The shortlisted works of the 6th Mao Dun Literature Award are simply famous scenes of fairy fights: Ye Guangcen's "Picking Mulberries", Zhou Mason's "Absolute Power", Mai Jia's "Decryption", Mo Yan's "Sandalwood Punishment", and Tie Ning's "The Girl in the Bath" that I want to share with you today.
None of them won an award, but they still gained a loyal following thanks to their clever storytelling skills and clever language.
Tie Ning's "The Girl in the Bath", the title of the book comes from the famous painting "The Girl in the Bath", which depicts the scene of women of different shapes bathing by the river.
"Bath" is bathing, which means washing and purifying.
* Focusing on the female group, it tells the story of their growth and fission from the sixties of the last century to the ten years.
The protagonist, Yin Xiaoyue, is a sensitive and fragile woman who spends her life atoning for her sister's death.
And the secret of her sister Yin Xiaoquan's birth has always been a pain that she can't tell.
Yin Xiaoyue, who was burdened with pain and guilt, finally decided to let go and use the rest of his life to fulfill the happiness of another woman.
It has been said that none of the women in the book are normal.
Sex ** of Tang Fei;Yin's mother, who is obsessed with plastic surgery;Yin Xiaofan, who is blindly competing;Wan Meichen, who lost herself for love.
Especially Yin Xiaoyue, it was hard to recognize his heart and get together with his childhood sweetheart Chen Zai.
But because she had dated Chen Zai's ex-wife Wan Meichen several times, she was moved by her love for Chen Zai, and resolutely chose to give up Chen Zai.
The book describes the scene of the last time the two were in bed:
"He said I really want to strangle you.She said you strangled me, you strangled me now!
She grabbed his hand and placed it around her neck, her hand straining on his.
He struggled to take his hand away, he kissed her neck, and they loved again.
And she said unto him at daybreak, Give me back the key to this house. ”
Some people say that when a woman really lets go of love, that's when she matures.
This ** book is not so much about showing women's desires as it is about women's self-growth.
We spend our whole lives freeing ourselves from the expectations of others and becoming who we really are.
Yin Xiaoyue finally jumped out of the cage drawn by others and himself, and broke out of the cocoon into a butterfly.
Yin Xiaoquan is a child born by Xiao Jump's mother, Zhang Wei, who cheated.
In that special period in the sixties of the last century, Zhang Yu couldn't stand the hard life on the farm, so she seduced Dr. Tang and made him write a fake note to escape labor.
Zhang Wei was emotionally moved in contact with Dr. Tang and resolutely gave birth to a child for her.
Xiao Jump has always been an eyewitness to the mother's ** event.
Yin Xiaoquan's birth secret, Xiao Jump did not talk to anyone, including her half-sister Yin Xiaofan.
Zhang Yu poured all her love into Yin Xiaoquan, Xiao Yue treated her coldly, and Xiao Fan dared to be angry and didn't dare to speak.
Yin Xiaoquan still can't speak when she is two years old, and Zhang Wei puts the responsibility of taking care of her on Xiao Jump Xiaofan.
The two sisters watched as Xiaoquan fell into the sewage well.
Yin Xiaofan felt that Yin Xiaoyue's cold and stiff hand lightly exerted force on her hand. She will always remember the force of Yin Xiaojiao's hand on her hand, which is her lifelong indelible memory, and it is also the illusory and pragmatic evidence that she will accuse Yin Xiaoqiao in the future. ”Seeing death and not saving it, it has become evidence that Xiao Fan has taken Xiao Jump, and it has also become a pain that Xiao Jump cannot erase for a lifetime.
Years later, the two sisters invariably recalled the thrilling handshake, and both blurred their memories.
In the end, Xiao Jump is stopping or pulling Xiao Fan to save people.
When Xiao Fan stubbornly put the blame on Xiao Jump, Xiao Jump calmly admitted to the obstruction and questioned it:
"Do you like Yin Xiaoquan?”Only by facing your mistakes calmly can you truly be freed from the nightmare.
She suddenly felt that liberation is not to put the blame on others, but to face your guilt squarely. ”After Yin Xiaoquan's death, Xiao Jump projected all his guilt for Xiao Quan on Xiao Fan.
She is obedient to Xiaofan, even to the extent that the slave flatters her master.
Xiao Fan, who doesn't know Xiao Quan's background, in order to cleanse her ** sister's sins, added pain to Xiao Yue.
The sisters love and kill each other, and Xiao Fan regards Xiao Jump as a competitor.
