Human Notes

Author: Yu Jian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: The interstices of Human Notes overflow with Yu Jian's sense of mission as a poet and writer, as well as the solemnity of his writing. Despite the easy-to-encounter pretentiousness, grandiosity, and self-promotion in contemporary writing, none of these are associated with Yu Jian's style. Moreover, aesthetic terms like "sublime," long tainted by the political notion of "high, grand, and all-encompassing," have long been on the list of concepts Yu Jian aims to eliminate. The sense of mission and solemnity in Human Notes stem from the author's reckoning with the current state of existence, particularly the living conditions of people who have endured the long political era of the Cultural Revolution, as well as an in-depth inquiry into the political, historical, national, and cultural factors that have contributed to such conditions. "Man dwells poetically on the earth" was originally a line by the German poet H?lderlin, elevated by Heidegger to the highest ideal of human existence in his philosophy. Once Heidegger's philosophical thought becomes the ultimate pursuit or final retreat of Human Notes, Yu Jian enters into philosophical contemplation and reflection through his prose. This book is a collection of the author's prose works, including: Train Notes, Sports Notes, City Notes, The Catalpa Trees Surround Us, Home Renovation Notes, Missing the Chimney, Searching for My Mother, Kunming Notes, etc.