Love or leave

Author: Wang Xiaogun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: In this honest novel, Wang Xiaogun restrained his desire to narrate, and this inner tranquility made every plot as strong and intricate as a root carving. At the same time, this tranquility also made the entire novel like a piece of cruel glass, brutally reflecting the hypocrisy and deceit of life and tearing it apart. Perhaps there are only three types of people in the world: The first type struggles tirelessly for their dreams amidst the hardships of reality. These people live a hard but authentic life, and when they look back years later, they won’t feel ashamed for having wasted their time. The second type, unable to endure the harsh reality, abandons their dreams and keeps falling into decline. On the surface, they live carefree and unrestrained, but inwardly, they are often tormented by the wasted years. The third type falls between the first two—on one side is a dreamlike, beautiful temptation, and on the other is a nightmare of agonizing pain, perfectly capturing Wang Shuo’s words: "On one side is the sea, and on the other is the fire." Whether or , it’s a choice. Among these three types, the third type lives the most desperately, so they suffer the most. The protagonist of this book is the third type. This desperate story unfolds in Beijing. It’s a cruel tale of "burying youth." The protagonist, Han Xiao, is a true white-collar worker, who stays in the city, driven by the dreams and impulses of his youth. He cherishes love, is loyal to friendship, longs for passion, but reality is like a sharp knife, slowly piercing his life, leaving hope shattered. Among those who love him, those he loves, those who don’t love him, and those he doesn’t love, he is lost and helpless. When love no longer remains pure and beautiful in the face of reality’s changes, and when friendship no longer remains sincere and simple under the pursuit of interests, what can the remaining "me" do? Desire shatters dreams, life becomes meaningless, and even the courage to die is lost.