She is willing to make men who especially like Yin Xiaoqiao like her more, and she doesn't understand whether this is whether she wants to compete with Yin Xiaoyue or her mischievous psychology. ”Yin Xiaoyue used this masochistic way to heal the pain, and it seemed that by doing so, he could alleviate his guilt for Xiaoquan.
Yin Xiaofan alleviated his guilt by abusing his family.
Whether it is self-abuse or abuse him, the sisters have lost their correct self-perception.
Yin Xiaoyue hated her mother Zhang Wei for cheating, and she herself was constantly interfering in other people's marriages.
It is difficult for the daughter to escape the trajectory of her mother's fate.
Although Yin Xiaoyue has repeatedly emphasized that he is true love, this cannot erase the shame of being a third party.
Yin Xiaoyue was portrayed by the author in the book as a Mary Sue who is loved by everyone.
The well-known director Fang Jing was tortured in a special era, and was frightened and lost his male ability.
After trying many methods to no avail, it was Yin Xiaoyue who awakened his ability.
In the long years, although Fang Jing has had many women, Yin Xiaoqiao has always been the most special existence for him.
Chen Zai, the childhood sweetheart, was attracted to her even when she was a twelve-year-old girl.
He participated in the whole process of Xiao Jump and Fang Jing's love.
Xiao Jump's joy, anger and sorrow always tugged at his nerves.
If it weren't for Wan Meichen's fierce pursuit, Chen Zai planned to defend Xiao Jump for the rest of his life.
Later, Fang Jing broke up with Xiao Jump, and Xiao Jump realized that Chen Zai, who had been by her side, was her true love.
The two walked together regardless of the world's eyes.
Wan Meichen was forced to reluctantly agree to the divorce.
What happened next took a 180-degree turn: Wan Meichen fell in love with Xiao Jump, and she and Xiao Jump began to date frequently.
Xiao Jump was moved by Wan Meichen's love for Chen Zai, and even asked Chen Zai to return to Wan Meichen's side.
Both men and women were impressed by the inexplicable charm of Xiao Jump.
Even Xiao Fan's ex-husband, American Mike, likes to chat with Xiao Jump.
This also aroused Xiao Fan's jealousy, and even when she returned to China to visit relatives, she was reluctant to take David with her, for fear that he would be seduced by Xiao Jump.
In fact, it is Xiao Fan who has been robbing men with Xiao Jump to prove his charm.
In the end, Xiaofan divorced David, who kept cheating, and got together with Mike, who had a crush on Xiao Jump.
When Xiao Jump and Chen Zai separated, she called ** to Mike, and it was Xiao Fan who picked it up**, and she knew that the two had lived together.
If it had been before, she would have been angry.
Because when she and Chen were in love before, Xiaofan would communicate with Chen Zaitong from time to time.
Time has changed, and after experiencing so many things, Xiao Jump has been liberated:
Yin Xiaoyue grabbed the microphone and thought in a daze, the strange thing is that she is not as angry as she was at the beginning, just like a person who has seen the final outcome of things, all the joys, sorrows and sorrows that want to change the ending are no longer needed, and suddenly there is no need for them.
The culprit who caused Xiao Jump's psychological trauma was her beloved mother.
Zhang Yu and Yin Yixun were sent to the farm**, and there were only the Xiaoqiao sisters at home.
The lack of long-term parental love makes Xiao Jump sensitive and independent.
When one day, Zhang Yu could enjoy the benefits of sick leave safely, Xiao Jump was both happy and puzzled.
She does most of the housework.
Parents are away from home for a long time, and Xiao Jump has been able to provoke the whole family.
Cooking, laundry, cleaning, including taking care of Xiaofan, can be easily mastered.
Even after Zhang Wei went home, Xiao Jump was responsible for cooking and other housework.
Xiao Jump is like the head of the Yin family.
Xiao Jump hopes that through her hard work, Zhang Wei will be impressed by her.
And Zhang Yu enjoyed the fake note prescribed by Dr. Tang peacefully, turning a blind eye to her daughter's efforts.
This woman, who grew up in a wealthy family, has been cared for by nannies since she was a child, thus developing the Xi of being cared for by others at ease.
She put all her energy into pleasing Dr. Tang, and by this time she could no longer distinguish her feelings for Dr. Tang.
It is to release their long-term desires, after all, on the farm, if you want to live a married life, you have to queue up on Sunday to reserve a room.
I gradually developed an attachment to Dr. Tang.
