The Sound of Sunflower Blooming: Selected Novels of Bao Shi (1989-2006)

Author: Bao Shi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: Bao Shi is known online as the "commoner writer." His novel Remembrance was adapted into the film My Father and Mother. His works either depict the human stories of his hometown and fellow villagers or explore the inner worlds and emotional journeys of urban young intellectuals. His writing style is natural and simple, yet filled with passionate and intense emotions. The stories are enduring and moving, imbued with a deep understanding, compassion, and empathy for human nature and society. I don’t know this author or have read his other works, but my impression after reading is that he has a strong writing skill. With his plain, tranquil, and straightforward brushwork, employing a sketch-like technique, and capturing rich, vivid details from life, he has successfully portrayed the artistic image of this older generation of rural intellectuals. —Liu Xicheng (Critic)
Bao Shi’s pen extends beyond the countryside to touch the oppression caused by urban life on the human heart. He feels both sympathy and helplessness toward them, deeply regretting the loss of the beautiful sentiments of traditional scholars while being compelled to conform to the new social system. Yet he avoids any moral judgment, insteading his melancholic emotions in the words. —Song Hui (Scholar, Peking University)
The content of this book is the original source for the film My Father and Mother, titled Remembrance in Chinese. The English title of the film is The Road Home, meaning "The Road Back Home." This book has been translated into Japanese under the title The Road of First Love, from the perspective of a girl who repeatedly waits for her lover’s return on that path. —Yanai Yoshio (Japanese Sinologist, translator of the Japanese edition of The Road of First Love)
Nowadays, Bao Shi still adheres to the writing path he has chosen. This is a path of returning to tradition, as well as a path of continuously integrating and absorbing new elements. —Meng Hua (Critic)
This book is a selection of 18 outstanding works from the nearly 100 short and medium-length stories and novels published by the author. Some of the works have received widespread attention. The novel Remembrance was adapted into the film My Father and Mother. Bao Shi is known online as the "commoner writer."