A mirror walking along the way

Author: Bian Qin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The format of this book is similar to Lin Da's "Taking a Book to Paris." The author, while traveling through geographical landscapes, comments on the thoughts of French thinkers such as Voltaire, Rousseau, Malraux, and Sartre, seeking the faint connections between modern China and France in cultural and historical contexts. Stendhal once said, "A novel is a mirror that walks alongside you." Naturally, the "mirror" reflects both people and oneself. Moreover, it primarily reflects oneself. This book serves as such a mediating mirror, guiding you through France. From Voltaire to Rousseau, from the May 1968 Movement in France to the Paris Commune, from Malraux's romance to writers who fell under the fascistic (here, "" is a metaphor for the allure of fascism), from the fate of Chinese laborers during World War I to the traces left by Ba Jin in France—beyond the geographical journey, there is a journey through time, and beyond that, a journey through culture. Above the cultural journey lies the wandering of the soul. That is a journey that does not require a visa.