Loud with human voices

Author: Yi Ling
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: This is a novel that appears to follow the spiritual growth of a young female writer as its main theme, but in reality, it explores the themes of time and memory. The four threads—“Historical Memory,” “Real Love,” “Fable of Cats,” and “Story of Writing”—weave together and intertwine, giving the novel both horizontal breadth and vertical depth. The entire narrative is filled with the author’s contemplation of time and fate, philosophical reflections on “love” and “beauty,” and anxiety about the subtle changes of history and events in destiny. Around these spiritual elements, the story is meticulously woven, and the narrative is carefully crafted, making this seemingly overly complex novel brim with a mature sense of storytelling and a high artistic pursuit. To love someone unattainable, to wait for miracles that will never happen, to be entangled in memories and fantasies that will never come true, to commit one mistake after another, all destined to repeat in one’s fate. The past seems to be displayed in countless glass jars, and I watch them unfold, like watching fish in a glass jar, like watching a story of another world. Love for the wrong person; waiting until all ships have passed; unintentionally glimpsing a hidden path; the dream of search finally awakening. What is the difference between the story of him and her and her and his story? Why must one wait until after to see through it, when life is actually what? There are so many voices eager to be heard, so many scenes eager to be performed, so many shadows eager to reveal themselves. Unprepared. Urgent. What story awaits its end at the other end?