Night truck

Douban

NeoDB

【Editor's Recommendation】

The complete works of 20th-century literary giant Chen Yingzhen are published in mainland China for the first time. These stories offer a heartwarming and profound account of human love, a lament for the idealist's soul. "Night Freight Train" is a classic in Chen Yingzhen's "Washington Building" series. The Washington Building in Taipei in the 1980s hides the truth about our workplaces today, a microcosm of the fate of the modern city. Going to work is a huge deception.

Young people unable to return home are a prophecy of the times we live in. Which city truly represents our present-day existence? Well-fed, luxurious, vibrant, and happy, or one characterized by environmental collapse, human scars, and a lost culture? Every working person struggling in the city can find their own story in this book.

Highly recommended by Pai Hsien-yung, Leo Ou-fan Lee, Zhu Tianxin, Dai Jinhua, Zhao Gang, and Xu Zhiyuan. "Chen Yingzhen is my idol. He represents the intellectual's relentless critical spirit, refusing to compromise with the trends of the times; he is also imbued with a sense of the common man, caring deeply about the inner lives and destinies of ordinary people." (Xu Zhiyuan)

【Content Introduction】

"Going to work is a big scam."

"Night Truck" compiles six short and medium-length novels by Chen Yingzhen, written between 1967 and 1982, including "Night Truck," "A Day in the Life of an Office Worker," "Cloud," and "Emperor of All Merchants," as well as two novels on the Vietnam War. Focusing on the well-fed, corrupt, extravagant, dazzling, and happy "backstreets" of post-war Taiwan, the book reflects on environmental collapse, human scars, and the loss of cultural ground. Through the lens of Taipei's "Washington Building" in the 1980s, it depicts the alienated lives, suppressed dreams, humiliated dignity, and silently wounded hearts of people in an era of rapid economic development. Huang Jingxiong, who quit his job to pursue his film dream but was forced to work, Zhang Weijie, whose faith in capitalist civilization turned to disillusionment, Wen Xiuying, a female worker whose strike was suppressed, and Lin Dewang, a small-time employee at a multinational corporation who came from a poor background and was driven to mental illness by career setbacks... The stories of these "determined to succeed" office workers and these young people unable to return home speak to the prophecies of the times we live in.

"Night Truck" leaves behind a capillary-like, vivid portrayal of Taiwan's rapidly changing times. Reading it today is as intimate as looking in the mirror, seeing the reflection of today's era and ourselves.

【Celebrity Recommendation】

Leo Ou-fan Lee (Professor of the Department of Chinese at the Chinese University of Hong Kong) - Chen Yingzhen is one of the few "master-level" novelists in the history of Taiwanese literature. His works have long become classics. When I was teaching in the United States, I would always use his short stories when talking about Taiwanese literature: "The General's Family", "My Brother Kangxiong", "Night Truck", "Washington Building" series... These works have English translations, and American students are also moved by them.

Dai Jinhua (Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University) - Castro, John Berger, and Chen Yingzhen all held special places in the 20th century and in my own life. But their deaths don't directly impact me, but rather reminiscence, an echo of our mourning for that era. Their passing wasn't the end of a great era; that era had already ended before they left. They died after their own era had ended, and the future they called for is still far away.

Zhu Tianxin (author) — Fortunately, our time has Chen Yingzhen. Twenty years ago and now, reading Wen Xiuying's diary in "Cloud," I still can't help but sigh: How unreal, yet so moving!

Xu Zhiyuan (writer and founder of One Way Space)—Chen Yingzhen is my idol. He represents the intellectual's unceasing critical spirit, refusing to compromise with the trends of the times; he is also full of a sense of the common people, concerned with the hearts and destinies of ordinary people.

2020-06-01

九州出版社

Ideal Country

420

9787510884238