Father is a soldier

Author: Shi Tiesheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-09-01
Features: Young readers, the series of books you see here have been selected and edited from two sessions of the Lu Xun Literature Prize for Fiction. Usually, people feel a sense of reverence toward the name Lu Xun; the literary prize named after him is solemn and resonant; and the novels that win this prize must surely be substantial in content and profound in meaning. They carry the unfathomable world of adults, perhaps excluding the entry of young people. In reality, this is often an underestimation of the understanding of young readers. Perhaps because of this underestimation, young people may have missed out on these novels. I remember my youth in the early 1970s, a time of cultural poverty. Apart from the hollow textbooks, we had no books to read. Fortunately, my family had a few outdated literary classics left, which brought me the joy of reading secretly. Those literatures were not prepared for children; the content was far removed from the life I could perceive, and I did not fully understand the profound meanings of the characters and stories. Yet I was immersed in them, savoring an indescribable happiness. Among them, the novel Jean-Christophe by the French writer Roman Rolland was particularly unforgettable. To this day, when someone asks what book had the deepest impact on me during my youth, I will without hesitation place this four-volume novel at the top. Although I have mostly forgotten the plot, I can still recite the two sentences from the preface: "True light is not the absence of darkness but the fact that it is never extinguished by darkness; true heroes are not those who never feel lowly emotions but those who are never subdued by them." These words shook the weak and narrow heart of a teenager, making me clearly yearn for a noble and beautiful soul, for the desire to make a difference in this world. Although I did not know what I could do for the world at that time, I believe this is the charm of literature. It quietly opens your mind beyond the classroom, enriches your personal life, expands your horizons, deepens your understanding of the vast world, and cultivates your aesthetic taste. I believe that the healthy growth of a person's heart should be accompanied by truly outstanding literary works. This Selected Readings of Novels Winning the Lu Xun Literature Prize undoubtedly possesses these literary qualities. The novels and stories here are all different, and the writers' ways of storytelling are also diverse. If novels are the art of narration, then you will see how, through different narratives, these novels become stylistically unique and engaging in the hands of the writers. At the same time, a group of characters, some close to you or far away, will also enter your heart. These characters range from those who grow up in cities to those who thrive in the countryside; there are fathers in a son's heart, soldiers at border posts, female heroes in war, mayors with unspoken stories, mothers in nursing, women hiding schemes in grand mansions, innocent girls, sensitive and thoughtful teenagers under the "August Fog Bullpen," and even the telling of a "life without language," the reflection on "before and after the years," the heartfelt memory of a pair of homemade cloth shoes stitched with thousands of needles, and the intoxication of two men "boasting" on a fertile grassland. How does an old house, in the simple prose of the writer, radiate a divine warmth? How does a river get drenched by rain? Does the heart grow old before the body sometimes? What secrets lie within the "Double Fish Constellation" that we do not know? And how can a basin of clear water and a knife lying in it be described so dramatically? The act of carrying tea leaves to Beijing itself is not as poetic as the title of the novel suggests, and the events that happened or did not happen in the kitchen also make one think of the "war" between men and women, though hidden, that has always existed. "Dreams have never reached Xie Bridge," yes, the childhood dreams there are truly a mix of joy and sorrow, humor and melancholy. That is a child's discovery of her father, and in this discovery, the child also finds her lifelong difficult wish: to gain true human affection. Although it is difficult, it ultimately exists. After we "wash away the dust" with clear water, a new year truly arrives, and our hearts, having been cleansed by such novels, should also be as clear and bright as a starry night in winter without wind. These novels, despite their diverse themes and styles, share an undeniable commonality: they all focus on reality, care for the human heart, and do not shy away from the difficulties of life. Regardless of the path they take, they ultimately express a genuine understanding of life, a keen grasp of reality, a sincere hope for goodness, an endless exploration of the vast human heart, and a certain guidance for the healthy development of the human spirit. Additionally, this series of books includes selected photographs of each writer from different periods of their lives, as well as relevant reviews and interviews, allowing you to get to know the writer from multiple perspectives while reading a novel. When you gaze at their youthful photographs, you might even wonder: when did they first dream of becoming writers? The "Introduction" accompanying the works was written by the female writer He Yuru. Her words are profound yet accessible, calm and orderly, lively and delicate, yet measured. This "Introduction" is a literary evaluation of one writer by another, and a sincere dialogue between the works of two writers. I am willing to believe that all of this is beautiful. March 2003