My bookshelf

This is a truly unique form of expression, using jokes as a medium to paint a vivid, realistic scroll of local customs and human conditions. Cold jokes, puns, sketch comedy, and satire are used to equally mock everything. People with physical disabilities, the ignorant and arrogant, adulterers, pedantic scholars, common folk, government officials, wealthy merchants, all matters related to sex, and even Confucianism and Taoist immortals, are all made into jokes, gently pinched and quietly mocked. The atmosphere of the Qing Dynasty's street society permeates through these short jokes, encompassing the wretched human nature, ignorance, poverty, and the cunning that combines them in a person, as straightforward and essential as eating, in the clumsy directness seen in the eyes of both men and women. Reading it brings a wonderful feeling, a mixture of all flavors, breaking myths, and broadening horizons.

The writing is too beautiful and too tragic, too powerful and too effortless. This text is filled with blood and tears, it's the dimming and falling of a brilliantly shining, beautiful soul. I would compare it to classical literature, being mentally controlled and tormented to the point of madness and suicide, the only difference being that it happens in the context of the wealthy class in modern society. I am convinced in my heart that this is an incredibly kind and pure, highly sensitive and talented master. She was originally humble, outstanding in personality and ability. But in this systematically oppressive environment where right and wrong are inverted, she exhausted her young and shallow spiritual strength and life. The stench of this world, covered by the perfume of pretentious people, the incomprehensible pain of girls curled up in corners, trapped on the dark side of the world with no escape, far from people and in extreme loneliness, the norm of putting on a brave face and deceiving oneself that happiness means keeping a smile - all of this is vividly portrayed before me, making me feel as if I've experienced it personally, feeling greatly familiar. The entire atmosphere makes me feel a comfort as if my soul is being caressed, feeling not alone in seeing a kindred spirit also tormented by the pain of existence. Kindness, love, weakness, and powerlessness are intertwined. One must be kind, but even more so, one must become strong!

It’s tough for the bright-minded Yan to adapt and master the storytelling methods of these traditional societal tales fantasized by impoverished scholars. After three chapters, I really didn’t want to continue reading. The characters are thin, simplistic, their behaviors stereotypical and thoughtless. Just changing names and places turns them into ten-thousand-word stories, which are frankly bland to read. It seems that learning to 'skim' has become a basic skill for the writer.

A concrete work of Henan literature, the characters in the book feel intimate and represent a microcosm of countless hardworking Chinese elders. The book conveys a profound and realistic sense of life and familial bonds, with the responsibilities and resilience of the elders having a lifelong impact. Such things are precious; though they seem natural on paper, they are still bitterly hard to endure. One wonders how many families can consistently achieve this. In a world filled with countless temptations and obstacles, without the efforts of a group of conscientious people, crossing social classes would be as elusive as fishing the moon from the water. Yan Lianke's literary growth, steeped in family, homeland, and military experiences, is both unique and fortunate.

Read the short story 'The Moon Over the Mountain.' The narrative is concise and powerful, reflecting the transformation of Li Zheng, which deeply pains countless deluded people.

An introduction to ADHD, a new stage in the journey of self-discovery, using numerous case studies to aid in understanding the issue

Strickland was uniquely unique, so unique that he was a character straight out of a novel. The text blends the author's sensitivity and restlessness, as well as his inner melancholy, analysis of human nature, and liberating philosophical reflections, all carried with a strong autonomy. Some understandings of human nature did indeed attract me.

(Via Twitter Proper Hoodlum In the 18th-century novel 'Dream of the Red Chamber', many of the main characters are unaware of their own destinies, this kind of obliviousness has a certain charm.) The book is academically strong, discussing the phenomenon in Chinese literature of valuing the past and history.

The e-book layout is poor but does not obstruct the rich content. The brevity of the text limits the details of the characters' stories, yet the clues revealed frequently evoke deep sentiments. It only shows a fragment, but it is already visible in its nascent form, considerably three-dimensional. In the end, turning towards Buddhism adds deeper meaning. The author's sincerity and introspection are genuine, yet surely they must also have a tough and cunning temperament, expertly playing the game of life with its inherent illusions. It subtly makes one feel the suffocating, decisive force of the undercurrents that surge unseen, never surfacing overtly. "The masses" resemble a group of tirelessly laboring ants, continuously propagating—among them, some emerge who seem like the others but, whether by nature or nurture, are driven by fate to have the courage and means to manipulate and exploit the group, creating networks among themselves to reap benefits and monopolize power. From a high vantage, looking down at the dust raised at the mountain foot, it seems filled with actual slaves and subjects laboring for their own profit. "If there really are ghosts, being one probably isn't very pleasant since being a ghost seems to involve little effort and thus, probably little reward."

I endured the agony caused by mental strain and finished this work just like being there. A dull, childish soul who wanted to be smart, loved by friends, and loved, became irritable, resentfull, and self-pitying in loneliness and resistance once he gained intelligence. He exhausted himself searching for himself, finding foolish answers to outdated questions! Indeed, life is sorrowful, with its ebb and flow, and isn’t everyone as ignorant as Charlie at his arrival, leaving confusedly? Suddenly born, driven by adults to learn language and knowledge, becoming smart leads to joining adults, dissatisfaction, competition, and pain. He built a sandcastle only to guard and watch it blur and collapse before his eyes... Allow me to issue a mournful wail! Translation minus one point, fluency and literary quality do not quite blend with the story's brilliance and depth.