"The ups and downs of the protagonist's fortunes in the new work interpret the weight of the word sacrifice, and the original intention of creation is to establish a monument for the unsung hero. Writer Hai Fei's latest novel "Big World" was first published in the second issue of "Jiangnan" in 2024 and published by Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House, which is a new chapter opened by Hai Fei's "Spy City" series after being staged in Shanghai, Chongqing, Shantou, Hangzhou, Taizhou and other places. At the book seminar held a few days ago, Hai Fei admitted that he strives to place simple but brave characters on the stage of the "spy war city", and they appear in their own ups and downs, erase their names, and finally lead to the same destination - "big world".
"Big World" is based on the "400 Counter-espionage Team" placed in the Japanese gendarmerie in Ningbo by the underground organization of the Communist Party, and tells the story of Zhu San, a magician who was originally a playground in the Great World on the Bund in Shanghai during the Anti-Japanese War.
Experts and scholars from the literary research circles such as Wang Kan, Lai Yingyan, Zhang Xuexin, Li Yunlei, Zhou Baoxin, Jin Henan, Nan Zhigang, Huang Dehai and other experts and scholars from the literary research field discussed the innovation and characteristics of Haifei's spy war narrative. According to the industry, "Big World" restores the grand historical narrative to a simple life, integrates the soothing daily narrative into the tense military operation, draws on the narrative resources of classical Chinese novels, and at the same time has narrative density and tension, it also properly handles the relationship between poetry and daily life, which is full of fireworks and human feelings, and provides a new perspective for observing history for spy war novels. Through the growth of young people in the revolutionary era, the book reflects the appearance of the unsung heroes who walked in the dark during the Anti-Japanese War.
Talking about the place where the story takes place, Hai Fei mentioned that Ningbo, as a coastal port city, has a unique prosperity in the south of the Yangtze River, and is located in the Simingshan Revolutionary Base in Yuyao, which is under the jurisdiction of Ningbo, and has a decisive strategic position, among which the historical fact that the Ningbo "400" group has successfully lurked has brought him a deep touch.
When the light and darkness of human nature collide with the smoke and clouds of history, and in the midst of the spy shadows, every passerby who passes by may hide their emotions and pain, sorrow and melancholy. In the scorching and turbulent times, the scene of the duel between Zhiyong and Zhiyong is precisely in this group of ordinary and ordinary little people, shining with the beauty of different human nature. Wang Xiaolezhong, editor-in-chief of Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House, said that "Big World" is very energetic, and it is a work with temperature, strength and depth, showing the power of literature.
"Big World" sprouted in Ningbo, took materials from Zhenhai, and completed the manuscript in Zheng's 17th room in Lupu Town. Yang Jin, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Chairman of the Ningbo Federation of Literary and Art Circles, said that the novel uses the creative structure of grass snake gray lines and thousands of miles of veins to successfully restore the extremely vast and subtle "big world". Ye Tong, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Chairman of the Zhejiang Writers Association, believes that "Big World" is vivid and three-dimensional, Hai Fei's brushstrokes arise from life and daily life, and the fireworks in the world, the details of love and hate, and the tense and thrilling battles are intertwined from time to time, forming a strong tension in the treacherous "big world", constituting a legendary color, and also showing the power of spiritual beliefs.
Huang Dehai, deputy editor-in-chief of Sinan Literary Anthology, believes that "Big World" has a rare openness, which has triggered a huge space for discussion. Haifei focuses on the softer side of the personality of the underground workers, who are not only steel, but also flesh and blood. In the fast-paced and efficient era of short videos, patience disappears very quickly, and "Big World" is full of "overflow of humanity", which is a respectable and valuable part of writing, and should be treated patiently.
Wang Kan, vice chairman of the Zhejiang Writers Association and professor of Hangzhou Normal University, analyzed the efforts made by "Big World" to seek new ways of expression: Hai Fei's combination of literature and film, pure literature and genre literature, awakened the deliberately obscured part of Chinese fiction creation, and once again stimulated the vitality of "grand narrative";
In the view of Zhang Xuexin, director of the Center for Chinese Literary Criticism at Liaoning Normal University, "spy war" is the shell of "Big World", but the core of the novel is very literary and lyrical.
It is reported that the event was guided by the Zhejiang Writers Association and hosted by Zhejiang Academy of Literature (Hall), Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House, Ningbo Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and Propaganda Department of Zhenhai District Committee.