I don't think it is necessary to say much about Wang Anyi's position in the novel world. This woman writer, the same age as her parents, is currently the vice chairman of the Chinese Writers Association, the chairman of the Shanghai Writers Association and a professor at Fudan University. In addition to Mao's award-winning song "Song of Eternal Sorrow", there are also famous songs such as Tianxiang and Kao. I have never read any of her novels before. Coincidentally, Zhang Ailing is also treated like this. The first work I came into contact with Wang Anyi was a collection of essays published by Henan Literature and Art Society-What happened in the Hotel.

Bullying a writer who is good at novels by appreciating and loving prose can never be mistaken for a kind of sorrow. Throughout those people who are famous for their novels, their essays and essays are also solid and unique, such as Shen Congwen, Wang Zengqi, Wang Meng, Feng Jicai and Chi Zijian.

Get down to business. Feeling the tranquility and elegance of what happened in the hotel, I bought Wang Anyi's novel Taoyao at the beginning of the year. The direct reason for choosing it is that it is beautifully bound and light. The subtext is that it is widely known and can be easily read in less space.

Once again, I was involved in the epidemic at home. I chewed 120 thousand words in a week or so, neither fast nor slow, reading and thinking.

The life of Yu Xiaoqiu, the protagonist, may have been doomed to be intertwined with sadness, joy and relief, accompanied by wind and rain, accompanied by years, not simple, not simple, ordinary and extraordinary.

As a Shanghai scholar, I am naturally willing to put the scene of story evolution in Shanghai; Speaking of fate, I also want to postpone the story from before liberation to after the founding of the people's Republic and during construction. From Xiao Mingming, Yu Xiaoqiu's biological mother, the author presupposes the tragic tone of their mother and daughter. Hsiao Ming-Ming was born as a player in the old society, and later became famous, but he was very knowledgeable in marriage. Yu Zihan, a clerk who got married because of love, was involved in a corruption case and was arrested in the same case. Xiao Mingming, who already has a pair of children, inexplicably gave birth to Yu Xiaoqiu after divorce. The narrative of her biological father is always looming in the book. When Xiaoqiu grew up, she was constantly peeped and criticized because of her charming appearance and plump figure, coupled with her gloomy life experience, and was nicknamed "cat's eye" and "beauty in the workshop". The shallow and beautiful love affair that germinated during the period of going to the countryside also ended in chaos and being abandoned by ungrateful people. Then, my half-brother was charged with murder and imprisoned, and my sister died unexpectedly during childbirth. At that time, all the misfortunes around her came. Of course, the screenwriter still showed warmth in the handling of the protagonist's ending. When Yu Xiaoqiu radiates the light of maternal love as an aunt, when Yu Xiaoqiu becomes the object of his brother-in-law's mistress as a wife and sister, and when Yu Xiaoqiu greets the dawn of every day as a strong man in life, we deeply feel that hope is immortal and happiness is unchanged.

Compared with the novels I have read, which have limited cognition and are not bad, I can only classify Taoyao as a "short story" in the novel. The plot is not necessarily wonderful, the personality is not necessarily distinct, the conflict is not necessarily sharp, and the meaning is not necessarily profound. Being good at writing a story that is heard, searched, edited or explained is a novelist's unique skill. Maybe after watching it once or twice, I will overturn some of my impressions. However, the seeds sown in the first reading will surely continue to take root and sprout.

First of all, the characterization is vague. In retrospect, the details about the temperament and psychology of Yu Xiaoqiu's mother and daughter are always unintentional and embarrassing. This is not only disappointing, but also doubtful. As for whether it is good or bad, people have different opinions, so why not?

Second, the rendering of the environment is easy. The scenery in the alleys of old Shanghai is both cramped and exquisite. The scenery of suburban villages is not only a corner of poverty, but also a free and open paradise. In short, the small gestures and micro-expressions set off or contrast the surrounding environment, although insignificant, but very meaningful.

Third, the laying of language is interesting. Those titles and expressions with unique Shanghai customs reveal the background and regional attributes of the story all the time. As the pages turn, you seem to have entered the streets of Shanghai 50 or 60 years ago, dancing and dancing in Wu language. The manuscript was completed in 2003, but the echo stayed with Yu Xiaoqiu.