Classical Chinese Novel Popular Library -- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Li Baichuan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-03-01
Features: During the Qing Dynasty under Emperor Qianlong, Li Baichuan, who enjoyed talking about ghosts and strange tales, traveled extensively and endured hardships over nine years before completing Green Fields and Immortal Adventures. Green Fields and Immortal Adventures achieved remarkable literary success. It broke new ground and innovated within traditional fantasy novels, blending fantasy, social realism, and historical fiction. The character portrayals in the novel are particularly outstanding, especially those of the lively common folk in the mortal world. A passage in the novel depicting Wen Ruyu, the son of a high-ranking official, indulging in the pleasures of the flesh and losing his family fortune, is truly brilliant. Mr. Zheng Zhenduo remarked that it is "the best passage in Green Fields and Immortal Adventures, and also one of the best passages in the genre of 'brothel literature.'" The novel's writing style is sharp, grand, and humorous. The dialogue is vivid and true to character, capturing the personalities, identities, and psychology of the figures in a lifelike manner, truly showcasing the style of a master of language. Li Baichuan's friend Tao Jiahe praised the book as "the greatest landscape in the realm of storytelling." Mr. Zheng Zhenduo ranked Green Fields and Immortal Adventures alongside Dream of the Red Chamber and The Story of the Stone as one of the three great novels of the mid-Qing Dynasty.