Chapter 2 The Unchanging Pursuit of a Changing Face Writer

("Beijing Daily", February 9, 2003) ■Interviewer Xie Xizhang □Respondent Ke Yunlu Before the festival, Ke Yunlu was named "the most face-changing writer" in a selection of Chinese literary figures sponsored by several units.This seems to represent a certain understanding of Ke Yunlu's writing career in recent years.The previous symposium on Ke Yunlu's novel "The Year of the Dragon Files" also conveyed this message. Some people said: "The original Ke Yunlu who wrote it is back again. His consciousness of worrying about the country and the people, his concern for the country The sense of urgency about the destiny of the nation has returned.” Some even used the phrase “the prodigal son turns back” to describe Ke Yunlu’s new feelings.

On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as Xiaonian, there are fine snowflakes floating in the sky. Ke Yunlu just returned to Beijing from Shaanxi to participate in the opening ceremony of the TV series "Dragon Year Files". We met at the coffee shop of the Oriental Garden Hotel.I hope this interview can enhance my knowledge and understanding of Ke Yunlu. My interview started with "changing faces" --- ■What do you think of the term "face-changing writer"? □It was said that I was a controversial writer in the past two years, but now I am called a "face-changing writer", and I took it as a fun thing.

■Do you feel that a lot has really changed over the years, or do you feel that there has been no change at all?Is it just that outsiders feel that you have changed? □Outsiders think that I have changed. In fact, my big face must be one. I am just one face. My face is more concerned about society, human beings, and human nature. These important propositions.In addition to literature, I am also interested in philosophy, economics, and psychology, which are more complicated, and I don’t want to repeat them, so I often write that after I finish writing.But people are used to positioning, you are writing fiction, and you are writing non-fiction, they find it strange.

■From the perspective of writing, do you think there is any change in yourself? □In fact, I have been pursuing changes in literature. In the past few years, my novels, from a literary point of view, were actually avant-garde, such as "Blindness", "Black Mountain Fortress", "What did you do in that summer?" "What?", several novels about the "Cultural Revolution", I think they are different from "Night and Day" period.Writing pure literature is relatively lonely, and what I write is the subject of the "Cultural Revolution", so the media will not pay special attention to it, and I am in a sensitive period. The social attention is very weak, and people may not pay too much attention, but from the perspective of literature Speaking, it is the most important work in my literary creation for more than 20 years.

■Everyone thinks that you have changed. Is it because you used to write works like "Night and Day", then you wrote "Qi Gong Master" and so on, and now you write "Dragon Year Files". At the symposium that day, someone Calling you a "prodigal son" is a bit of a joke, and they probably think you've left the field of pure literature for a while and are now back. □In the past few months, media reporters have always asked me about this statement. Actually, I have no idea. It is just a joke made by the publishing house for hype.Sometimes I am very willing to cross disciplines. In the future, I will still focus on literature, but I still have to take a leap.

■I remember that after you wrote "Night and Day", did you say that you should also write a trilogy on reform themes? □Yes, I wrote "Night and Day" and "Decline and Prosperity", which are actually the Kyoto Trilogy, and there is another "Destruction and Life", which I did not write. ■Then why? □ It’s a change. I think I wrote too long on this subject. At that time, I wrote a book, which was a change for me. It was called "A Study of Jealousy", which was published on "Novelist" , At that time, I wanted to quickly improve my expressive skills and expressive ability. If I was not blocked by the research on the special functions of the human body, my literary exploration would continue.

■What time was that? □ "A Study of Jealousy" was written in 1988. ■How did you come into contact with the subject of the research on the supernatural functions of the human body? □To put it simply, I have always liked philosophy. At that time, I heard some research on the special functions of the human body. I treated it as a philosophical proposition. I thought, whether this can change my understanding of Perspectives on space and time and related issues.I have done serious research on this issue, and so far I have no regrets about this kind of research. I think that researching this issue in China is a bit extravagant and out of date, and I will continue to study it in a few years.

■Is the fact that your writing has shifted to realistic subjects related to this? □It should be said that there is another option to transfer to literature.Like the "Cultural Revolution" theme, you can also say it is a historical theme. I wrote some "Cultural Revolution" themes, and I wrote "Dragon Year Files" on realistic themes, and I will write some more. The next paragraph of my writing, the first is Literature, the second is mainly to write about realistic subjects.I am more interested in the real things, modern and contemporary history than the ancient history, from a literary point of view.

■I remember once you said that you wanted to do something very grand across many disciplines. □I later wrote a book called "Human Time". This book was not written for the market. You don't even know it. It was published by Reform Publishing House and it was written about cultural anthropology.This subject is not yet popular in China, and no one pays attention to it.I gave that book to Chen Xiaoming as a gift.He said, your book can be judged by the professor. ■You have been writing things, but you haven't attracted everyone's attention. It's only a few points that have a big impact, and each point is different, so you feel that you have changed a lot.Maybe you think that the changes are not big, but there is still something consistent.In fact, I think, from your understanding of reality and from the writing style, "Dragon Year Files" and "Night and Day" are still the same.

