Zhang Yimou's To Be Alive, adapted from Yu Hua's novel of the same name, still ranks 33rd in Douban TOP250, with a score of 9. 1 and more than 290,000 comments.
All the people who have seen this film are moved to tears and lament the tragic fate of the characters in the film, but do you know? In fact, novels are far more cruel than movies.
This is Yu Hua, a pioneer writer who is famous for his coldness and indifference. He said himself that he often kills people in books.
Apart from Living, his other works, such as Crying in the Drizzle (filmed at the age of 23) and Xu Sanguan Selling Blood (directed and performed by the famous Korean director Ha Jung Woo), including Brothers, the theme of this question, are all excellent works with a score above 8.5.
Surprisingly, however, Yu Hua's novel Brothers, which he said was "his most satisfactory work", was unanimously criticized by professional readers. Some people say that Yu Hua is at his wit's end, while others say that this book is a work of circling money.
The reason for the polarization lies in Brothers (Part II), which is divided into two parts.
Brother (me) has always been Yu Hua's cold-blooded style. Although he has said that the less "killing people" in the book, the better, but still can't avoid cruelty, there are more thrilling details than previous works. In Brothers (Part II), the style suddenly changed, becoming absurd and full of magic.
Yu Hua said that this was the first time he described the story of the present era, and he felt very satisfied.
I think every writer cherishes his works, just like every parent cherishes his children, and Yu Hua is definitely not a bear's parents, and China has few enemies in the literary field of vision.
How to evaluate the book Brothers? In my opinion, he is an innovative work, a work that keeps pace with the times. We should not contradict this work because Yu Hua is no longer "Yu Hua". We should start from the work itself and experience the philosophical thinking in the work.