"Concert",
written by Zhu Xiuhai,
published by People's Liberation Army Literature and Art Publishing House.
This new work by naval writer Zhu Xiuhai has unique expressions in terms of spirituality of thought, distinctiveness of characters, novel structure of the novel, and vivid entertainment of reading appreciation.
"Concert" is a novel describing the combat life of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces. People once lamented that there were many excellent works on World War II themes in the former Soviet Union and European and American literature and movies. The emergence of "Concert" can make many Chinese readers who care about the history of the Anti-Japanese War feel gratified: Chinese writers are also fully capable of writing works worthy of the world. An excellent work of anti-fascist war literature. "Concert" is another typical revolutionary historical novel. "Concert" uses historical narration and literary description full of artistic appeal to make it possible to promote the value of the history of the Anti-Japanese War and enlighten noble life.
As an anti-fascist war literary work, "The Concert" has the characteristics of both serious literature and a best-seller. It focuses on story weaving, rich imagination, smooth plot, distinctive characters, spectacular and detailed scene descriptions, and There is chic and romance. At the same time, it perfectly combines storytelling and thinking, war and people, narrative and poetry. First of all, the story of the novel is very legendary. A member of the Korea Restoration Association was on a mission to assassinate Japanese invaders. His life and death are unknown. His wife and daughter were hunted down by the Japanese army. His mother was killed. His daughter Jin Yingzi was rescued by the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces in Northeast China. In order to protect Kim Young-ja and return to North Korea alive to find her father, the guerrillas went through countless cruel battles and bitter cold, hunger, and wolf packs. More than a hundred people died one after another. Kim Young-ja grew from a protected person to an anti-union fighter, and the last one Meet the guerrillas looking for her. Among them, the Japanese troops besieging the guerrillas in Wolf Valley were suddenly attacked by hundreds of wild wolves; Kim Young-ja had sex with the human wolf of the fox wolf "Huahua" in the secret camp; Kim Young-ja and the guerrilla Wang Dahai's exotic journey Love, Kim Young-ja finally recognized her father's comrade-in-arms An Rongguang in the duet of "Platycodon Ballad", which formed a strong legendary color in the novel.
At the same time, the entire description of the novel is integrated with deep thinking. In some tragic scenes, the authenticity of realism and the directionality of ideas such as humanitarian interrogation are naturally connected, especially in the descriptions of the Japanese army setting wolfhounds to tear off British men and the Japanese army slaughtering and burning Chinese women. It vividly expresses thoughts on war and human nature. On the other hand, the novel expresses thoughts on reality and ideals in life through romantic and beautiful descriptions. Focusing on Jin Yingzi's ideal of a musician and the price the guerrillas paid for it, Jin Yingzi experienced a down-to-earth spiritual sublimation. She and the guerrilla Wang Dahai went from being tired of each other to having sex, life and death, separation, and the death of their beloved son. During this period, Jin Yingzi's inner description of her determination to integrate everything she had into the Anti-Japanese War was very touching.
The most distinctive feature of the novel is that in its artistic conception, the illusion of a concert runs throughout the plot. The writer's carefully designed imagination has become a unique artistic highlight of the book "Concert". Due to the shock of the cruel war, Jin Yingzi's musical talent turned into auditory hallucinations. The sound of gunshots in fierce battles and the sound of forest waves blown by the wind often turned into the roar of a symphony in her ears. She often thought she was accompanied by She charged recklessly to the carnival of music, which brought great danger to the safety of herself and the guerrillas. At the same time, it also brought an ideal and romantic color to the harsh description of the revolutionary war and heroism. The continuity of the concert brings a strong poetic quality to the narrative and becomes a basic point in the novel that combines reality and fiction. Sometimes, the music is accompanied by the sound of gunfire, showing the high tension in Kim Young-ja's heart; sometimes, the concert is Kim Young-ja's emotional expression of hatred and bravery; sometimes, the music makes Kim Young-ja appear in front of her eyes. The tragic death of relatives, the rush of the crowd, the howling of wild wolves; sometimes, the unique music melody gave Jin Yingzi a feeling of victory, and when she was the last person to meet the strange An Rongguang, both parties used "Platycodon Ballad" "The male and female duets embrace each other.
Through the connection of concerts, the novel gives a very traditional revolutionary historical theme a very unique, vivid and touching expression and appeal.
The structure of the novel is also very distinctive. It is based on the twelve-day interview of the 81-year-old Kim Young-ja by Ma Lu, a veteran cadre of the government agency, and a foreign incident at the end is the cause of Ma Lu’s interview. Show careful thought. At the same time, real historical figures, such as Zhao Shangzhi, Zhou Baozhong, Li Zhaolin, Cui Yongjian, etc., are placed together with fictional characters to create a documentary nature and make it easier for reading to produce aesthetic credibility. On the one hand, Kim Young-ja's narration constitutes the plot of the whole book, and at the same time, the intermittent intervals in her narration make the development of the plot appear dense and smooth amid tension and relief. Finally, an "audio tape" of Kim Young-ja's conversation that is not included in the main article and two letters are appended to explain the ending of the relevant characters.
In order to reflect the reflection on war and human nature, some scenes in the novel are very tragic and can easily produce certain visual stimulation. There have always been different opinions on how the reality of life should be expressed in this kind of art and where its "degree" lies. Basically, there are two types of "reduction" and "modification", but the purpose is to achieve aesthetic effects and Social function, and aesthetics always have certain social and historical standards. I understand that long-term, serious art requires more artistic processing or "modification" than temporary, popular art. In addition, in the "unpublished" tape at the end, Kim Young-ja suspected that the barbecue left by the Japanese invaders while she was eating it might contain the remains of anti-union soldiers! It is reasonable to express the cruelty of war, the inhumanity of fascism and the huge trauma in Kim Young-ja's heart, but does it not have to reflect on whether the anti-Union fighters are "cannibals"? Furthermore, from the perspective of readers’ psychology and market, if the novel’s length of 700,000 words could be compressed, the effect might be better.