Cao Wenxuan's Novels Reading and Appreciation: The Grass House

Chapter 2 Preface
Born of Water - Cao Wenxuan
Water flows everywhere in my space, and my works are born of water.

"My family lives by a big river." This is my favorite scene, and I have written this charming sentence more than once in my works.At that time, I entered the world of water.A big river, a misty and rainy river, was floating.The flowing water is bubbling, and my writing is also bubbling.

My father has been an elementary school principal for decades. His job is constantly being transferred, and our family moves with him, but no matter where we move, our home will always stand by the water, because, in that area , rivers are unavoidable, big rivers and small rivers cross into a network, which is called the water network area.The people there live by the water, and all the villages are built by the water. Either there is a big river in front of the village, or there is a big river behind the village, or a big river flows through the middle of the village, surrounded by rivers There are not a few villages.When you open the door and see the water, your eyes are full of water. In the rainy season, there is often white water.The people there get along with the water day and night, and many stories happen by and on the water, where the culture is immersed in the water.It is a pity that the river channels have been silted up and the water flow is not prosperous these years. Many childhood rivers have become narrow due to the slide of the river and no one cares about them. Some small rivers that used to be very interesting have been filled into roads or become house foundations or The fields and water surface are shrinking extremely.I really miss the era when rivers were everywhere and the water was beautiful in all seasons.

First, water is fluid.You look at it and there is a sense of life.In your eyes, the river at that time was the blood of the branches and branches on the earth, and the sound of the flowing water was the sound of the pulse you heard in the middle of the night.The river gives people a kind of vitality and air, and you will get enlightenment from the river.Flow is also pleasing in form.This form should be the form of many other things or behaviors, such as writing—I often think of water when writing—the way water flows, words are water, novels are rivers, words are flowing, and the feeling at that time is a kind of Very pleasant feeling.The flow of water is still mysterious, because you don't know where it flows. It flows day and night, and flow is everything.You look at it and cannot help but have reverie.Water fostered the imagination I needed to write later.In retrospect, one of my basic postures when I was young was to sit by the river, looking at the flowing water and the sky, and daydreaming.Second, the water is clean.The Creator created water, I think it is to purify the world.Houses by the water are clean, and people by the water are clean. I always think that it is difficult to clean a place that lacks water.As long as you have water, you can't be unclean, because no matter how dirty the water is, you will feel uneasy and even ashamed.Spring water, summer water, autumn water, winter water, all year round, the water is clean.The reason why I refuse to bring dirty images, dirty rhetoric, and dirty realms into my works may be related to the influence of water on me in the dark.There is a kind of "cleanliness" in my works.The second is the elasticity of water.I think there is nothing more elastic than water in this world.If it is round, it will be round, and if it is square, it will be square. It is the easiest to shape.Water is a very cultivated thing.There must be a shadow of water in my way of life and aesthetic attitude.The penetration of water is incomparable to any material in the world.Wind and fine dust can pass through tiny gaps, and water can pass through even smaller gaps.If an object is impervious to water, then it is seamless.When building a building, the most worrying thing is waterproofing.Whoever ran into the water made the whole building nervous.The fineness of water is very inspiring for me to write novels.What the novel needs is this kind of pervasive detail.Water is also an eternal theme and theme in my novels.For water, I am grateful all my life.

The strengths and weaknesses of my works are probably all in the water.Because of the water—the water of the river rather than the water of the sea, my works and I seem to lack enough solemn and tragic temperament, and lack the heaviness of austere mountains.Easily sentimental, easy to be weak, unable to hate for long.One of the functions of water is to dilute things with concentration, to flow away or wash away many things.Until I was about 40 years old, I didn't feel that there were bad people in the world, very bad bad people.I'm just mad at people, and it's hard to get to the level of hate.Even if you are angry, you will never be angry for a long time, let alone be angry for a lifetime.After a long time, the person or thing I was angry with will gradually become blurred, and everything will gradually become smooth.A person who has no hatred and cannot hold grudges is very harmful to creation, and it affects the depth of his understanding of human nature and the depth of his works.Hate is the power of literature, and not being able to hate is as bad a thing as not being able to love.It is the love that rises from hatred to humanitarianism that counts.I have always been dissatisfied with the weight of my compassionate feelings.However, a person must limit himself in everything he does.You can't sacrifice your strengths in order to cancel your weaknesses.From another perspective, the "shortcomings" may not be accurate.

As life, in my understanding, should be composed of water.

I'm used to such a humid space.Now, although I live in the city, that space remains in my memory forever.Whenever I start writing, my hallucinations are immediately activated: either sparkling, or gurgling water, a piece of water.I have to write in such a situation, and once this situation is gone, I become a fish on the shore.Water nourishes my soul and also my words.

Note: This article is Mr. Cao Wenxuan's speech at the [-]th Berlin International Literature Festival
Why read Cao Wenxuan - An Wulin
Why read Cao Wenxuan?It's a funny and superficial question.But we live in a noisy and superficial world, we seldom think about the meaning and value contained in simple events in our daily behavior, so we ask and examine a certain book or a certain writer we read in this way is absolutely necessary.Italo Calvino once wrote a very short article "Why Read Classics", which contains and answers some of the questions why we should read Cao Wenxuan.Because Cao Wenxuan's works are all classics and classic works, reading classics and classic reading will enrich and strengthen our hearts and spirits.

When a person starts reading at an early age, he should lay a good foundation, just like building a building requires laying a good foundation.Otherwise, we spend our lives correcting ourselves.I often think of the enthusiasm and emotion I felt when I read the first book in my childhood, and this impression is always lingering and regrettable.Because, that is not a good book.In those ages when there were no books to read and no one to guide, man had no choice.If I had a choice, I would definitely choose a good book to read.Cao Wenxuan's book is a classic and has a classic nature, so we have to read Cao Wenxuan.

What can Cao Wenxuan's book bring us?Although I don't like utilitarian reading, I still want to say that any classic work can give us something noble and something utilitarian.In this sense, teachers and parents prefer to let children choose Cao Wenxuan.Grace, elegance, nobility, compassion, tolerance, generosity, justice, hard work, courage, hope, suffering... Cao Wenxuan's works contain keywords and the meaning contained in these keywords almost surpass any writer.I believe that when we use the term utilitarianism, we start from the basis of reality.In this sense, what is wrong with utility?Cao Wenxuan is a person who likes to read classics. His reading and writing methods are often intertwined.Therefore, we can read many real details of Cao Wenxuan, and these details are like a Rubik's cube that will spell out a complete image of Cao Wenxuan for us.

A book should pass on many things to people, such as life, society, psychology, personality, common sense, and experience. The more things it can tell people, the greater the value of the book.Cao Wenxuan's books seem to be like this, his childhood experience and his attitude of gratitude towards life, his great love for his hometown and relatives, his proficient grasp of literary skills and his deep understanding of the aesthetics of novels, and what else is there for him? The deep concern of human nature and the beautiful words that always give us strength and courage allow us to enjoy poetry and natural nourishment while enjoying literature.I believe that Cao Wenxuan has the eyes of a painter, the passion of a poet, the insight of a novelist, and the speculative power of a philosopher. When a person has so many praises, his novels cannot but be said to be a rich spirit. Feast.

There is no doubt that Cao Wenxuan's works will leave a heavy mark in this era and the future era. When our eyes pass by these words, our admiration is as sincere as we touch those historical relics. It’s not worth it, but our literary experience and reading experience will tell us: his works are worth reading and pondering.

(End of this chapter)