Selected Short Novels of Zhang Chengzhi -- New Classics Library

Author: Zhang Chengzhi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: The development and peak of the medium-length novel is a thread in New Period literature. When many writers favor the creation of long novels and neglect short stories, recognizing the unique value of the medium-length novel genre in fiction is meaningful. The editorial series of the "New Classics Library" for medium-length novels aims to do just that. The length of a novel should not be an issue. Long, medium, and short are not fixed measurements; as long as they are appropriate, the novel genre should not be limited by length. To generalize that "the shorter, the better" or that "long novels represent a writer's level of achievement" would both be inappropriate. Every genre deserves respect and dedication. The medium-length novel, situated between the long and the short, has a distinctive place in the history of New Period literature. Interestingly, in the past two decades, the traces of some important writers in literary history are often associated with their medium-length novels. For example, "Go" for A Cheng, "Transparent Red Carrot" for Mo Yan, "Dad Dad" for Han Shaogong, "Xiao Baozhuang" for Wang Anyi, "Early Records of Shangzhou" for Jia Pingwa, "Northern River" for Zhang Chengzhi, "The Temptation of Kangding" for Ma Yuan, "Old Floating Clouds" for Can Xue, "Husbands and Concubines" for Su Tong, "Story of Jujube Tree" for Ye Zhaoyan, and so on. When flipping through the works of Chinese contemporary literary history with varying levels of quality, you can often find scholars praising the medium-length novels of writers. This fact seems to suggest that the art of New Period fiction matured in the medium-length novel. After the 1990s, some mature novelists writing long novels may be related to the confidence and training they gained from it.