Your World -- Life and Art in France

Author: Chen Dong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-07-01
Features: For a book like this, we cannot call it a travelogue, although it features large images and introductions. Chen Dong acknowledges that his examination of France was confined to a known scope. They belong to an artistic and cultural stratum. This perspective is personal to Chen Dong—it is both a limitation and a characteristic he aims to highlight. On the very first page, he writes, "The author of this book likes to use 'I,' which shows he is quite subjective. A travel book should not be written this way." However, overall, friends interested in French culture may want to check it out. It can serve as a (thread) to gradually explore France's unique cultural spirit. But don’t expect too much. Because, Chen Dong had no intention of sharing too much historical or cultural knowledge. He simply wanted to share his own feelings—a testament to "life imitating art." As for the greater ambitions and underlying meanings contained within, it requires (a discerning reader) to find them. This book is richly illustrated, including content such as: Midnight Publishing House, The Journey Begins, A Tranquil Life, The Underbelly and Reality, Art Outdoors, Chinese Artists in France, and more. On the dust jacket of A World of One's Own, the author quotes Kafka: "We can easily create many books from life. But we cannot extract much life from books." This quote perfectly reflects the direction the author attempts to describe in the book. The subtitle is French Life and Art. Clearly, this is a book about France, yet the image of France presented within is already well-established. The author quotes critic Pierre to reveal France's initial image: "One can capture the 1950s from Dewanod's photographs, the 1960s from Godard's films, the 1970s from Warhol's paintings. For the 1980s, it was Ashnov and his two books This Year of Man and Woman, Landscapes, Objects, and even Animals—all of which bore resemblance to Jean Ashnov's sentences." When the author arrived in France, everything before his eyes was merely the imprint of those photographs, paintings, films, and novels. He repeatedly revisited the details, comparing them to the scenes before him, thus forming a more practical image. He says, "I can still recall these memories because they truly entered my life and became a part of my identity."