Pseudo-life - The latest long by the winner of the Lu Xun Literature Prize

Author: Shi Yajun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: A Chinese-style story of marital breakdown; a protracted battle of family ethics and morality; a touching tragicomedy of warmth and sorrow; an emotional dream within a pseudo-life scroll; a drifting lotus in the river of men and lake of women both inside and outside the besieged city! Ye Shasha's stubbornness leads to a car accident, leaving her paralyzed and facing death. As she experiences the exceptional qualities of her husband Shen Xiaowu, which are rare in most men, she develops the idea of keeping him for her sister. After losing his wife, Shen Xiaowu, in a series of unpredictable emotional experiences, feels even more acutely the illusion and helplessness of life. The dark fog of a Chinese-style marital breakdown mercilessly engulfs him. Unprepared for life in any true sense, Shen Xiaowu plunges into the disillusionment, confusion, and pain presented by the pseudo-life he is forced to live—a life as if on stage, with roles changing one after another, depicting the joys, sorrows, bitterness, and sweetness of the human world. This book can be seen as a valuable exploration of national character. While genuinely reflecting life, it also criticizes the ugliness of life and human nature, while highlighting people's longing for a better life and more noble human qualities. With its profound themes and insightful perspective, it offers readers a fresh and striking experience. This is a transitional work by an author known for his vivid depictions of western landscapes. The novel continues his signature delicate and refined writing style, using a gentle touch to portray the complex emotions, marriages, family ethics, and interpersonal relationships of modern urban life in a profound and expansive manner, making it both brilliant and diverse. A beautiful pearl of love is hidden within the rough and crude shell of marriage. Although Shen Xiaowu fears and laments his life and marriage, he never thinks of breaking it. Instead, he carefully and even enjoyably nurtures it, pouring his heart and even his intellect into it. He has even grown accustomed to people's indifference, to Ye Shasha and her parents and sister treating him with what seems almost vulgar and barbaric "punishment," and to the rough and ugly shell of marriage. If Ye Shasha had not met with an accident later, Shen Xiaowu would have continued to let the axis of life relentlessly grind him down, which aligns with the resigned attitude of most people in society toward life and marriage. After Ye Shasha's death, the locked door of Shen Xiaowu's heart, which had been shut for a time, is now open. A fresh breeze begins to stir his dry soul. Shen Xiaowu starts to climb again toward the summit of marital and romantic beauty, but reality repeatedly pushes him back. Ye Shasha's family, Shen Xiaowu's boss, and his friends form a new "shell," beginning to cruelly overturn his emotions. At a loss, Shen Xiaowu struggles to rebuild the true marriage he desires and to reclaim the love life that truly belongs to him. The dark fog of a Chinese-style marital breakdown mercilessly engulfs him. Unprepared for life in any true sense, Shen Xiaowu plunges into the disillusionment, confusion, and pain presented by the pseudo-life he is forced to live.