The novel How Far Away Is the Road to Heaven is an urban period romance spanning nearly forty years, from the late 1980s to the beginning of this century. It follows the turbulent life of its heroine, Shi Bier. A broken relationship, the grief of losing her child, and unemployment after being laid off leave her lost for a time. After reflecting on her pain, she finds her way back to a normal path in life. The story is emotionally rich, grounded in everyday life, and deeply moving. It offers a realistic reflection of how, amid society's transformation from poverty to prosperity and backwardness to progress, people's thoughts shifted from excitement and curiosity to confusion and conformity, then to indifference toward others, and finally back to a renewed sense of self. The material comes from real life, and the work is full of genuine feeling. It is a full-length novel about contemporary society.
The writing is exquisite and the story is touching and tortuous. This is a story about young and middle-aged urban people who face the hardships of fame, fortune and emotional turmoil in a company.
The novel's language is refined and elegant, and it vividly depicts the mental journey of corporate agencies in career, love and life, reveals the ugliness and evil in the world, and praises the truth, goodness and beauty. It is a good growth and inspirational novel for young people in metropolitan areas.
I have read the tenth chapter of the novel "How Long is the Road to Heaven": the story of the novel vividly reflects the emotional entanglements of government employees in real life under the tide of materialism. The language of the novel is concise and beautiful, and the emotions of the characters are described to a fascinating level. It is really a good novel that describes the complicated relationships between men and women in metropolitan companies.