Essential Works of Famous Novels

Author: Zhao Qian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: That night, I only then knew you existed: To conquer nothingness, a life came into the world. At that moment, I lay with my eyes wide open in the darkness and suddenly became certain that you were there. You existed. It was as if a bullet struck me, and my heart stopped beating. When you struck me again, infinite wonder surged within me, and I felt as if I had fallen into a deep well, so that everything seemed so frightening and strange to me. Now, I am shut in by fear. This fear seeped into my face, hair, and thoughts. I am lost in this fear. I know this is not the fear of other things, because I do not care about other things; it is not the fear of God, because I do not believe in God; nor is it the fear of pain, because I am not afraid of pain. This is your fear, the fear of suddenly throwing you out of nothingness and making you attach to me. I never eagerly awaited your arrival, though I knew one day you would exist at some moment. In this awareness, I have long been waiting for you. Yet I still asked myself such terrible questions: Are you willing to come into this world? Will there come a day when you will shout at me in anger: Who gave you the right to let me come into this world? Why did you bring me into this world? Why?
In the fiction section of this supplementary reading series, the editor has made every effort to select outstanding works from various periods and schools throughout history and around the world, hoping to provide readers with as much understanding of fiction writing as possible and supplement language classes. However, this list is still far from complete, and many excellent works had to be omitted. The editor hopes only that the selected pieces will convey their intention to the readers. No selected volume can escape the editor's personal touch, and this one focuses on works that show outstanding innovation in certain aspects, especially in narrative and language. This is because Chinese readers, long accustomed to the habit of appreciating and analyzing literature, often place great emphasis on themes and central ideas, while paying less attention to language and structure. This book selects such works with the aim of encouraging readers to begin appreciating the beauty and power of language itself. To give readers a clear impression, the editor has strived to ensure that each selected piece fully represents the work and has also categorized the works.