Reason to Live

Thirty-five-year-old Nora Hinds decided to die. She lost her job, messed up her intimate relationships, her pet cat died, her dreams became a joke, her relatives and close friends also left her... After experiencing a series of blows, Nora suddenly discovered that she had unknowingly led a terrible life. Already deeply depressed, she was finally overwhelmed by regret and despair and decided to end her life. At the critical point between life and death, Nora came to a mysterious library. Each book here represents a possibility of Nora's life, and Nora's journey of life redemption begins here. What kind of adventures and insights will Nora, who wants to die, have in the midnight library? Can she find a reason to believe in life again and continue to live here? Let's follow Nora on this magical journey of healing. In the cycle of time and space between life and death, re-experience the true meaning of love and happiness.

I have had at least three mothers in my life. During my childhood, my mother was the glamorous party hostess, the ambitious "Blackberry Lady" and "Mushroom Lady." By my adolescence, she was schizophrenic and a prisoner of auditory hallucinations. She escaped the war and immigrated to the United States. How did she, who was once tough and bright, transform into this? I began to explore the origins of her mental anguish, hoping to understand the forces that "killed" her. Thus, my third mother was born. Not only did I discover what brought this woman down, I also discovered what she was born for. Deep in the pursuit is a secret family past and the wandering life of a generation of women. I collected the fragments about her and them and wrote this story about survivors. Some people want certain pieces of history erased. But I know that "survival is never a given" and I must speak up for those whom society deems not worthy of tears.

In "The Game of Loneliness", which is composed of seven short stories, Yuan Zhesheng repeatedly captures loneliness, the "sense of dilemma that all human beings must face" through various interpersonal emotions, such as the affection between parents and sons, the friendship between classmates when they were young, or the love between two people who have been married for many years. The feeling of loneliness is everywhere in the words. Loneliness has always been a common theme in literary works, and it is also an emotion that many writers strive to describe. However, when we carefully taste Yuan Zhesheng's calm and controlled words in "The Lonely Game", we will eventually discover a kind of lonely writing that is unique to Yuan Zhesheng.

Before being admitted to Trinity College Dublin, Debbie had been living on a dairy farm in the countryside. Her mother captured dreams all day long, and her uncle was addicted to alcohol. Leaving home and going to college was the beginning of independent life and adventure for Debbie. Debbie, who shuttles between dreams and reality, city and countryside, free campus life and complex family problems, is constantly testing and struggling in the new world. She met a girl named Xanthi and became close friends with her. In Debbie's view, Xanthi is so perfect, with a good family background, sweet appearance, and seemingly no worries at all. However, Debbie's family and life are falling into chaos step by step... Is home a cradle full of love? Are there really perfect people in the world? Where is the boundary between reality and dreams? This is a story about growth, friendship, family, and how a young girl survives and finds herself in the adult world. Debbie in the story is just like you and me, she is arrogant and inferior, longs for dreams but is afraid of failure, has a fragile "glass heart", but can face everything bravely.

One morning, the middle-aged Busmakov was preparing to elope to Cyprus with his young lover. In just a few hours, the absurd life of the past twenty years flashed before his eyes. During these years, he wandered around various lovers and planned to escape several times; at the same time, he experienced blind migration and drift, from party and government agencies to scientific research institutes, from doing business in the sea to working as a parking lot gatekeeper, and finally changed his job to a bank, thereby escaping the turbulent social reality. Just when he had to make a choice between his wife and his lover, he seemed to have remembered something, and was ready to re-determine his fate... In this absurd novel, Polyakov vividly depicts a typical image of "Eskepal" (escaper), who is stuck in the quagmire of life, confused in his heart, his soul is floating, and he is always in a state of nothingness. After Onegin, Pycholin, and Oblomov, he is another new type of Russian superfluous person. The story unfolds against the background of the last years of the Soviet Union and the disintegration of the country. It also outlines all living beings in the period of social transformation, showing the embarrassment of survival, the paradox of human nature, and the changes in social landscape.

A collection of short stories that focuses on current real-life issues, including assault, harassment, old age anxiety, midlife crisis, domestic violence, and the living conditions of young people. In the author's writing, almost every soul is facing violence and injustice. Their dreams are shattered, distorted and deformed under the pressure of all parties, and they create more misfortune because of misfortune. If they don't want to "live" like this, they can only escape.