Song of the Mysterious Garden

Author: Zhang Jie
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Some say Zhang Jie is the last angel in the swamp of dream journals. She speaks not, her deep eyes gaze at you, and a strange, organ-like melody blows past, making you feel the vast treasure trove of moonlight in her heart. Thanks to her genuine and pure spirit and sensibility, she has been writing stories from her heart with excellence. The three books by Shanghai female writer Zhang Jie—The Girl Who Knocks on the Door, Crossing Your Shadow, and Songs of the Mysterious Garden—are grandly launched by Children’s Publishing House (Shanghai), under the brand of “Moonlight Novels.” Describing Zhang Jie’s novels in terms of moonlight is truly appropriate and accurate. Zhang Jie’s novels often use the third-person perspective, which gives her writing a sincere, innocent, and elegant tone, allowing readers to quickly resonate with their hearts. Her rejection and aversion to the filth of the adult world, her disappointments and frustrations in human interactions, her confusion about life, and her melancholy for being unable to express herself—these sensitive emotions of teenage growth coexist with their admiration for pure and beautiful things. They create an aesthetic effect that is both rich and ethereal. Overall, Zhang Jie’s novels possess a transcendent and ethereal beauty, which relates to the author’s perspective on life and her selection of material. In her heart, she holds a perfect ideal that is both simple and infinite. Her curiosity, confusion, and questioning of life are all rooted in this ideal. She feels pained by any flaw in human nature but also forgives it. The psychology of teenagers is like the dense clouds rolling in the sky, but their ethereal nature is grounded in inner stability. Too smooth writing can sometimes feel simplistic. When an author’s expression and language are overly fluent, it usually means they have mastered what they want to convey, making them appear confident and effortless. Yet such smooth and polished writing is now far too common. Critics have once warned writers to restrain their fluency when they feel it is becoming excessive. Maturity can also be cliché; overly smooth writing risks being flat in effect. It is heartening to find that Zhang Jie has avoided such smoothness and polish. Zhang Jie’s writing is beautiful and precise, but when she constructs a certain atmosphere in her works, she does so not from on high but as if immersed in it. When she depicts confusion, she does not use it to resolve the confusion but often finds herself still confused while writing. I believe the most outstanding aspect of Zhang Jie’s work is not the ideas it reflects but the vividness of its imagery. As a common cliché in literary theory goes: “Image is greater than thought.” Only when a work is rich in imagery can its ideas truly resonate. Even, I argue, it is better for imagery to be “rough” or “imperfect” than to be conceptualized or emaciated, especially for children’s literature. For the current state of our literature, ideas have become too abundant, too empty, and too. Zhang Jie’s strength lies in her literary potential, which is a natural cultivation, stemming from her particularly sincere attitude; it is also a talent. Her vivid dialogues, dynamic conflicts, lively scenes, and ethereal thoughts—all successfully recreated—owe to these two qualities. It is both talent and cultivation. Because of her sincerity, she empathizes completely, standing fully in the other’s shoes in her thoughts and portrayal; because of her talent, she brings them to life. Thus, Zhang Jie not only successfully portrays sensitive and beautiful teenage girls like herself but also masterfully depicts characters like troubled boys. When the Flowers Bloom is an excellent novel. The poetic beauty of humanity and the vitality of life coexist in Zhang Jie’s works. The lively, mischievous, energetic, and rebellious spirits of boys and girls sometimes appear almost rugged and strong, which surprises people given the author’s delicate and slender image. Yet this is not surprising at all. With the support of a broader and stronger vitality, the poetic expression of human nature is not delicate or frail but powerful. Vitality itself is also poetic, equally important and precious as the author’s sensitivity. When an author’s compassion aligns perfectly with their writing subject, or when the narrative perspective they choose just right expresses their emotions, more exquisite works emerge. I believe Evening Tea and Fragrance, The World of Human Smoke, Bathed in Sunlight, Children of Paradise, and When the Flowers Bloom, including the novel-length The Girl Who Knocks on the Door, are the most outstanding among Zhang Jie’s works. They possess excellent narrative rhythms, harmonious unity of form and content, balanced and lingering structures—so outstanding that they would hold their own even alongside adult literary works. Coincidentally, most of them are written in the third-person perspective, which makes me wonder if the third-person narrative allows Zhang Jie to remain calm and in control. Perhaps the moment an author finds the right narrative perspective, their artistic conception also matures instantly.