The 6th issue of Harvest magazine in 2023 launched Du Yanglin's novel "Liqiu", which became the finale of the last issue of the literary journal of the year. The new book "Liqiu", jointly published by Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House and Sichuan People's Publishing House, has received wide attention from the industry and readers as soon as it came out in April, and has been printed 3 times in just one month, and has dominated various book lists: during World Book Day in April, it ranked first in the overall list of new books on Dangdang.com; Searchlight Books was shortlisted for the list of Chinese and foreign literary masterpieces in April; "China Publishing and Media Business Daily" April good book; Headline Reading: A selection of good books of literary novels from January to April; Douban Reading New Book List ...... So, what kind of story does this novel tell? What kind of unique literary charm and value does it have?
● The life chapter of the protagonist Ling Yunqing
Du Yanglin's previous novel, "The Sting", was published in the literary journal October. This work tells the tenacious growth history of the protagonist Ling Yunqing, and the novel continues and promotes the writing of the theme of "struggle to change destiny" of rural youth in classic works such as "Life" and "Ordinary World", which is an epic about the changes in rural fate. Ling Yunqing constantly sought the strength of life and endeavor, and finally ran to a new city and a new future on a green train.
After its publication, the sales of "Shocking" were gratifying, occupying the top of various reading lists for a long time, becoming a dark horse in the literary book sales market, and was successively selected into the first batch of projects of the "New Era Literary Climbing Plan and Migration Plan - From Literature to Film and Television" hosted by the Chinese Writers Association. Du Yanglin has won many literary awards such as the Hundred Flowers Literature Award and the Chuanguan Literature Award, and he has also been rated as an influential fiction writer for three consecutive years. Many readers of different ages and experiences were moved by this sincere, simple and shocking novel story, and felt the power to move forward and forge ahead.
Ling Yunqing, the protagonist of "Shocking", seeks a breakthrough in life in a difficult environment, realizes the bloom of life, and moves towards rebirth. From the perspective of a teenager, I also present a complex adult world. Du Yanglin said, "Some readers are more concerned, how is the life of the protagonist Ling Yunqing in the city? Therefore, there is a creative plan for "Beginning of Autumn". ”
The newly published novel "Liqiu" continues the life chapter of Ling Yunqing, the protagonist of "The Sting", and deeply depicts his mental journey from a rural youth to an urban entrepreneur, unfolding a magnificent picture for readers of the torrent of the times to stick to their original intentions, bravely take responsibility, and help their neighbors change their fate. This work is not only a further writing of Ling Yunqing's personal growth, but also an affectionate record and deep reflection on China's urban and rural changes and social progress. Some critics believe that Gao Xiaosheng's "Chen Huansheng Enters the City" and Lu Yao's "Ordinary World" both write stories about people's yearning for the city, but what happens to people's living conditions after entering the city seems to be a fault. The completion of the writing of "The Beginning of Autumn" unexpectedly continues and expands such a literary space.
● Write based on authenticity
Whether it is "Shocking" or "The Beginning of Autumn", the persistence of the Lingyunqing-style generation in their dreams and their persistence in daily life have finally converged into the power of thousands of sails, which has always been the literary background that Du Yanglin wants to convey. "Like 'The Sting', in 'The Beginning of Autumn', I still show a literary world full of local flavor. In this literary vernacular world, the game and conflict between emotion and human nature, interests and power unfold in turn with the protagonist's entrepreneurial journey. Du Yanglin revealed that in his creation, he combined the deep humanistic care of the local individual with the ideal pursuit of the local collective, and presented the past, present and future of the rural world in the tide of change of the times through the struggle history of a generation sensing the call of the times and the spiritual history of the continuous struggle between individual trauma and burden. I hope that my writing will not only have the mottled blood and tears of survivors, but also hope that real life and literary writing will be superimposed on each other to present a pluralistic humanity. ”
Writing based on authenticity has always had a strong vitality in literature. As the first reader of "Liqiu", A Lai, vice chairman of the Chinese Writers Association and chairman of the Sichuan Writers Association, was very emotional: "The truth of this novel has a strong appeal and impact. Let me grow from a teenager to an entrepreneur, and see the process of the gradual opening up of this era. "Under the erosion of the torrent of the times, the subtle and complex mirror image of life in daily life has been restored, and the abundance of life, the glimmer of human nature, and the endeavor of life have formed a world that looks at the nature of human development. Li Jingze, vice chairman of the Chinese Writers Association and secretary of the Secretariat, pointed out that the appearance of urban and rural areas presented in "Liqiu" may not be summarized by the original historical, social and literary dual structure of urban and rural areas. He said that in this novel, the urban-rural structure no longer exists where the city represents the direction, and the countryside is left behind, bid farewell and abandoned, but in the overall structure, in the civilization, culture, psychology and life structure, the countryside is firmly attached to everyone, and everyone must take it seriously. "Therefore, "Liqiu" has new things, new visions, and new expressions, and it is a discussion of the creation of rural themes."
