The masked city was written for three years, and the door of silence was also written for three years. In three years, he has changed the manuscript several times. Once we talked about the writing of this novel, he vividly said, "Just like boiling Chinese medicine, come out slowly." According to the original idea, "the door of silence" is a way to express one's mind directly, and does not pay attention to "silence". He hopes that the novel can record an experience in his life and give himself an end. In his feelings, that experience has always been like a "burden" on him, which makes him hard to let go. However, in the process of writing, he became more and more dissatisfied with this writing. He found that Li Man and Mag were completely different. Li Man is the hero of Silent Gate, and Mag is the hero of Masquerade. Mag is always in action. He looks for meaning in action. Li Man is more manifested as "spiritual existence". He is an introverted person, who likes to be alone and meditate, and often lets himself fall into meditation on life. I prefer to compare him to "a very hidden flower". Usually we can't see its fragrance, and we can't smell its fragrance. It often appears in the shadow of life and is not easy to be seen at once. This increases the difficulty of grasping and expressing him. I'd rather say later that Li Man is a challenge to him. He revised it repeatedly, overturned many original ideas and made many new attempts. The purpose is to find a way to get close to Li Man, enter Li Man's heart and reveal his real existence.
The writing of The Gate of Silence is easily reminiscent of the experience of writing poetry. The whole work consists of five chapters: Strip, Tang Li, Doctor, Cheng Nan and Happiness, much like five paragraphs of a poem. Its structure and narrative are not only different from ordinary novels, but also very different from The Masked City. "In fact, the masked city is also poetic." It is a classical, romantic and idealized thing, and it is more intense and flamboyant in performance. The Gate of Silence is closer to modern poetry, and lyricism is not its strong point. It expresses the writer's thinking about the real situation of people and the loneliness and desolation in people's hearts. He reminded me to pay attention to the poem Thirteen Ways to Observe Ophiuchus, which was quoted many times in the book. This is the work of American poet Stevenson. This poem runs through almost the whole novel. At every important moment of Li Man's life journey, this poem appears in his works like a road sign, like a secret passage connecting every chapter. Besides being a poet, I have a special liking for poetry, and poetry itself must have some mysterious connection with novels. He said that he yearned for a stable life behind poetry. This is also what Li Man yearns for. His understanding of life sometimes leads to his understanding of novels. However, in the case of Li Man, this yearning has become extravagant hope, even hopeless. This is actually a reflection of the author's thoughts and feelings about life. Looks a little pessimistic and disappointed, but not desperate. He said: "Life is first and foremost a process. Except death, it seems to have no end." Before the arrival of death, any place where one arrives would rather introduce himself is a post of life. It does not end our life, but indicates the beginning of another life stage. "
I'd rather start writing novels from 1998. He has published two novels in the past six years. He said that although these two novels have written two completely different characters, they are both equivalent to his "autobiography". The masked city is about his experiences in * * * in the 1980s. He thought it was "a summary and explanation of his first half life, as if he had used up all the main things in his life." But later, he wrote The Gate of Silence. Although the latter work is calmer, more convergent and more symbolic, its roots are deeply rooted in the soil of life, and many plots are his personal experiences and feelings. Someone once asked him, "The Gate of Silence" is better than "The Masked City"? He doesn't want to make this comparison, but prefers to change his angle. He said: "These two works are part of my life. I think there are only stages in a person's life, and there is no distinction between high and low. As for the differences between them, it is only in the theme or expression. Because of different themes, the structure and narrative style are different. "
The Gate of Silence uses a lot of psychological descriptions, especially people's psychological activities and living conditions, which are written in great detail, and sometimes even meticulously carved. This is a completely different way from the masked city. But the author didn't mean to write like this, he meant to be unconventional. He just thinks that only by writing in this way can the essence and meaning of life finally become clearer. This is one of the most prominent features of The Gate of Silence, including the characters related to Li Man: the old man, Li Tang, Du Mei and Li Yan. They tend to be symbolic and conceptual to varying degrees, which may be taboo in general novel creation, but it is not absolute. In Ning Ning's view, this writing is just in line with his pursuit of modern consciousness and concepts in his novel creation. Just like his character Li Man, writing gives him not any external tangible material wealth, but internal spiritual strength and life significance. To this end, he gave up many things that might be valuable to others, preferring to write! (Xie Wei)
Would rather introduce:
Instead, 1959 was born in Beijing and graduated from the Chinese Department of the Second Branch of Beijing Normal University. 1980 started literary creation and published poetry works. 1984 —— 1986 lives and works in * *, which has a great influence on his literary creation. He stopped writing in the late 1980s, founded Beijing Green Advertising Company in the 1990s, entered the advertising industry and served as the director of Beijing Advertising Association. 1998 retired from advertising and started writing again. A series of essays on * * * made him a representative writer of "New Prose", and he wrote two novels, The Masked City and The Gate of Silence. Now he is the deputy editor of October magazine.
Beijing Daily June 5438+February 65438+March 2004