When Jiu Haitang's new book "The Lost Name" was published in the supplement of "Harvest" magazine, it was titled "Your Name", and the word "you" corresponds to the woman named Chen Pingping in the work. After being diagnosed with leukemia during pregnancy, she and her family adopted a medical plan to protect the child. She died of complications after giving birth. That year, Chen Pingping was 30 years old. "Your Name" is narrated and advanced from the perspective of Chen Pingping's sister Chen Yunyun, so when I read it at the time, I just thought it was a novel written by Jiu Haitang. Once it came out, to Jiu Haitang's surprise, her work was hotly discussed by readers. This humble writer who particularly cares about readers' opinions shared her experience of writing "Your Name" with readers through various channels, so that we know , "Your Name" is a work based on the real life, death, and family changes experienced by Jiu Haitang's original family.
When Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House published the single volume, it changed the title of the book to "The Lost Name" and defined it as an autobiographical novel. It was confirmed in black and white that the narrator Chen Yunyun in the novel is the old man. Begonia herself. In this way, when reading "The Disappearing Name", we will strongly realize that although the word "name" in the title still corresponds to the woman named Chen Pingping, it is a name given to her sister by Jiu Haitang. Alias; as for changing "your" to "disappeared", readers are reminded from the cover that this is a story of loss.
Although this is her first novel, Jiu Haitang, who entered the literary world as a poet, has been transitioning to novel writing for many years and has written many excellent works.
In 2013, Jiu Haitang published the short story "Meeting Mr. Mu" in Harvest, a magazine regarded as a literary palace by writers. This is a short short story. Jiu Haitang tells a story that seems to be common in literary works: Xiao Ai, who is middle-aged, went on vacation with two best friends. Because he was lazy, he did not follow his girlfriend into the mountains to take photos and sketch. , Xiao Ai had to wander around the hotel and around the hotel for three to five days, so he met Mr. Mu every now and then. The vacation was coming to an end, and Xiao Ai decided to take the hotel's sightseeing bus to visit a nearby ancient village. After getting on the sightseeing bus, Xiao Ai saw that there was only an empty seat next to Mr. Mu, so he sat over it. The two chatted hotly all the way to the ancient village but chose to travel separately until they met again in an ancient house... The plot is not new at all. Why did "Harvest", which has a high self-esteem, choose this article by Jiu Haitang, who has just entered his field of vision? novel? The editor-in-chief of the magazine said that because Jiu Haitang gave this novel a special flavor with the poet's writing skills - indeed.
If "Meeting Mr. Mu" is special, then Jiu Haitang, who published a novel again in "Harvest" three years later, told readers with "Orange, Red and Silver" that he could write a novel like "Meeting Mr. Mu". A literary novel like "Mr. Mu" can also tell the story of the loss of dusty rural people: the land that belongs to them can no longer allow a family of three to live a decent life, let alone send their daughter back to a good school. The third uncle and the third aunt entered Dingnan together to work in Shenzhen. In the bustling city of Shenzhen, which is very different from her hometown, the third aunt has been lost, the third uncle has been lost, and the daughter has even made a mistake. However, the family finally sees the hope of life in the noisy city.
"Meeting Mr. Mu" and "Returning to Xiangsi" are two short story collections published by Jiu Haitang after he transformed from a poet to a novelist. I have not read all of Jiu Haitang's novels, but "Meeting Mr. Mu" and "Orange, Red and Silver" are enough for me to see that this writer is proving how comfortable he is as a novelist with his varied styles. So, when she planned to write a novel about her family's past, she should have it at her fingertips, right? No.
On the afternoon of August 21, Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House used the "Wheat Free Life" online live broadcast platform to invite Jiu Haitang to share her new work "The Lost Name" with readers.
"The Lost Name", which was created in memory of her sister, was first presented in a non-fictional form by Jiu Haitang's pen.
However, when the first draft reached 70,000 words, the people and things that she imagined could be included in the work disturbed Jiu Haitang, and she realized that she had to abide by the ethical choices of writing. The family accident was a thing of the past. However, in order to restore the most authentic story of her sister in a non-fiction work, Jiu Haitang felt that she was unwilling to make some sacrifices, so she simply stopped writing when it was difficult to make a choice. However, the idea of ??writing a book for her sister did not fade away because she stopped. Listening to her heart, Jiu Haitang once again started writing a work based on her sister's life and death. However, this time she wrote a fictional work .
After writing 70,000 words, I had to scrap the first draft and start over. Is the reason really, as Jiu Haitang said, because my creation at the time was affected by the truth and could not continue? The comments of Mr. Li Weichang, deputy president of Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House and literary critic, revealed the real reason that hindered Jiu Haitang from completing non-fiction works at that time. "Jiu Haitang's own story is very exciting. She went from the countryside to the city and then became a writer. A story of female growth. "If Jiu Haitang had put her story into a novel, it would have been a very inspirational work. But Jiu Haitang was an aspiring writer who chose to fail her sister halfway and never gave up. The story of his ultimate success and his younger brother's twists and turns are intertwined and narrated in a way that uses his own family story to show what rural youth have done in the past few decades in order to find a way to live a decent life. The price paid. As for the episode in which the 30-year-old sister passed away due to illness, "The Disappearing Name" is particularly sad to read. "Through Jiu Begonia's reappearance without exaggeration or deliberate sadness, we read about the three siblings' relationship with each other. As we move forward, we feel the sadness of not knowing where the long road ends. We also read the revelation that we must learn to say goodbye and accept disappearance in our lives. Otherwise, we will not be able to accumulate the strength to move forward," Li Weichang said, "If we want to "The two key words for "The Lost Name" are hardness and growth." It is precisely because of these two key words that Jiu Haitang's creation does not stop at repeating a sad story. She makes Chen Pingping, who has disappeared, The name has become a kind of imprint that remains in the reader's heart - therefore, the reason why I can't continue after writing 70,000 words, in my opinion, is not like what Jiu Haitang said during the live broadcast on the Internet. It is because it is difficult to choose between materials. Her creations represent desperate situations. When she reached 70,000 words, the writer subconsciously told Jiu Haitang that she could not waste her sister's story meaninglessly. Fortunately, her talent as a novelist helped her change her genre from nonfiction to an autobiographical novel, and it also helped her find a way to make her sister's story more interesting.
The famous writer Di An and the media person Guo Yujie successively expressed their sympathy to the audience titled "If I am not strong, who will be brave for me - "The Lost Name" online press conference" The reading experience, that is, this touching story created by Jiu Haitang, although there is no shortage of heavy parts, is not out of control when written. She realizes that novels are a technique of showing heartbreak in her creation, and she also practices it everywhere in her works. Writing novels should also have a social responsibility to heal heartbreak. If Jiu Haitang healed herself in the process of writing "The Lost Name", then this autobiographical novel she dedicated to readers can overcome the obstacles in their hearts.