Chapter 178 To Ma Zihua

Mr. Zihua: Sorry, I didn’t write this letter until today.I have already read ten of your short stories—some of them twice; but only today have I had the whole time to organize my thoughts and write this letter.Please excuse my delay. From your seventeen novels, I can see three different themes and different styles.The first category is "Heavy Footsteps", "Route", "Fall", and "The Flames of Mantis Mountain", which are roughly similar to your novella "His People"; , the rebellious emotions of the oppressed (dumb cobbler) in "The Fall" are covered up by the sentimental atmosphere that shrouds the whole article, and because you did not grasp this subject matter from the interests of the group, the result is that although this article There is considerable exposure, but the heaviness and anger are not enough.I think this article is the weakest one among the first category of your seventeen. "Route" is much better than "Falling". It shows how farmers' land was robbed under the pretense of building roads, and how farmers who lost their land were forced to make roads. As a result, they were enslaved and exploited more cruelly, and the result showed how the oppressed slaves rose up and broke their chains; you handled the development of this series of events very well, It's a pity that the momentum of the whole article is not heroic enough.Your tempo at the beginning is relatively slow, which is suitable for the mood of the story, but at the end you should have bold strokes, a tragic rhythm, and a thunderous momentum.However, I understand the reason for your hasty termination; perhaps it is the censorship system that makes you have to take it lightly?

"The Flame of Tanglang Mountain" is worse than "Route" in terms of subject matter; think about it: the "destiny" of the people in "Tanglang Mountain" who lost their living resources is better than the "destiny" of the people who lost their land and were forced to sell their labor and were squeezed out. "Fate", which one more profoundly exposes the irrationality of the present society?The former is only the "reality" of the general feudal society, while the latter is the "reality" of the semi-feudal and semi-colonial capitalist society; thus what the latter represents is the more typical "reality" of our time.In terms of technology, "The Flame of Tanglang Mountain" is no better than "Route".I thought it would be best to rewrite your article.

The most successful piece of the first category is, of course, "Heavy Steps"; this is the best piece in the collection, both in content and form.Although Lao Hai died, his "mission" was partially completed.This is a tragic ending, but it is triumphant and tragic! Now, let's talk about the second category in Seventeen.I want to classify the four articles "Fire Burning Heaven", "Yueqin", "Street Neighbors", and "Green Jade Wine Cup" into the second category.Most of these are sketch-style, and the characters described are not typical of the general public like the first type of characters, but special characters.This is much worse in the social sense, but there are also very beautiful poetic works among them, such as "Yueqin".The exotic atmosphere and bright colors of this article are very similar to some Balkan works.

The two articles in the third category are "Yement" and "You Follow Him". In the Seventeenth Middle School, only these two articles describe urban life, but I think these two articles are the most unsuccessful. The theme of "Yementation" is based on the actual events that happened in Shanghai, but I remember that two things were published in the newsprint at that time. One is that they fled to Hong Kong with a white paper instead of banknotes and brought a prostitute with them. Misappropriation of funds to support the family, unable to make up, fled.You made the former the main story of Leaven; and it would have been a good idea to insert the latter as the motive of the "crime."But the failure of "Yemen" lies in the fact that you are not very familiar with the life of a bank clerk, so the psychological description is not deep enough.As for "Follow Him", it is an "ordinary tragedy".The more "ordinary" things are, the harder it is to write well.Your shortcoming is still that you don't have a deep understanding of the realities of life of this type of people, so you can't help but write in a superficial way.This one, I also think it is a failure.

I think you'd better rewrite these two articles, or simply delete them. What do you think of my opinions?I would very much like to hear your own story of joys and sorrows. good luck! Mao Dun [1936] March 10