□The large number of roads still have the same place. ■It does not belong to the exploratory writing method you mentioned. □It is like this. Some of the results of my explorations in the past few years have been used in "The Year of the Dragon Files". I hope to convey the most elements of society, humanity, and plot with the least amount of language.For example, "The moon is the brightness of my hometown", I like this line very much, I think it is one of the best lines in Tang poetry. Everyone will think it is a vernacular, colloquial language, but there are most things here.I wanted to write in this way in "The Year of the Dragon Files". At first, I wanted to write seven to eight hundred thousand characters. Later, I thought, it must be shorter. After I wrote less than half a million characters, I cut it down to thirty. 80,000 characters, no descriptions, no psychological analysis, the characters can be brought out through the simplest words and deeds, I want to write a serious thing, but it is easier to read than those popular and suspenseful things, I want to do this This kind of exploration, at this point, "The Year of the Dragon Files" is still a little successful.

■The readability of this book is really strong, you can't put it down when you pick it up, and you can read it in one breath. □ I still want to do this below, use shorter length, show works with more elements of suspense and human nature, richer elements of literature, including traditional ones, but also avant-garde ones, like "The moon is the hometown of light", this is my try. ■Did you interview Lu Rizhou before writing this novel? □Lv is familiar with me. I have been to Changzhi twice, and I am familiar with the situation there. That is to say, a writer needs to be sensitive, and at the same time needs to collect folk songs. ■Did you go to him after you heard about him, or did you know each other before? □We have known each other for nearly 20 years. When I conceived this novel, he hadn’t gone to Changzhi yet. He even walked with me to some counties and cities in Shanxi. Later, he became the leader of Changzhi, and there was another story that I didn’t expect of.Others will say that I caught a hot spot again. ■You give the impression that you are always on the cusp. □When I was writing this novel, Lu Rizhou was not only not hot, he didn't even go to Changzhi. After I wrote the novel, he became hot because we met together.Say I have any foresight, and I don't have any foresight. If Lu Rizhou is hot and you rush, can you come here?Today a reporter from Shaanxi called to interview me and asked about the so-called change of face. I said that I have changed and remained the same, but the fundamental things remain the same. I will definitely write about important society, important human nature, and important history. The subject matter doesn't mean I'm pretending, but I like this thing and I have a passion for narrative.Everyone has their own narrative passion, some things some people may talk about, but I am not interested, some things I have a narrative passion for, for a writer, I feel that I have to write something that I have a narrative passion for, if I don’t have a narrative passion , both of them are very awkward chatting, pure entertainment, very tired.This narrative enthusiasm is the mystery of writing. Not all writers are aware of this. It is not easy for a person to know himself. I have been writing for more than 20 years, and I am still knowing myself.Where is my passion for narrative?It is your uniqueness. I think there are several possibilities for your passion for narrative about a subject. First, you do have something you want to express, and you have enough experience and feelings about it. You want to convey this thing to others , this is what you are interested in; second, you have already talked about things that others have not described, and you are not very good at describing them. Let me repeat, I have no enthusiasm for speaking.What I'm looking for is something new to me that sounds new to others.Xie Xizhang, there is still a process of getting along between us. I have always done these things, and I am also persevering. I am not afraid of setbacks. For example, if I become popular, Xie Xizhang, look at me. I will go around lecturing, and I will still write.I write more than 300 days a year, almost unchanged for more than 20 years, and I will never socialize. I must maintain a very independent state as a writer. I will never socialize with politics or the literary world. I have never socialized with anyone , I absolutely do not join any schools, absolutely do not join any groups, because these will cost time, and of course there will be a lot of loss, interpersonal relationships will appear very simple, these years, I am the most isolated person in the literary world, this point I The feeling is very deep, I have no contact with anyone, and when I am in trouble, no one has greeted me, I am very used to it, and I am very proud of this, I am not afraid of trouble. ■Is it also related to your personality that seeks innovation and change? □For me, if I have successfully written one thing, let me repeat it, I have no interest at all. Writing the five novels of the "Cultural Revolution" is five narrative methods, each of which has changes. "Summer" is one method "Black Mountain Castle" is a method, a method, and "Blindness" is a method, and the form is also changing, but it is enough to keep the same principle, and the principle is your duty. A writer must There are things that change, but there must be things that don't change. ■What is your unchanging purpose? □Pay attention to major social issues. ■Is this a prominent feature of this generation? □I don't know how other people are. I basically have no interest in gossiping with others. ■Like a lawsuit? □That's not true. In my daily life, I am a very quiet person. It's very simple: walking, reading, and writing. ■What do you rely on to maintain your spirit in writing? □Do not rely on anything, do not smoke, do not drink alcohol, do not drink tea, and write 10 hours a day.Don’t just study writing when doing writing. Study how to write novels well. This is a huge misunderstanding. You must study how you write and your writing status. It’s like watching many football games. Most of the wins and losses are not due to technical reasons, but the status not good.The problem of the players is the problem of the coach, so we must be our own coaches and adjust ourselves well. If the state of the person is not good, there will be no good things to write.