The Blade of Mao Mu was written in 1944. The wind, frost, rain and snow of history have not melted its profound thoughts and superb writing skills. Now it still tastes like old wine, full of mellow and a little bitter.
This is a novel that mainly discusses the meaning of life. There are not many characters, and the plot is not magnificent. But the author's narrative is like an old friend's face-to-face story, slow and gentle, with ups and downs, which makes people unable to read at once.
What is the meaning of life? This problem has puzzled mankind for thousands of years and seems to have no solution. I remember the great discussion about the meaning of life that we experienced in the 1980s.
1In May, 980, China Youth magazine published a long letter signed "Pan Xiao", which was full of young people's confusion and put forward the ethical proposition of "being subjective for yourself and objective for others" for the first time. Finally, it sighed: "The road of life is getting narrower and narrower ..." Then, it lasted for more than half a year.
More than half a year's discussion has given birth to young people's thinking and discussion on life topics such as love, family and career, and poetry has become a volcanic eruption of thinking, intense and charming. At that time, finding a poet's companion was a sweet dream of many people. This incident was later called "the spiritual first love of a whole generation of China youth".
At that time, our life ideal of "being the successor of capitalism" was suddenly shattered. Where is the direction of future life? After discussion, young people soon understand a truth: if you want to find a job, you must study hard and become an intellectual. "Learning mathematics, physics and chemistry well and traveling all over the world are not afraid" became our realistic pursuit at that time, and the exploration of the meaning of life was put on the top of the bookcase under the pressure of life.
Nowadays, in the past 40 years, with the rapid development of economy and the continuous improvement of living standards, people have not stopped exploring the meaning of life, and they have shown a trend of "diversification, multi-level and multi-angle".
First, the meaning of life in the blade
Larry, the first hero of Blade, took part in World War I and became a pilot. He witnessed his comrades-in-arms sacrifice for self-help and was greatly shocked and tortured.
After returning to China after the war, he fell into a problem for a long time, that is, why are people alive? Why is there a war? Instead of looking for a job and leading a normal life, he "wandered around" every day. A good friend offered him an excellent job opportunity, which he also refused. His behavior caused confusion and incomprehension of his girlfriend and relatives and friends around him.
He said to his girlfriend Isabel, "Unless I find my purpose in life, I'm afraid my heart will never be at peace." ..... I will ask myself, is it better to go the way others say and let nature take its course? At this time, a person will appear in my mind, who was alive just now and died in the underworld in the blink of an eye. Life is so cruel and meaningless. You shouldn't just ask, what is the meaning of life? Where is the value of life? Is life a stupid, blind and tragic process? "
He said, "I want to know if there is a God and why there is evil. I want to know if the soul is immortal, or if people die, the soul will die with them. "
In order to explore the above questions, he left Isabel in love and went to Paris, France to find the answer. I have an appointment with Isabel for two years. Two years later, he still doesn't want to go back to America, but wants to continue his spiritual exploration.
He told Isabel, "I really hope you can understand that the life I offer you is much more fulfilling than you think." I hope I can let you know how wonderful the spiritual life is and how rich the life experience will be. The endless spiritual pursuit is a very happy life path. There is only one experience that can be compared with it-you fly into the blue sky by plane, flying higher and higher, and there is nothing around you except endless space. Endless space makes you intoxicated. You will have great joy-this joy, even if all the power and honor in the world are given to you, you will not exchange it. "
But Isabel said, "Larry, you should live like a man and take responsibility. Everyone else is working against the clock, but you are wasting your precious years. ..... Only hysterical, nonsense literati would say such impassioned words. "
Isabel didn't know that this was Larry's real feelings and thoughts, so they had to go their separate ways. Because Isabel thinks that the meaning of her husband's life should be: to find a job, make money, support the family according to the standard of living suitable for her identity, let her sons receive proper education, let them live a decent life when they grow up, and let their wives live a well-fed life after death.
Isabel's own goal in life is to live a happy life, eat, dance, play golf and ride horses, wear beautiful clothes, expensive gems and mink coats, drive her own car and make many friends. ...
All this needs money to buy, but what spiritual life Larry is going to pursue, the so-called "three views are not in harmony", how can he go together.
Larry resolutely embarked on a complete journey to explore the meaning of life. He went to work in the mine, went to the countryside to experience and became a sailor. He traveled all over Europe and finally arrived in India. Eastern philosophy and religion fascinated him. He lived in seclusion in caves and dense forests, looking for the breath of "saints", and finally experienced the mysterious "peak experience" at the top of the mountain at dawn, which is the answer.
Larry's answer is: A person's highest ideal should be self-improvement. Living in the world, you are not anxious, generous, compassionate, selfless and speechless, and you are not close to women. Spend all your money, be a repairman or taxi driver, live according to your own plan and influence others.
In order to express the theme of what is the meaning of life from more aspects, Mao Mu first created the image of Larry. As a young man, he sought the meaning of life, and at the same time created an opposite image-Eliot. As soon as he appeared, he was very clear about the meaning and goal of his life, and he was indomitable in hard practice.
