In 1991, wang Xiaobo's "Golden Age" caused a great sensation as soon as it was published, and won the novella award at the 13th Lianhe Bao Literary Awards.
But "The Golden Age" was hotly discussed when it debuted, not only because of its own depth of thought, but also because of the large-scale description that it does not shy away from, even if today's readers read it, they can't help but blush.
I remember that when I took this book to school and was borrowed by curious classmates, people directly asked me what little yellow book I was reading, and the scene was called an embarrassment.
But it is this little yellow book that has been selected into the top 100 Chinese novels of the twentieth century by Asia Weekly, and is hailed as the most influential novel in the past 40 years, casting the peak of Wang Xiaobo's literary career.
Therefore, "Golden Age" is definitely a book that cannot be disguised, although Wang Xiaobo writes witty, bold, and even some content will make people feel tacky, but everything in the book is to serve the problems it wants to reflect.
In general, "The Golden Age" reflects an absurd state of existence, and those imaginative depictions are Wang Xiaobo's deconstruction of this absurdity and the reconstruction of the meaning of life.
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The beginning of "The Golden Age" subverts the conventional routine of the novel.
Female doctor Chen Qingyang, because everyone said that she was a broken shoe, she privately sought out Wang Er, hoping to let Wang Er testify against herself. As a result, Wang Er was still a perfect steel straight man, hey hey smile, said "you are a broken shoe", directly to Chen Qingyang to clean up.
Wang Xiaobo mentions the word "existence" many times in "The Golden Age". In this novel, the question of existence is whether the individual exists in the world, but it is more a question of the position of the individual in which role he exists in the world.
And Chen Qingyang's hat with broken shoes reflects a strange phenomenon. Exactly what kind of position a person should exist is not up to himself, but to the will of others.
In the novel, people in Chen Qingyang's place have a natural prejudice against Chen Qingyang as a broken shoe. Although their logic seems ridiculous to the reader, in the face of such a huge collective consciousness, even if Chen Qingyang knows his innocence, it will not help.
Wang Er's reluctance to help Chen Qingyang was also out of consideration for the actual situation.
"If I want to prove that she's not a broken shoe, I can prove that she's not a broken shoe, that's too easy." I can't actually prove anything except the things that don't. ”
In Wang Xiaobo's world, the state of existence of the individual is in a situation of being kidnapped by the collective. Wang Xiaobo himself advocates personal freedom, and this kind of kidnapping of individuals by others is obviously intolerable to Wang Xiaobo.
Therefore, Wang Xiaobo had to do the opposite, so that Wang Er not only did not comfort Chen Qingyang, but instead advised her to simply make a broken shoe.
The plot is set up in this way, although it is difficult to prove one's innocence according to the logic of the book; at the same time, it is also because the contents of the book cannot be examined from the perspective of secular morality.
"The Golden Age" is actually a novel that eliminates general moral standards, and Chen Qingyang, as a married woman, should not mess with Wang Er no matter what.
But in The Golden Age, because the environment itself is irrational and absurd, the broken shoe becomes only a state of existence, regardless of moral evaluation.
Just like Chen Qingyang explained at the beginning, in fact, she still admired the broken shoes, because she felt that the broken shoes were generally courageous and kind. And the reason why she denies that she is a broken shoe is not because this reputation is bad and has a bad impact, it is just very simple, because she is not. Since I'm not a broken shoe, why should I admit that I'm a broken shoe?
Later, Chen Qingyang and Wang Er had a relationship, which was also completely voluntary, and there was no compulsion, which showed that Wang Xiaobo emphasized that people should be completely responsible for their own actions, and it was up to their own will to decide what role they should play in the world.
As the key to transformation and breakthrough, "broken shoes" naturally requires Chen Qingyang to achieve the transition from "I am not willing to do broken shoes" to "I am willing to do broken shoes", and naturally also needs the description of corresponding taboo pictures.
