Saturday, November 19, 2011

The Birth of a Zombie Nation




When you saw the news that numerous Chinese walked past a car accident child victim, no one offered a helping hand. You think: what a heartless culture/country.

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Frank Dikotter showcases us the darkest and never-talk-about era of the Chinese history: even after 45 millions people died, it is still like a blank page on books--Chinese totalitarian mechanism is so mighty.

When Hong Kong political activists scream: no one will forget the Tienanmen massacre, they do not understand that many new generations in the mainland have even never heard about it. Just like that famine during The Great Leap Forward.

The founding fathers of The ‘New China’ were only boy scout in power--when they were at their best. When they were bad, they were blood-suckers that pushed everyone else into fire.

I went to China (from HK) to visit relatives during time of the Cultural Revolution when I was a child, I could see the extreme poverty. But comparing to the period this book described, it was heaven already.

You have to read this book to believe hell actually happened on earth--or it may be too much to believe.

The author also emphasizes people’s suffering were more than empty stomachs that a few historians mentioned before, there were systematic tortures, hard labour, massive beating, killing, confiscating of all private properties. At the end, starving countryside people ate leaves, root, mud, roof straw, leather belt, shit(by force), furnitures, human corpse, and swapped children to eat!

Frank Dikotter has open up the ‘lost history’ that everyone should pay attention to. If you are interested in economic, he painted a grim picture of how planned economy (not)worked. Keen on history? That was the most brutal pages of history I’ve ever read--not just the mindless killing in the war zone ( like the eastern front of the European battles during WWII)--they were the brutality on human bodies and minds, they were tortures to the human souls, and total break down on social fabric and to the whole culture as well.

If there is anything negative about Dikotter’s writing--you will become a bit of indifferent half past the book, because there are just too many devastations, one worse than the previous one.

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When a country has gone through Great Leap Forward, and many other extremely immoral political campaigns, you may start accepting the excuses of their heartlessness. 

When you came back from Hell, nothing will catch you pity eyes again.




Tuesday, November 15, 2011

那些年: So young, so much in love




那年初到羅省,剛考獲第一次駕照,還完全不懂駕車文化。一天到朋友家多喝了,開車回家時一面奔馳在高速公路上,景物與其他車輛雪雪擦過,收音機一面爆炸着樂與怒,感覺相當嗨。過了一陣子「潛意識」駕駛后,突然察覺萬分危險。胆子小,自此不敢。

閱讀「那些年,我们一起追的女孩
至中段某晚,又灌起啤酒來,九把刀的文字飄忽地拉我回到青春少年期,由他的跳進出我的,也有相近的嗨。念小說也嗨是頭一遭。

不管「那些年」當中有多少成分屬實或虛构,九把刀把少男無知、幼稚、率直與輕狂的愛情觀,追女生的行為表達淋漓盡致。剛好看罷「張愛玲之謎」,張小說主人翁的千計萬算的愛情,與「那些年」可謂南轅北轍了。

中國人父母總不願見到子女在中小學階段拍拖,但我喜愛聽的一個本地Talk Radio 節目,每當聽眾致電談及甜蜜的小狗戀時,主持人多會感嘆地說:So young, so much in love.

是的,青春期的戀情會是多麼純真美麗,多麼刻骨。電影「倆小無猜」中,小女角拍拖受到點家庭壓力,她幽幽對父母哭訴:你們不是想我快樂嗎?我跟他在一起很快樂。

「那些年」是我第一部九把刀的小說。自傳体小說很難說結構如何,只是前八年談得太詳細,相對上「結局」便有點草。雖然他在訴說每个人大体都經歷過的生活,能令他突圍的可能是他筆触的「真」:叫個真正初中生來寫當然文筆心思幼嫩,像九把刀般卅歲作家來寫,則大多忘卻了那份幼稚的激情。


九把刀的行文用字也不落俗套,譬喻新鮮。再者,當中有頗多 Quotable quotes,是用作小說推銷時的上佳材料。相信也定会成為他朝中學生們寫情信、心意咭或紀念冊時的金句。


Friday, November 4, 2011

For Dummies: 張愛玲之謎







當我開始愛讀文藝作品時為八零年左右,張愛玲並不十分紅。教科書中從未提過她的名字,報章也沒有(我家看的是不愛紅妝愛武装的左派報)。香港也未有她的電影作品。我不認識她。記得偶而在書店中碰到她(多老土的名字)的作品,都是放在皇冠出版社瓊瑤愛情小說旁邊。台灣愛情小說(我的無知)可不是我杯茶。

及至一位知道我閱讀口味的同学介紹,並「保証你一定喜歡」且熱心地借出他的給我看,忘記了是張愛玲的那一部(大概是短篇小說集),但果真一讀上釣,一口氣看了大概六、七本作品。幸好趕得及,緊跟隨幾年張愛玲又再熱起來,几部改編電影出籠,又舞又話劇等好不熱鬧。

后來生活多變,放下閱讀很多年,只記得張愛玲的文字婉麗,心理描寫細致入骨,但世界荒涼。但具體什麼小說有什麼內容都記不起了。愛她的時期只看她的作品,沒太大好奇她的身世,及至几年前新聞紙說她孤獨死在羅省,才有一點触發:怎会這樣?

劉川鄂的「張愛玲之謎」是我讀的第一本張傳記,對龐大的「張迷」來說我只是幼兒班。劉不像一個調查記者,書本內容都只是綜合各方資料,「之謎」為題是有點取巧,不過此書的優勢是它的近期。不單概括了張的一生,且綜合了其他出版物的內容。雖然是大陸出版,但作者文字也盡力中肯,比如對「秧歌」的介紹,張對「新中国」的關係等。作者對張愛玲的作品當然熟悉,描寫她身世、遭遇和感覺時,經常引用張小說中的用語或人物作對比。但也不是盲目崇拜,他仍会指出個別作品的缺點。

張傳記我讀過僅此一本無從比較,但此單薄的書已蓋括了張的絢爛前(小)半生,資料不全但已令人掩卷不已的后半生。可能再厚一點也只是「搬字過紙」的節錄、引述罷了。如果你也是「張傳記」初階如我,此書可算是 Dummies 系列吧。

讀過「張愛玲之謎」引發我重看張愛玲的衝動,但我一向沒有舊書再讀的熱情,計劃是先看「小團圓」,然后英文版「秧歌」(中文看過了)可以和新書 Frank Dikotter 的 Mao's Great Famine 一併看.....

可讀的書太多只惜時間不足。