Person is sick. Heaven knows or not (A Record of Chinese Literature after 1949)

Author: Chen Tushou
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-10-01
Features: The articles collected in this book were originally published in periodicals such as Dushu and received strong social response. Upon publication, renowned writers Wang Meng and Lin Jinlan enthusiastically wrote prefaces. This book serves as a record of the Chinese literary scene after 1949, using detailed materials to recreate the experiences and inner journeys of famous writers like Shen Congwen and Lao She, allowing readers to uncover long-forgotten stories. The book depicts the life in a poor residential area in Chongqing during the 1960s, and the vibrant tapestry of life that unfolds over the following nearly half-century. It tells the touching story of a young girl's quest for self-discovery. The protagonist, "Liu Liu" ("I"), was born in 1962 in Chongqing, an era of severe famine. She is a product of double hunger ("food hunger" and "sexual hunger"), the illegitimate daughter of a mother who, burdened by family responsibilities and exhausted from carrying heavy loads on a bamboo pole with two ropes, and a young man with only a poor set of shoulders. Due to this extraordinary background, she loses her father. In a hunger that lacks both food and love, the girl allows the "history teacher" to fill her body, attempting to fill the terrifying, void-filled, and desperate abyss of hunger.