Zhang KAN - The Most Comprehensive Collection of Zhang Ai-ling's Essays to Date (Hardcover, Two Volumes): The Most Comprehensive Collection of Zhang Ai-ling's Essays to Date

Author: Eileen Chang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-09-01
Features: What is most striking in Eileen Chang's works is that people are drowned in the details of daily life. The human spirit; the vitality and brilliance of people, are stiffened in stereotypical lives. Doing the same things every day, encountering the same faces, talking about the same topics—what difference does time make? This book is the most complete collection of Eileen Chang's essays to date, with over twenty previously lost overseas pieces translated into Chinese and presented to mainland readers for the first time. The book features six impression pieces written by six renowned writers—Wang Anyi, Jia Pingwa, Su Tong, Li Bihua (Hong Kong), Nanfang Shuo (Taiwan), and Mu Xin (New York)—about Eileen Chang and her works, compiled at the beginning. This book is a pictorial text. In addition to her excellent writing, Eileen Chang was also a talented painter. During her reading years, her paintings were already collected by others. The book includes numerous illustrations drawn by Eileen Chang herself. Furthermore, it features over a hundred precious photographs of Eileen Chang and her family, many of which are publicly released for the first time. The book is divided into five sections: "Daily Life," "Portraits of Friends and Relatives," "Unknown Grass," "World of Arts and Literature," and "Self-Introduction to Writing and Translations." Each section's works are arranged in chronological order based on their earliest publication or first collection dates, with sources noted at the end of each piece to provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of the progression of Eileen Chang's essay writing. "The Zhan Look" was originally the title of Eileen Chang's second essay collection, chosen by her herself. She once explained the meaning of this title: "‘Zhan Look’ means Zhan's insights or peepholes—looking inside—a shallow pun,” but in fact, it is a pun with deep significance.