Mar 05 2009
Finished the Vagrants
Just finished reading Li Yiyun’s Vagrants. It is a thick book but not that difficult to read. I don’t know what to think, actually.
In the novel, the best developed characters are two ugly ducklings that nobody wanted (Bashi and Nini). Their romance is as distorted as the age the story is set in. Some other characters, like that of Teacher Gu, is somewhat less well developed I think. He jumped from learned-helplessness to a cynic overnight then died a sentimentalist, all with little narrative development. The other “righteous” characters, like Wu Kai and Jialin–the liberal independent thinkers–are weak and rootless. Feels like they belong to posters.
Maybe this is in sync with the society Li is trying to tell the world about: wicked, strange and dysfunctional. So much so that there is little room for anything positive to grow organically. However, that is not quite the China I know. More importantly, that is not the humanity in China I know.
In terms of her writing style–as many have pointed out, she is very good at capturing details and human emotions. I have not read enough novels to compare her with others. But I will be surprised if that is not the first thing people say about her.
ZX has a pretty insightful take on Li, “Her work is very ‘Chinese’ in the sense that it is heavy on emotions, feelings but rather light on a deeper level, existential struggle.”
A very enlightening comment for sure. I also felt like this book reads like the stories in Red Chamber Dreams (HLM), many linear developments full of snippets of vivid details, like dancers in Bali sometimes us their facial expression ALONE to tell stories.
But there is lack of struggle. Not enough “to be or not to be” kind of question, as if man has only the environ to contend with, but never himself. As ZX said, “there is no moral finality in people’s lives”.
I certainly agree with that. Rob Gifford said in his memoir that he left China after some 18 years because as a son of missionary, he can’t take the “everything goes” mentality any more.