Volume 5: Letters, Diaries, and Appendices of Essays

Author: Shi Tuo / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features:
Shateng Comrade: I received your two letters dated April 26th. Due to a minor illness, my reply is delayed by several days. Please forgive and understand. "Felling Bamboo" has been recommended by you to various parties. Whether it succeeded or not, your kindness should be greatly appreciated. "The Big Circus" was once suggested for reprinting, but most of the people involved were not the main force of the publishing house, so it seems unlikely to be republished in the short term. I rewrote it in 1963, but the original manuscript was confiscated during the Cultural Revolution. I even saw it in 1970, but it has never been returned to me. I estimate it has been destroyed. Someone advised me to rewrite it for the third time, but I am already exhausted. The old edition still preserves two or three copies, all bought from bookstores. After the "Gang of Four" fell, they were taken away again. Today, it is impossible to buy old books from bookstores. If you really want to see it, I will try to find one for you, but I am not sure, and I am not satisfied with it myself. In short, I will do my best to find a solution.
I have not read your work "Qingtongpo," but where was it published? I hope you can let me know in the future, and I will find it to read. "Seventy-Five Days in the Enemy Rear," published in Harvest, was read through in one sitting. Although it was a diary, the author did not expect it to be published at the time, but it is still evident that the attitude was serious when writing, without fear of exposing his own flaws—something others can learn from. More importantly, you have preserved the style of the newly established anti-Japanese area.
In the early days of liberation, I read your work "[Memoir] of He Long." The writing is concise, with little detail, but thirty years later, many details are still vivid in my memory. In recent years, I have been organizing my old works, as if settling my affairs. I dare not have other ambitions and do not have the energy to support them. Even for my old works, whether anyone is willing to reprint them is still uncertain. I think you are a writer with distinctive characteristics after the May Fourth Movement. I estimate you are about five or six years older than me, yet you are still able to work and engage in amateur writing. Although your health is not good either, it shows your vitality.
While organizing my old works, I found that I am just a vagrant in the literary world, and it is too late to change careers! Looking north at the clouds and sky, I sincerely wish you health and longevity!
Shi Tuo, May 8, 1981, P43