Nomads

Author: Feng Zi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: This novel is based on three principles. First is realism; every character has a real-life prototype, and every story is one I have experienced or heard. Second is objectivity; it does not guide the reader's emotions but presents itself as a detached narrator. Third is conciseness; it aims to allow readers to read quickly. Without irrational experiences, there would be no sinner's repentance. This is the first Chinese novel to portray the social underclass of wanderers. It truthfully reflects an otherworldly world existing outside of civilized society. The wanderers come from all walks of life—some leave after their lovers betray them, some flee after being framed, some fall into hardship after being raped, some are sold into slavery from a young age, and some abandon themselves in pursuit of freedom. They have worked, begged, loved, been hurt, stolen, robbed, sold drugs, and killed under the threat of life and death. They wander the world on the brink of survival, yet they never stop yearning for the warmth of human kindness. With their loyalty that shines like the liver and gall, their love that promises life and death, and their faint but persistent light of kindness resisting their beastly nature, they appear fiercely self-destructive and startlingly intense.