When Yin Xiaofan was sick, Zhang Wei went to the hospital and subconsciously went to Dr. Tang. Although she knew that Dr. Tang was not a pediatrician, she would feel at ease with him by her side.
Therefore, in the second half of Zhang Wei's life, she has been reflecting on her relationship with Dr. Tang.
If it weren't for true love, then her relationship with Dr. Tang would have become a naked exchange, so what is the difference between the intellectual Zhang Yu and the woman who sold herself in the old society!
Zhang Yu dedicated all her time to the love of men and women, and revealed her most true love for her illegitimate daughter Yin Xiaoquan.
Xiao Jump wants to understand her mother, but girls in adolescence dare not speak out about their mother's obscene behavior.
For her mother's love, she both hoped for and resisted.
However, this embarrassing relationship with his mother has always made Xiao Jump unable to be at the same frequency as his mother.
Yin Xiaoqiao has always been vigilant about Zhang Wei's possible intimacy, including her crying, if crying is also a kind of intimacy, crying also makes Yin Xiaoqiao embarrassed. This is the lifelong regret of their mother and daughter: they can almost never laugh and mourn at the same time, either you are half a beat slow or I am half a beat. So now Zhang Wei's tears can't move and comfort Yin Xiaoyue, she just tries her best to understand her mother and be more satisfied with herself. ”Yin Xiaoquan's birth was the beginning of Zhang Wei's tragedy;And Yin Xiaoquan's accident made Zhang Wei be pinched by Yin Yixun for the rest of her life.
When Zhang Wei blamed Yin Xiaoquan's death on the negligence of the Xiaodian sisters, Yin Yi was angry:
"She's a toddler and she deserves to be taken care of. But she just died under your constant care, what kind of mother are you, you also deserve to be a mother!You, a ...... who doesn't even have to work, a who can't even workBut even a two-year-old child can't look good. My daughter, poor child, she either died in the cesspool, she died at your hands, you don't deserve it. ”
From Yin Xiaoquan's birth to his accidental death, Yin Yixun rarely went home. There is no natural kindness to her and the little jump sisters.
After her death, Yin Yixun actually said my daughter, that is, he recognized her identity.
And this confession directly sentenced Zhang Wei - she was not only disloyal but also negligent and killed.
Zhang Yu has been guilty for the rest of her days.
Guilt is a terrible feeling.
Yin Yixun understands PUA, he used the unknown truth to save his face, and at the same time mastered Zhang Yan's guilt.
"Guilt is indeed an emotion worth discussing, and having the ability to make people feel guilty for life is actually an extremely cruel ability and a particularly effective means of revenge. ”On the surface, Yin Yixun and Zhang Wei are a loving couple who share hardships, but in fact, their mutual torture can only be painfully felt by those who are in the middle.
Xiao Yue understands Zhang Wei's pain, but she can't understand her.
A woman has a stain and deserves to be spit on for the rest of her life.
Xiao Jump always thought that she hated Zhang Wei.
Zhang Wei ruined her happy expectations for her family and made it difficult for her to face a man's sincerity.
In her later years, Zhang Wei was very obsessed with plastic surgery.
No one understands why she wants to make herself unrecognizable, only she knows that she wants to erase that shameful history in this way.
Changed his appearance just to eliminate the past and make his current husband and daughters like him.
This is Zhang Wei, this is a woman, who has been longing to be loved all her life, and has been hurt by love all her life.
Xiao Jump eventually reconciles with her mother.
She also understood her feelings for Chen Zai and Mike, not so much to please them, but more accurately to please herself.
It's easy to please others, it's hard to please yourself.
This kind of pleasure is absurd, and the absurdity has always been mixed with painful innocence.
Tie Ning said:
"The Lady in the Bath: I don't expect to settle accounts for a century in a sense, but subconsciously, or there are words like check, inquiry, questioning, and redemption running through the middle of the writing. ”The whole book is based on Yin Xiaojiao's emotional experience, and the treacherous and changeable era of the last century from 60 to 90 is the background, showing the vicissitudes of life and helplessness of ordinary women in a special era.
The book concludes with the words:
"She used to think that her heart was only the size of a fist, but now she knows that she is wrong, her heart is deep and boundless. She took her own hand and walked into the depths of her heart, and the way was full of flowers and flowers, and she finally walked into the garden of her heart, and she knew that the garden of her heart was like this. ”The "bath" is complete, and the salvation is complete. A heavy rain that fell from the sky washed the garden of the mind
Everyone has a garden waiting for you to discover, cultivate, and water ......