Eliot has been chasing fame and fortune all his life. In order to enter the aristocratic circle, he sharpened his head, humbled himself to the aristocratic old woman, made a large donation to the church, and got a noble badge from the bishop, and embroidered it on his underwear so as to stick it tightly to his skin. He is very old and very ill. I am afraid that others will forget him and struggle to attend various banquets. The lady was angry because she didn't invite him to the party. The author is very ironic, and has created a typical snob image of fame and fortune, which makes people laugh. This character reflects Larry's pursuit of innocence and nobility in the spiritual world from the opposite side, which makes the life journey of this book more substantial and substantial.
But Eliot also has a kind and generous side. He is not only knowledgeable and artistic, but also generous to his sister and niece, and sometimes sincere to his friends. This figure is a "round figure", which embodies the complexity and versatility of human nature.
2. What does Blade's exploration of the meaning of life give us?
1 is the inevitable product of the times.
After the two world wars, with the development of capitalism in full swing, the old aristocratic class is slowly withdrawing from the stage, and the drastic changes in society are bound to cause human thinking. Why are we alive? A writer is always a calm bystander of society and the world, and Mao Mu's Blade is such a reflection and presentation.
Undoubtedly, the great changes in China also call for such thinking. With the rapid development of economy, the environment is hard to reverse, the social class differentiation is intensified and it is evolving in the direction of solidification. The number of Dink families is unimaginable, people's psychological problems are endless, values are divided, or they just want to live in the present, or eat, drink, and have fun in time, and so on. The pressure of modern urbanites has multiplied, and the unmarried young people and the rising divorce rate can be described as a once-in-a-lifetime change. More and more people are thinking hard about the old question "Why do people live?". . Religions, medical care, communities and the revival of traditional Chinese medicine all converge into a big river of life value and significance.
2. It is the inevitable pursuit of improving living standards.
With the affluence of China people's life and the increase of leisure time, the yearning and pursuit of "what is the best life" will inevitably arise, and what is true happiness has become everyone's pursuit. Travel abroad, exercise, seclusion, tea ceremony, Zen, chess, calligraphy and painting, rural self-cultivation ...
People live longer and longer, and longevity is really a big test.
Third, love, marriage and sex on the cutting edge.
Love is a main thread of the blade, a string of three young protagonists, and the love of several young couples is also mixed in it. Of course, the most important thing is the love between Larry and Isabel.
In the book, they always say that they love each other. There is no doubt about that kind of love, but those who love each other so much broke up. Why?
When Isabel said, "If you love me, come back to America with me, get a job and get married," Larry refused. When Larry said, "If you love me, you will travel around the world with me to find the most meaningful life." Isabel also refused.
So, are they still in love? Didn't you say you could give up everything for love? Since everyone has reservations, it is not true love. Mao Mu obviously doesn't think so. He believes that love can have a bottom line. Love is not the complete integration of both sides, but an emotional expression with a bottom line.
Can a marriage without love be happy? Isabel married Gray, whom she didn't love, and Gray loved her very much. She gave birth to two daughters and lived a happy life. Therefore, Mao Mu's answer is that life is multifaceted, people are multifaceted, and the happiness index of marriage is also multifaceted.
In the book, Susanna Rouviere is a "special" woman. She becomes a painter's lover by selling her body as a model. She is not beautiful, but she has the outstanding characteristics that a painter needs and has a unique physical beauty. She actually has a happy marriage. First he became the lover of a rich man, then he married the rich man and became a painter himself. After reading this paragraph, I really don't know whether to praise or criticize. Sometimes life really makes people laugh and cry.
In Oscar Pistorius, sex seems to be an independent thing. In the book, Larry met a girl. The author didn't even give her a name. She only knows that she is 18 years old. She lives with Larry just to save some money. When her beloved boyfriend finished his military service, they rented a suite and used the money to decorate the house. Larry said of her: "She regards people's secret sexual intercourse as a natural function of the body, just like other functions of the body." Girls don't feel guilty at all about the influence of prostitution on their marriage and love.
The protagonist Larry treats sex, love and marriage separately. In order to save his childhood friend Sophie, he will marry her. Regardless of Sophie's alcohol addiction and drug addiction, she has become a filthy prostitute. He wants to save her with the feelings of a saint and sacrifice his better marriage life.
The author gives so many choices about sex, love and marriage, but doesn't point out what is the best and most moral. On the contrary, he left readers more room to think.
Fourthly, about the artistic characteristics of the blade.
1, sense of reality. Mao Mu, like a reporter, tells stories in the first person, which makes people feel very real and increases the appeal of the story.
2. The details are wonderful. Every character has symbolic language, action and appearance, and the characters are typical and vivid.
3. The changing life scenes of the characters such as America, Britain, France and India make the novel all-inclusive and rich in connotation.
4, strong philosophy, in-depth introduction and discussion of art, religion and customs, rich in knowledge and inspiring.
A good classic book lies in its theme, which is related to the similarity of human beings, to the curiosity and exploration of ignorance and seclusion of human nature, to a beam of light that illuminates the night, and to a warm spring breeze that soothes people.
When we close Blade, will we say to ourselves: I know one thing, that is, as long as we work hard, we will get what we want. If so, you are right, just like Mao Mu's own summary of this book: "This is a novel about success, and all the protagonists related to me in the book get what they want."