Son of Deep Silence: On Contemporary Fiction

Author: (English) Wood
Publisher:
Publishing Time: Not available
Features: For the vast majority of readers in mainland China, contemporary Western fiction is undoubtedly a relatively unfamiliar field. The lack of information, unfamiliarity with the language, and cultural differences all create a certain degree of estrangement between readers in mainland China and contemporary Western fiction. Michael Wood's The Silent Children interprets contemporary Western fiction from the perspective of Western cultural thought, which should be considered the legitimate approach to research. Michael Wood has been a regular contributor to The New Yorker and The London Review of Books for many years. His sharp mind and ability to navigate different literary and linguistic worlds have made him renowned in literary and cultural criticism. He wanders through the vast forest of contemporary novels, sifting through the noise to reveal the "silence" behind it—contemporary Western fiction is the "silent children." The book is divided into three main parts, in addition to the introduction and conclusion: "Novel Map," "Other Eras," and "Stories and Silence." Wood integrates contemporary Western literature and discusses 11 writers, from Toni Morrison to Samuel Beckett, from Gabriel García Márquez to Kazuo Ishiguro. On this basis, he proposes that the interest in contemporary literature has shifted from the novel to the story—that "stories have returned, and often appear within novels—even replacing them," but the difference between stories and novels lies in the fact that "stories are less demanding than novels, more open to diversity, and less insist on filtering memories from fantasy." In other words, the story characteristic of contemporary novels is the "silence" that does not provide advice; the concept of paradise—joy brought by the enjoyment of art—still exists; and the novel itself also carries the function of literary criticism, and so on.
In general, this book has the following two main features. Originality of perspective. When discussing Beckett's drama, people generally associate his work with the mid-20th century, reflecting the emotions that shrouded the Western world after the war and the inner experiences of Westerners. The futility and meaninglessness of life are his central themes. Beckett's works lack clear logic, passionate emotions, or witty and humorous language, instead substituting illogical, fragmented, and nonsensical prose. The situations of his characters seem to be everywhere yet nowhere. Based on a detailed interpretation of the works, the author points out that "for Samuel Beckett, the comedy of intelligence is the comedy of ignorance. It records two things: First, we desperately want to know things we cannot know—namely, things we do not know and may never be able to know; second, when the above effort shows no success, we want to know the vast range of things we do not know." Beckett tells us how little we actually know.
Furthermore, taking Toni Morrison as an example, in a society that claims "all women are white women, and all Black people are men," the novels written by Black American women about Black American women are sidelined because they are deemed insignificant "feminine" and unrefined "Black" works. Choosing Morrison as one of the subjects demonstrates the author's vision and breadth of mind. Toni Morrison's entry into the literary world is generally seen as a model of feminist deconstruction of the sacred authority of narrators. In Beloved, the novel incorporates a ghost world, bringing the ghost of Beloved back to life, which serves as the main plot. This should be natural, otherwise the story would be suspect. All those ghosts that white people do not believe in are victims of racial discrimination, "every household in this area, from top to bottom, is filled with the cries of Black martyrs," which is an inevitable result of the brutal hegemony imposed by the West. It is generally believed that it depicts the universal evil of slavery. However, Wood argues that Beloved is about pain and the necessity of remembering and forgetting pain, "we cannot correct what is twisted, but we can move beyond it and leave it behind." In other words, pain is primarily a product of the mind, and if we can move beyond the mind, we should also leave pain behind. For Morrison, "the mind may always be our friend, but it is often our enemy, as we can see in Beloved."
Literature is the study of humanity, and ideology should not always be its theme. Perhaps literature itself is the container for "peaks" and "hills." Who can deny that the centrifugal force of history will scatter fragments of truth into every corner? If history can be accidental, why cannot the meaning of literature be?
Humor. Wood's humor is a bit sharp and unrelenting, but humor is always welcome. In the chapter on García Márquez's Romance with Modernism, he first says, "Modernism is mainly a strange and troubled quarrel with time and history," because "modernists are uneasy with the present, they try to reject the past closest to the present, as well as the linear time leading to it; they prefer to use distant pasts as models and arguments." This leads to the object he wants to discuss, "it prompts us to rethink the history of Latin America, and as a result, we activate a more attractive and vibrant present, and break out of the cage of complacency." This shows the style of Wood's language. He also likes the kind of humor that takes an unexpected turn. For example, in the chapter on Stephen King (Riding the Bullet), the author, to prove that King is already a "household name," quotes the British writer Clive Barker: "Every American household obviously has two books—one is the Bible, and the other is probably the work of Stephen King." Since he uses someone else's words to support his point, he should honestly accept them, but he adds, "I don't know what Barker's basis for saying this is, but I doubt the Bible." At this point, you cannot help but experience the thrill of reading and the relief and pleasure that follow.
It is worth noting that this book differs from the stereotypical academic approach of citing sources "always citing references" to ensure "safe publication," but instead emphasizes personal insights based on firsthand reading, often shining with the brilliance of intellectual insight. Even if you are not a professional researcher, as long as you love literature, you can appreciate the shock and joy literature brings. In short, this is a model work worthy of reading for those interested in researching contemporary Western fiction.