From Kafka to Vridha: Novels and Novelists of the 20th Century: Novels and Novelists of the 20th Century

Author: Wu Xiaodong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: This book is compiled based on the lecture notes of the course "Selected Readings in 20th Century Foreign Modernist Fiction" offered at Peking University. The improvisations and insightful discussions during the lectures add a touch of spontaneity and emotional warmth to the book, complementing its rigorous and academic research style. For those familiar with or fond of certain novels and novelists, listening to Dr. Wu Xiaodong's commentary might be a delightful "revisit of old dreams."
Looking back at the recently passed 20th-century literature, labeling it as classic may be premature. However, the nine novelists promoted by Wu Xiaodong on the lecture stage—from Kafka to Kundera—undoubtedly deserve the title of masters. The nine works he selected for interpretation and analysis in class have already or will eventually be proven immortal. Thus, Dr. Wu Xiaodong's discerning research on the novelists he admires and his unique interpretation of the novels he appreciates serve as a review and assessment of 20th-century modernist literature.
Although the author does not intend to create a contract for the history of the novel, his broad perspective helps us gain a comprehensive understanding and grasp of the literary lineage of the past century. This, in turn, allows us to appreciate the profound influence of this "most complex century in human history" on novelists and the novel form, as well as why 20th-century novels made readers feel that "reading was no longer a pastime or a pleasure; reading had become a serious, even painful ritual."