China News Service Client, Beijing, March 10th (Reporter Shangguan Yun) "It writes about the deep estrangement between father and son, and this estrangement exists more in the soul." This is the popular novel "The Road to Father" The Road" received a review.
"The Road to Father" is a newly published work by the famous writer Ye Zhaoyan, which mainly tells the story of a father and son.
Zhang Zuo, the protagonist of the novel, was raised by his grandfather Wei Ren and his grandmother since he was a child, and his relationship with his father Zhang Xiyi was relatively weak.
"The Road to Father" book cover.
Photo courtesy of the publisher
As time went by, Zhang Zuo gradually got to know his father and became more and more connected.
But there still seems to be some kind of estrangement between the father and son. "The road to my father is too long. Zhang Zuo found that he had never really approached Zhang Xiyi. Sometimes the closer he got, the farther he felt."
From a more far-reaching scope, the "road to father" mentioned in the novel is not limited to the connection of blood, but also the identification and inheritance of the spiritual level.
In an exclusive interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com, Ye Zhaoyan said frankly that "The Road to Father" is a novel that he has always wanted to write, and the meaning of what he wants to say is simple, that is, he wants to pay tribute to "fathers".
In fact, from the "Yebo Qinhuai" series in the early years to today's "The Road to Father", Ye Zhaoyan always tried to be different from his previous works when writing. In his eyes, writing without freshness is Nothing interesting.
For him, writing is simply about making it a little bit closer to the reader and a little bit more interesting.
The following is a summary of the interview:
Chinanews.com: You mentioned that writing "The Road to Father" originated from a naive idea. What do you mean specifically?
Ye Zhaoyan:
Actually, everyone who writes novels will always have a lot of ideas or ideas in their minds, and they will become novels when they are written.
Writer Ye Zhaoyan.
Photo courtesy of the publisher
"The Road to My Father" was just one of my many thoughts. Suddenly, one day, the idea of writing it was very strong. In the end, after several twists and turns, I have today's novel, and the writing process has no profound truth.
"The Road to Father" is different from my previous novels, and some of the plots in the book do come from life experiences.
For example, I wrote a story about the house, which was a problem that our family had encountered.
Similar details are more interesting to write in novels, and also give fictional works a more real side.
Now I have forgotten the original writing process, but when I look at this paragraph now, I still find it very interesting.
Chinanews.com: "The Road to Father" is compact in structure, small in length but large in time. How did you conceive it?
Ye Zhaoyan:
In terms of story progression, as far as I feel, the novella is not too long, the narrative rhythm should be like a movie, and the novel is more like a TV series.
Writer Ye Zhaoyan.
Photo courtesy of the publisher
So "The Road to Father" is a novella, and the story is to be told in two hours.
The stories and characters I envisioned should be resolved within the range of 30,000 to 50,000 words.
There is actually no set rule for my arrangement of the narrative context. Just like playing a basketball game, a game is generally divided into four sections. For this novel, it is roughly the same structure when I wrote it.
Chinanews.com: What was the original intention of writing this novel?
Ye Zhaoyan:
"The Road to Father" is a novel that I have always wanted to write. The meaning of what I want to say is simple, just to pay tribute to the "fathers".
I once said that in the environment where I grew up, my parents have always been high mountains, unattainable.
As for the characters in the novel, Zhang Zuo, Zhang Xiyi, Wei Ren, etc., I actually didn't put any particular effort into writing about any one of them.
How to write a paragraph of text to look good, this should be the place where the writer is most attentive.
I want to give a memory to those who have had similar life experiences as me and hope they become readers of this book.
In addition, I also want younger readers to understand the life of their parents in those days. This is the purpose of writing.
Chinanews.com: Compared with several groups of characters in the book, for example, Zhang Zuo and his grandfather Wei Ren are more closely related in spirit, but their relationship with his father Zhang Xiyi is somewhat alienated. What kind of thinking does this arrangement want to express?
Ye Zhaoyan:
This work is "I want to write some Chinese-style father and son".
After "The Road to Father" was published, many people mentioned the word "Chinese father and son" when talking about it.
From my own point of view, I just want to express how a son goes to his father, such a process.
Specifically in the book, I only wrote about several groups of different types of father-son relationships, each of which I think has a certain rationality for its existence, which is a kind of reality. father and son".
(over)