Lao She's works have only seen "Camel Xiangzi" at present.
The old man is worthy of being a master of language, and a strong Beijing flavor runs through the whole book.
The shaping of the character of Shoko, the preparation and laying out of the first part of the novel are well handled.
However, the back retracted too quickly.
Shoko's transformation process is insufficiently explained, and the author seems to be in a hurry to write a book, resulting in a somewhat sloppy ending.
After reading it, Shoko still pulls the car hard, still dreaming of buying her own car.
And forget about his eventual fall and the tragic end of fate, for the reasons mentioned earlier.
Another flaw in this book is the lack of perspective.
Half the time is Xiangzi, the other half is Lao She, and Lao She speaks on behalf of Xiangzi from time to time.
The problem of this perspective, which I have not encountered when I recently read Cao Wenxuan and Shen Congwen, is very hidden.
Especially Shen Congwen, reading his words, you will be deeply intoxicated by his idyllic, light, and alienating style.
The author seems to be holding a telescope in his left hand while staring at the microscope with his right hand.
Both the panorama and the details are clear, but he never speaks for his characters.
This kind of writing method that both jumps out and sticks to the characters is really clever, and it is no wonder that Hou Xiaoxian and Director Jia Zhangke can get some kind of creative consciousness and method from Shen Congwen and apply it to the film. Hou Xiaoxian said:
After reading "Shen Congwen's Autobiography", I suddenly felt that my vision was broad, and I felt that the author's point of view was not criticism, not sadness, but actually a deeper sadness. Shen Congwen will not dig and criticize people from a certain angle, and the life and death of those people are very normal things in his words, all under the sun.
Simply put, it is to refuse to preach, to refuse moral judgment, to observe the deeper sadness of people and things in calm observation.
In contrast, Mr. Lao She's moral judgment position is too clear, making people feel that he is borrowing Shoko's wine glass to pour his own blocks.
The achievements in language and the success of character building are worthy of recognition, but the ideological nature is relatively limited, and the words are full of accusations of the times and deep sympathy for Shoko's suffering.
I hate Lao She's unrestrained description and discussion, and I write too thoroughly. As a result, there is too little room for the reader to think and imagine.
If Shoko the Camel is a classic book, I think there is no problem, but I do not agree with it in the sequence of "first-class novels".
List a few points of my superficial understanding of several characters in the book for further exploration when re-reading.
Shoko's tragedy is not only caused by the general environment of the times, but also has the defects of his personality itself, and his excessive obsession with buying a car has greatly limited the pattern and direction of his life.
He only knows how to pull the car desperately and stubbornly buy a car as the "ultimate goal", and does not know how to perceive the changes in the surrounding environment.
I also don't know how to make full use of the "connections" around me to seek more possibilities for my barren life.
Finally, he lost at the pass of undesirable pass again and again, plunging headlong into the abyss of depravity, and there was no chance to turn over.
Shoko, like everyone else, is being pushed by the times, and he has lost to fate and to himself.
Tiger Girl is a very three-dimensional female character, she has the "only love" brave pursuit of happiness side, but also "work in the heart" does not reach the goal of the vow not to give up.
Unfortunately, Tiger Girl's snack machine can only trick Shoko into her side, and she does not know how to manage the relationship between the two.
Including her and her father's "falling out", it proves that Tiger Girl's heart is actually very limited, and she is not a master of handling interpersonal relationships.
In the early days of their marriage, she spent money lavishly and enjoyed the actions of the two-person world, which shows the short-sightedness of Tiger Girl.
Fundamentally, Tiger Girls, like other Chinese women in the old society, are trapped in the limitations of the times.
Although he has become self-conscious and dares to break through the shackles of traditional concepts, he is still subconscious in his bones who rely on men to ascend to the throne.
From the protection of her father, Liu Siye, to the care of her husband Xiangzi, she thought that as long as there were men around her, her own life would be guaranteed.
Therefore, even if there is no tragedy caused by difficult childbirth, it is difficult for tiger girls to usher in hope in life.
She is still the old-fashioned concept of "waiting for it"! Moreover, pinning his hopes on Shoko was itself a wrong bet.
It is said that tiger poison does not eat children, but Fourth Master Liu is really good enough!
Tiger Lady was greatly unhappy by the scam of not getting pregnant before marriage, and smeared his face greatly, but after all, it was his only daughter, and it would not cause the father-daughter relationship to completely collapse, and she would no longer ask about her life and death.
It can also be understood that in the eyes of Liu Siye, the daughter is not important, and he does not really care about her happiness or not.
If Fourth Master Liu can be more or less enlightened, look at the face of his daughter to accept Xiangzi, and then gradually delegate power, with the manhood of Tiger Lady and the ability to run a car business, as well as the kindness and diligence of his son-in-law Xiangzi, life may not be prosperous.
It's just that Fourth Master Liu can't erase his long face and majesty, and insists on confronting his daughter.
Sold the car dealership to Tianjin, and then not alone? I always felt that Lao She had written him too black.
There is such a "father" in the world?
Several of the minor characters in the book are also very well portrayed and can make an impression.
Mr. Cao, Gao Ma, Lao Ma, Xiao Fuzi, Er Qiangzi, and Detective Sun each have their own "faces" and distinct personalities and styles of behavior, which together build the living world of "Camel Xiangzi".
As a novel, "Camel Shoko", the language style and character shaping are great, but it is still a little bit away from the first-class novel.
What do you think?