What's more interesting is that after the matter of Chen Qingyang and Wang Er was exposed, the locals seemed to have no eyes, and they turned a deaf ear, pretended that nothing happened, and no longer said that Chen Qingyang was a broken shoe every day.
Think about it, why is this happening? Probably because when Chen Qingyang was not a broken shoe, it was recognized that she was a broken shoe, so her positioning was controlled by most people. And when she really became a broken shoe, the previous positioning is no longer just talk, but a fact, at this time, the identification of "Chen Qingyang is a broken shoe" is completely controlled by Chen Qingyang himself, and has nothing to do with the opinions of most people. They can't say in turn that Chen Qingyang is not a broken shoe, because saying that a person is not a broken shoe is like saying that a person is not a villain, which is really not interesting.
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In addition to being a means of rebellion between male and female protagonists, sex is also a side manifestation of whether an individual exists or not, and how the mental state of existence exists.
"Golden Age" has such a passage, which is a famous quote out of the circle:
"I was twenty-one years old that day, in the golden age of my life. I have a lot of extravagant hopes. I want to love, I want to eat, and I want to turn into a half-light and half-dark cloud in the sky in an instant. Later, I learned that life is a slow process of being hammered, people grow old day by day, and their extravagance disappears day by day, and finally they become like a cow that has been hammered. But I didn't foresee this on my twenty-first birthday. I felt like I was going to be fierce forever and couldn't hammer me with anything. ”
This passage may make middle-aged people feel empathy, and may also make young people feel pessimistic about the future while feeling that they are too energetic. But it is undeniable that at that time, Wang Er did feel that his body was filled with infinite vitality. It can be said that at this time, his existence is clear.
But what made Wang Er clearly perceive his own existence? You may not believe it, but it is actually the little thing related to desire.
"This thing on me that is red and red, straight, and about a foot long, seems to me to be extremely important, just like my existence itself."
Wang Er's own attitude may reflect Wang Xiaobo's point of view, and the stirring desire is actually the best evidence of personal existence. Man lives because he still has desires, and if a person really has no desires and no desires, then what is the purpose of living?
At the same time, Wang Xiaobo believes that desire itself represents a wild vitality.
Wang Xiaobo specifically wrote that in the countryside, people castrated cattle to make bulls lose their desire to germinate, so that they became honest and devoted themselves to ploughing the land. The breeding cattle that have not been castrated live a wanton life, showing a different mental state from that of the castrated cattle. From this point of view, this actually refers to a phenomenon of mental castration.
Wang Xiaobo's society suppresses individual desires, and people become lifeless like castrated bulls, and Wang Er and Chen Qingyang's repeated large-scale content is a rebellion against this state of mental castration.
The logic behind this is actually this – the more we suppress our existence, the more we have to show our existence.
Of course, existence is not good. Mere sexuality can only prove that the individual does exist, but it is impossible to determine whether this existence is good or bad.
Although Wang Er and Chen Qingyang had tried many times, not every time Chen Qingyang felt that he existed, his mental state was good.
Sometimes Chen Qingyang would inexplicably feel lonely, sad, and even want to die, and he was never willing to shout out.
Chen Qingyang is so stubborn, even if it will make people feel very uninteresting, but this is also the embodiment of her self-awareness. Because Chen Qingyang has always felt that "she does not want to love others, and no one loves." And it is precisely because sex lacks love, so even if there is a real desire between the two at that time, Chen Qingyang feels not passion and happiness, but loneliness and despair.
This is enough to show that Wang Xiaobo is not an "addict" who tries to promote the doctrine of the supremacy of desire, so as to write a personal history of lust without scruples. Obviously, in Wang Xiaobo's view, simple desire is only a manifestation of vitality, which can only prove that this person still has what to pursue, is real in the world, and does not mean that under the domination of desire, we live a happy and happy life.
From simple living to happy living, there is still a need for an intermediary point, Wang Xiaobo believes that this intermediary point is love.
Wang Er has always shown himself in the text as a debauched, vulgar and frivolous image, which makes people wonder whether he is just a hungry person.
