"Ala Collection -- Short Stories and Novellas Volume: Short Stories and Novellas Volume"

Author: A Lai
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2001-08-01
Features: The thirty pillars of the old house emit a sweet, decaying scent in the brief summer, and the floor is covered with ashes of bygone days. Mushrooms with white umbrellas and black grow in the corners of the walls. At night, the wind whispers through the wide corridor adorned with carved wooden railings, murmuring. Those who hear it say it is the cry of a woman in labor. For some unknown reason, the masters of the old house for four generations have been single sons, and each new wife must suffer three miscarriages before giving birth to a wise and extraordinary boy. In short, amidst the ruins of the former village, the old house of the Baima Clan still stands like a dream with brittle bones. The stone slabs of the well have cracked under the sun; through the cracks, thick, oil-black nettle and burdock burst forth. The courtyard is empty, with the floating earth dotted with tiny round marks left by night dew. – From The Old House, included in A Lai's collected works published by the People's Literature Publishing House, are: When Dust Settles, Short Stories and Novellas, Poetry and Prose, and Staircases of the Earth.
Author Biography: Born in 1959 in the Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of northern Sichuan. The Maerkang County, where he is registered as his place of origin, is commonly known as "Four Lands," referring to the area ruled by four feudal lords. In the 1980s, he began writing. He has published the novel collection Traces of Old Years and the poetry collection The River. When Dust Settles is his major novel. There is no redemption, no redemption, nor any need for redemption. Due to A Lai's calm and unhurried narrative style, the end of this apocalyptic tale feels more like a curtain about to fall, an unresolved conclusion. Between this and after this, history continues, and the game continues. – Dai Jinhua (Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, Peking University)
The novel, set against the backdrop of the modern decline of the Tibetan feudal lords' system, tells the story of conflicts between intelligence and stupidity, love and hatred, and development and decay through the perspective and fate of the second son of a Tibetan feudal lord. It presents these modern contradictions in a novel and moving way, leaving a lasting impression. I believe there are many reasons for this peculiar effect, and the novel itself offers ample space for multifaceted interpretation. Here, I will only point out one reason: the author deliberately explores a new approach to depicting the lives of ethnic minorities—a term I might call cross-ethnic writing. Cross-ethnic writing is a style that transcends ethnic boundaries in search of certain universality. This clearly implies moving beyond the two waves of writing about ethnic minority lives since the New Period: cross-ethnic writing and ethnic writing. – Wang Yichuan (Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, Beijing Normal University)
A Lai's writing can be said to inherit the narrative techniques of the avant-garde movement. At the same time, he avoids flaunting his mastery and keenness of language as a circus trick, instead adopting a more down-to-earth and approachable attitude. He hides all wit and talent in seemingly rustic but actually precise storytelling. His portrayal of historical subversion and irony is often concealed beneath the lavish banquet of lyrical elegies, almost intentionally veiled. There are no sensational gimmicks or added commercial additives that cater to vulgarity; instead, he treats the novel as an art of narrative language. – Xu Kun (renowned writer)