Forest feast and dignity of life from the perspective of children

Author: Zhang Chongyuan

The famous writer Zhang Wei's new works "My Wilderness Feast" and "The Endless Flow of Love" both depict the lush and lush forest on the east side of Jiaohai, showing the beauty of harmonious coexistence between man and nature from a children's perspective, as well as the troubles and sorrows of people growing up. The teenager was originally free and unrestrained, observing everything in nature with such a pure and simple eye, which coincided with the natural and beautiful environment of the seaside wilderness, and also made the narrative have some legendary magic colors.

In "My Wilderness Feast", the medicine picker Lao Guang told a story of "the elf invited guests to repay the favor", the grandmother said "Lao Guang, this person, everywhere is good, is too able to blow", "I" but felt, "Lao Guang said is all true", not only believed it, but also imitated the "old rabbit spirit" to prepare a feast in the forest for his good friend Zhuangzhuang. In the "Thousand Birds Club" section, "I" also led the reader to appreciate the growth of flowers and trees in all seasons, understand the living habits of various animals, taste the delicious fish soup made by my grandmother, and explore the forest hut for the night, a series of novel and thrilling scenes jumped on the paper, and the reading experience was vivid and endless.

For each child, the growth experience is unique, and it is also a gift of life. The experiences of the characters in the book form an echo and care with reality, giving inspiration and reflection to people at present. "I" grew up alone in the woods, in the high wall of lights, "I am like a bird in a cage", "a little awkward", "some panic" is not used to talking in front of people, feel "terrible". But "I" also have my own strengths, running in the forest all year round, allowing "I" to easily break the school games record, in addition, when participating in "work-study", "I" deservedly became the "uncrowned king" of the medicine collection group... Following the author's narrative, the reader can reflect on the current education and emphasize the importance of teaching according to aptitude and cultivating creativity.

"The Endless Stream of Love" adopts a first-person retrospective narrative, whereby there is always a voice of an adult narrator behind the child's perspective, and the voice of this adult narrator sometimes creates a certain alienation from the child's vision, pushing the author's voice and opinion directly in front of the reader. For example, in some chapters, the narrator's (or author's) point of view is too obvious, and the language of direct discussion is too much and too blunt, just like the "voiceover" in film and television works, and the result is that the "discussion" is excessive and counterproductive. For example, "In our dealings with animals, we enjoy this selfless love. Sometimes we fall into deep doubts at some point: why, why do they love us so deeply and unswervingly? The answer is that they depend on us, asking for food and others. Here, not only questions are asked, but also self-questions and answers, and the truth is pushed bluntly in front of the reader, which is suspected of "indoctrinating ideas", which can be seen in many places in such argumentative essays.

The author believes that in the text narrative, using "a hair to carry a heavy burden" is far more powerful than directly showing the ten thousand pounds of burden, and it is far more artistic and more "white and beautiful" to let the characters speak and express their thoughts with the words and deeds of the characters themselves than to tell the reader the views bluntly. Based on this, the author prefers the narrative method of expressing ideas through the words and deeds of the characters and letting all things occur naturally in "My Feast in the Wilderness", while the straightforward lyrical and discussion parts in "The Endless Flow of Love" can be appropriately deleted, so that more "narrative gaps" can be left for the reader to slowly understand. (Zhang Chongyuan)

Source: Guangming Network - Literary And Art Review Channel