Mayor's Diary

Author: Jiao Shu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-06-01
Features: The Mayor's Diary is a work faithful to life, to art, and to the people. It is the crystallization of a writer's years of sharpening their sword. The Mayor's Diary is a meticulously crafted novel. Without personal experience immersed in real life, such insights could not be gained, nor could such vivid material be obtained. Of course, it would not have been possible to create such an authentic realist work. Is it about critiquing petty bourgeois consciousness or exposing social secrets? Or perhaps it is a national report on vigilance in times of peace? At least, it is more honest than some of the officialdom literature that is popular nowadays. It is called a novel, "a truthful lie." The Mayor's Diary is named as a novel, but it is grounded by a real mayor and supported by real diaries. Even if there are omissions, they would not be far-fetched. Private desires and public justice intertwine, human emotions and imperial law become entangled—severing them is impossible, yet unraveling them is equally difficult. The immigration work pushes forward amid the glow of swords, seemingly at a rapid pace, yet the hearts of people have changed. Who is in need of healing, the healer? The subtle observation of human nature, the genuine perception of spiritual phenomena, the flexible, worldly, and even "balanced" persistence of reason, the artistic grasp of the main theme, variations, and harmony—all have undergone painstaking effort. With true meaning, shed the ornamentation, and practice simplicity to convey the essence. As long as the message is conveyed, even without any background baggage, even dry numbers can become symbols of life. Hegel said in Aesthetics (Part 1): "The more conflicts and challenges there are in the environment, the greater the destructive power of the contradictions, and yet the stronger the soul remains true to its character, the more profound and resilient the subject's character becomes." Thirty thousand words do not feel long; the changing tides and winds make it highly engaging.