Writing matters

Author: Shi Tiesheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: Writing is about finding one to ten thousand spiritual reasons for survival so that life is not just a biological process, but also a fulfilling, vibrant, joyful, and serene spiritual process. If survival is the instinct of all living beings, including humans, then humans have an additional instinct beyond mere survival—living with understanding. If one cannot understand, then it might as well not live at all, and just die. That's why people commit suicide, that's why people write, and that's why people write to avoid suicide. This principle is so simple that it's easily forgotten. The essays collected in this book mostly consist of Shi Tiesheng's reflections on literature. Writers often discuss literature better than scholars who specialize in it, sometimes even more so than the writers themselves can inspire readers. A good writer is first and foremost a good reader, a good literary theorist, and a good literary historian. In this book, Shi Tiesheng shows us his profound literary insights and the unique sensitivity of a writer. "I think that meaningful form is not created like playing with tangram; it depends on the creator's attitude toward the world." Shi Tiesheng is one of the most admirable contemporary Chinese writers. His writing is completely intertwined with his life. In his "writing nights," Shi Tiesheng, with his disabled body, expressed the most complete and rich thoughts for the. He experienced the hardships of life but expressed the bright joy of existence. His wise words illuminated the increasingly dark inner selves of us all. The works included in this book are: Random Thoughts and Reflections, Answering Myself, Soliloquy, Thirteen Essays, Letters to Anne, Three Letters to Li Jianming, A Letter About Music, Reflections on Hong Feng's Novels, and The Writing of Fate, etc.