she would have to write it that way. She said she had to write about it at the end because it was worse than anything she had ever done. ...... So I had to let us go. (Golden Age XI).

After carefully reading the above content, I feel that the most sympathetic thing is that in that era, Chen Qingyang finally consciously admitted that their "love" was a "sin". The saddest thing is that in that era, she could only be "liberated" by admitting that their "love" was a "sin".

Another feature of "Golden Age" is that the language is concise, lively, does not drag mud and water, and is almost like gold. The whole novel involves more than a dozen characters and scenes, but there are almost no descriptions unrelated to the theme, clean and sharp. The story environment, the labor, work and daily life scenes of the two protagonists, and the personal image are almost all stick figure sketches, with few numbers. In addition, the dialogue throughout the characters is almost always indirect quotations, which is also one of the characteristics of writing.

The experiences of wang er and Chen Qingyang, the protagonists of "Golden Age", deserve sympathy and consideration. They have gone through so many tribulations, but they still love life. They "have lived for more than forty years, but there is still a wonderful new world in front of them." Sympathetically, "she didn't know why people sent her to that desolate place in Yunnan, or why she was released again." I don't know why I said she was a broken shoe and put her on stage to fight, or why I said she wasn't a broken shoe and pulled out the written material again. There have been various explanations for these things, but none of them she can understand" (Golden Age X).

Wang Er may have similar confusion, but after all, there are many happy memories, such as "Golden Age • X" said: "Anyway, it was my golden age." ...... I know a lot of people there, including the homeless people who chased horses, the old Jingpo on the mountain, and so on. When it comes to Wang Er, who can repair the watch, everyone knows. They and I drank that kind of wine by the fire for two cents a pound, and we could drink a lot. I was very popular with them. ...... The pigs in the farm also like me because when I feed the pigs, there are three times more chaff in the pig food than usual."

Admittedly, their confusion is also my confusion.