Ancient Furnace
by Jia Pingwa
About This Novel
The content of the work "Ancient Furnace" is mainly about Jia Pingwa's experiences in his boyhood, which is of a reminiscence nature. The story takes place in a village called "Gulu" in Shaanxi. This is a remote, closed place that maintains its traditional charm, but this tranquility began to be shaken in the winter of 1965. Almost everyone in Gulu Village was forced to be involved in a massive movement, catalyzed by various factors. Time progressed until the spring of 1967, when a peaceful village with clear mountains and rivers evolved into a ruins of humanistic spirit full of suspicion, confrontation, and fighting amid the illusory and concrete interests of "politics." The ancient furnace village where the porcelain was made was remote. The landscape there was clear and clear, there were many kinds of trees, the wild animals were active, and the livestock were prosperous. However, although the people were hardworking and good at craftsmanship, they were extremely poor. When I set the novel on the ancient furnace, I thought of many things that Jia Pingwa experienced when he was a child, because most of this book is his memories.
What Readers Think
Rating
Community(0)
Official(4)Scraped 19d ago
In Gulu, a remote, closed village that maintains its traditional charm, many things happen. When these things are connected, it is the life of the entire village.
The people in Gulu Village originally lived a very peaceful life, but due to the turmoil that occurred in 1965, the people in the village also became turbulent and changed their original lives.
This book is not just a novel, it is a documentary, but also the author's memories. It contains a lot of the author's nostalgia for what happened at that time, but it is already different.
This book is so well written! The first few dozen pages may seem a bit boring because there are too many characters introduced at once, and the author's wording is clumsy. But after the initial foreshadowing, the story slowly unfolds, the scenery is gradually painted and rendered, and it gradually gets better. This book is indeed primitive, so primitive that it feels like dust. The Qin Opera written by the author has a sense of beauty. Just like what is said in the postscript of the book, the frame is set up to let the sunlight shine in. This book is a different way of writing, that is, writing trivial things, but they are piled up into a big story and picture, but it is thick and not messy at all. In addition, I have seen the author's impetuousness and happiness, but it is really not as good as Gu Lu and Qin Opera.
Rating
Community(0)
Official(4)Scraped 19d ago
In Gulu, a remote, closed village that maintains its traditional charm, many things happen. When these things are connected, it is the life of the entire village.
The people in Gulu Village originally lived a very peaceful life, but due to the turmoil that occurred in 1965, the people in the village also became turbulent and changed their original lives.
This book is not just a novel, it is a documentary, but also the author's memories. It contains a lot of the author's nostalgia for what happened at that time, but it is already different.
This book is so well written! The first few dozen pages may seem a bit boring because there are too many characters introduced at once, and the author's wording is clumsy. But after the initial foreshadowing, the story slowly unfolds, the scenery is gradually painted and rendered, and it gradually gets better. This book is indeed primitive, so primitive that it feels like dust. The Qin Opera written by the author has a sense of beauty. Just like what is said in the postscript of the book, the frame is set up to let the sunlight shine in. This book is a different way of writing, that is, writing trivial things, but they are piled up into a big story and picture, but it is thick and not messy at all. In addition, I have seen the author's impetuousness and happiness, but it is really not as good as Gu Lu and Qin Opera.
