The Wizard of Oz (Vol. 1 & 2)

Author: Li Baichuan (Qing Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-06-01
Features: During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Li Baichuan, who enjoyed talking about ghosts and strange tales, traveled extensively and endured hardships before spending nine years writing Green Fields and Immortal Shadows. Green Fields and Immortal Shadows achieved outstanding literary success. It broke new ground and innovated in traditional fantasy novels, blending fantasy, social novels, and historical novels. The character portrayals in the novel are particularly brilliant, especially those of the lively ordinary people in the mortal world. The passage describing Wen Ruyu, the son of a high-ranking official, indulging in the pleasures of the flesh and losing his family fortune, is truly brilliant. Mr. Zheng Zhenduo believed that this was the best part of Green Fields and Immortal Shadows, as well as one of the best parts of many "brothel literature" works. The novel's writing style is sharp, grand, and humorous. The dialogue is vivid and lifelike, capturing the personalities, identities, and psychology of the characters in colloquial language, truly showcasing the style of a master of language. Li Baichuan's friend Tao Jiahe praised the book as "the greatest landscape in the world of storytelling." Mr. Zheng Zhenduo ranked Green Fields and Immortal Shadows alongside Dream of the Red Chamber and The Scholars as one of the three great novels of the mid-Qing Dynasty.