● The rural epic "trilogy" is not a "single-domain writing"
At present, Du Yanglin is working on the creation of "Heavy Snow", the third part of the rural epic "Trilogy". From "Stinging" to "Beginning of Autumn" to "Heavy Snow", he will weave a closed loop of writing of "leaving the hometown, entering the city, and returning to the hometown", hooking and sinking the vicissitudes of the times, the warp and weft of life, and the ups and downs of fate, forming a "circle" narrative that interrogates the soul.
"Is the writing of a single field around "Shocking", "Beginning of Autumn" and "Heavy Snow" shackled or expanded, or is it a literary boutique?" Faced with such a question, Du Yanglin responded with "don't simplify". In his opinion, from the already published "Shocking" and "Beginning of Autumn" to the ongoing writing of "Heavy Snow", the development of the protagonist is the main line to advance the plot, but it does not mean that this is "single-field writing". Judging from past literary works, whether it is Lu Yao's "Ordinary World" or Anai's "Da Jiangdong Go", they all string together the story of the novel with the protagonist's struggle and changes in fate. The series of long-form writings, most of which span dozens of spring and autumn periods, give the characters in the novel a longer growth time, a larger space for activities, and also open up the boundaries between the city and the countryside, hometown and foreign land. Therefore, I have never regarded my series of writing as a shackle, but it has given me the opportunity to swing my brushstrokes to a broader world, giving me richer and broader freedom of writing, and entering a new space of literary creation. As for whether this way of writing can become a literary masterpiece, I don't dare to hold it up, nor do I dare to say anything, so I will leave the work to time to accumulate and test! ”
●"Sichuan literary elements are closely related to my writing"
Du Yanglin is a native of the southern county of Sichuan Province, like Ling Yunqing, the protagonist of "Shocking" and "Liqiu", who walked from a backward and impoverished small mountain village to the city, and found the value of his survival through hard study and hard work. He used to be a senior reporter for Chengdu media, and his news reports won many awards, and later he devoted himself to creating in order to chase his literary dreams. For Du Yanglin, the "trilogy" of rural epics is not only consistent with the development of the times, but also faintly consistent with his own life trajectory. Behind the words, there is his true life perception and philosophy.
This time, "Liqiu" is jointly published by Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House and Sichuan People's Publishing House, and this novel also has rich Sichuan elements. In Du Yanglin's view, both Sichuan literary and publishing elements have had a positive impact on his writing. "I am grateful to Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House and Sichuan People's Publishing House, which have joined forces to integrate their respective advantages and publish Liqiu, which makes me very encouraged." Du Yanglin said frankly, "I am a native of Sichuan. It is an indisputable fact that the place where a person was born and raised, and the unique historical and cultural factors contained in it, will leave a deep imprint on his writing. The elements of Sichuan literature are closely related to my writing, and this land provides me with a deep fertile soil, but at the same time, I also try to choose a more universal language in my writing, breaking the restrictions of territory, so that readers from non-Shu regions can read the text with fewer obstacles or obstacles. In my opinion, the 'Sichuan element' is also the 'Chinese element', and what the novel represents and reflects is not only the story that takes place in Sichuan, but the wonderful life of the next generation of Chinese in the tide of the times. Of course, the publishing elements of my hometown of Shu are a kind of trust and recognition for me personally, and an encouragement and spur to my writing, so that I never dare to forget where I came from and my original intention. As a writer in Shudi, I am familiar with and love the land where I grew up, and I am willing to continue to work hard in the future, sink my heart, feel the pulse of the times, and strive to write better and more works. ”
Literature records the era, writing footnotes and providing circumstantial evidence for the complex and colorful life. "As a former native child, I will never give up this feeling of 'where life comes from', nor will I give up my deep thinking about how the countryside can keep up with the development of the times. My writing focuses on the countryside because I want people to re-observe the countryside and think about the development of the countryside. This is Du Yanglin's expectation, and it is also his original intention of literature. (Reader Daily all-media reporter He Jian)