From the moment he made up unorthodox reasons to trick others into sleeping with him, it made people think that he only had X and no love for Chen Qingyang.
But is this really the case? In fact, Wang Xiaobo has consciously or unconsciously revealed Wang Er's attitude when describing in many places. I clearly remember that once Chen Qingyang deceived Wang Er into coming on a menstrual holiday, but when he still agreed to Dun Friendship, Wang Er directly refused.
Later, when the two were fighting, because the person who kidnapped Chen Qingyang was too fierce, Wang Er directly sought out the manager and threatened to cover chen Qingyang and run away.
"I said that it was better to go there, and you told people not to pull Chen Qingyang's hair." In a hurry, Lao Tzu was going to run up the mountain again. He said he didn't know there was such a thing and would have to talk about it. Actually, I wanted to go up the mountain. ”
But the fun point is that Wang Xiaobo added a special sentence at the end of the text, "In fact, I wanted to go up the mountain earlier." This makes Wang Er's behavior look very arrogant, with the meaning of "if it weren't for myself, I wouldn't have bothered to take care of you." So you say that Wang Er doesn't love Chen Qingyang? I think he definitely loves, but people want face and don't want to admit it.
And Chen Qingyang really fell in love with Wang Er when he carried himself up the mountain.
"At that time, I clasped my right hand around her thigh, and I had a shotgun in my left hand, and I had a basket on my back, and I walked on the slippery slope, which was very difficult. 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 P twice. She was honest when she took those two times. Very well-behaved, not a word. ”
Chen Qingyang confessed that he had fallen in love with Wang Er since then, it was difficult to imagine that a woman fell in love with a man for this reason, and those who did not know it might suspect that Chen Qingyang was a trembling M.
But if you think about it carefully, it is not difficult to understand why Chen Qingyang was moved by this. You must know that at this time, it was a critical juncture, and Wang Er knew that he had just walked through the ghost door, and Chen Qingyang was still a helper.
But what did Wang Er do? He just slapped chen qingyang hard twice, and then continued to carry Chen Qingyang on his back, and did not let her go. This is actually a very detail that deserves to be investigated.
Of course, Wang Er's hands were easy to understand, because Chen Qingyang helped him, almost causing both of them to fall off a cliff and die without a place to die. But to say that Wang Er was simply angry that Chen Qingyang almost harmed himself was a bit unreasonable.
Why? Because after Wang Er finished shooting, despite his physical strength not yet fully recovered, he still insisted on carrying Chen Qingyang on his back to continue walking. If Wang Er was really angry, he should immediately put Chen Qingyang down, scold her fiercely, or let her go by herself, but Wang Er did not. This is a bit like when you were a child, you didn't obey, your parents cleaned up a meal and then came to coax you, the hatred in this is real, the love in this is also real, which kind of feeling can not be mixed in with a little false.
I believe that perhaps Chen Qingyang's feelings are similar to those of most readers, and they all feel that Wang Er of Hanger Langdang does not really love her at all. But it was Wang Er's fierce two beats and the act of continuing to silently carry her forward, that Chen Qingyang knew the love hidden in Wang Er's heart.
Before, she was willing to be a friend because Chen Qingyang lacked friends, so even if Wang Er said something great about friendship with a hippie smile, she was willing. But Chen Qingyang has actually been very sober, she has always adhered to the boundaries of friendship, only when Wang Er crossed the boundary did she really let go of the scruples in her heart and was willing to bear all the consequences for this.
As the Golden Age concludes:
"She's admitted it before, and now she's adding, she does it because she likes it."
And this kind of loving free will is the real theme that Wang Xiaobo wants to show to the reader. The reason why we have a golden age in our lives is not because at that time, we had nowhere to put our desires and did things without scruples. It is because we dare to love, dare to hate, and know how to find our rightful place between freedom and responsibility.
Only in this way will the delicate flowers that grow in the thorny years bloom to the only golden age of our lives.