Chao News Client Reporter Sun Wen
""The Sea of Life" is about the world, and "The Letter in the World" is about the heart. I want to weigh something deep in human nature and share with readers the courage to stand up in the midst of struggle."
At 4 o'clock this afternoon, the famous writer and Mao Dun Literature Award winner Mai Jia will bring his latest novel "Letter from the World" to the "Walking with Hui" live broadcast room. In the Wudang Mountains in spring, he and Dong Yuhui will open this "Letter from the World" with readers ", opening up an in-depth conversation about growth, hometown, and destiny.
Five years ago, in the same spring, Mai's "Sea of Life" premiered in Beijing. After that, he once again concentrated on polishing and handed over this quiet and reflective work - "Letters from the World".
"Letters from the World" tells the story of the cycle of love and hate over four generations and half a century. There are no heroes or legends in the story, but the world that every ordinary person strives for for themselves in the ups and downs of the world, full of huge and shocking energy.
"This is a book that I shouted from the bottom of my heart"
From "the father of Chinese espionage" to the winner of the Mao Dun Literature Award, from "Decryption" to "The Sea of Life", the Mai family never repeats themselves, every book The works all go deeper and further into human nature.
"Decryption", as the first novel of the Mai family, became famous in one battle and became famous at home and abroad. Later, "The Conspiracy" and "The Wind", which were favored by film and television dramas, were the first works to start the craze of contemporary spy war films and television films in China. "The Sea of Life" delves into the depths of history and human nature, becoming a phenomenal work and selling over 3.5 million copies.
Today, works such as "Decryption", "The Conspiracy" and "The Wind" have been translated into more than 30 languages and have become best-selling classics around the world. "Decryption" was hailed as "the top 20 spy novels in global history", and "The Conspiracy" won the Mao Dun Literature Award. The suspenseful plot and the help of film and television made Maijia quickly become the "top class" of spy novels.
Mai Jia is a person who does not want to stop. Although he has become famous in the eyes of everyone, he has never stopped exploring and constantly puts forward higher requirements for himself. In Mai Jia's opinion, novels such as "Decryption", "The Conspiracy" and "The Wind" "are all stories about geniuses. Genius things often attract the attention of the public", and he wants to try to climb a new peak.
With the mental preparation of "writing a book that will not sell well", he worked hard for eight years and completed "The Sea of Life" in 2019. He gave countless people courage and strength with the heroism in bleak life. This book made Luo Xiang "cry endlessly after reading it for the first time," while Su Tong lamented that the protagonist of the novel "is our common father."
keeps moving and has no time to rest. Immediately following the publication of "Life in the Sea", the Mai family's new book creation has quickly begun.
Different from the legendary colonel in "The Sea of Life", the new work "Letters from the World" focuses on the joys and sorrows of ordinary people in their lives. It is undoubtedly another huge challenge to write exciting and moving stories about ordinary people.
"Letters from the World" by Mai Jia, Huacheng Publishing House
He described the journey of writing as like seeking scriptures from the West, and when encountering difficulties, it is like slaying demons. In five years, he made countless deletions and revisions. In order to concentrate on his creation, he sent himself to an ancient temple in the mountains to eat fast and smell the fragrance. I was so immersed in it that I once burst into tears while writing in a hotel without knowing it. The guest next door heard me. I only heard about it from the front desk later. "This is a book that I shouted from the bottom of my heart." Sometimes, the Mai family stayed up all night typing, "Every word I typed is a motivation for me."
The Mai family has an "almost passion" for words. "Mysophobia's persistence", "Sometimes I feel that my emotions are captured incorrectly, and I keep overturning them." Until the time of printing, he was still calibrating and perfecting word by word, trying hard to present the book to readers in its most perfect appearance.
After such repeated consideration and practice, "Human Faith" lived up to expectations and became a transcendent work that allowed the Mai family to reach new heights. It is also a work that explores inner sincerity.
Mai Jia leads readers back to the precarious history of China in the last century, using more powerful writing to penetrate into the depths of human nature, explore the chaotic boundary between light and darkness, and write about the ups and downs of each little person in the torrent of the times.
Mai Jia’s literary skills are also displayed to the extreme in this work. Calm and explosive brushwork, drum-like dense language, and full and turbulent emotions create an immersive reading experience. After the hustle and bustle, families were separated, times changed, and there was a sense of spaciousness and loneliness, as if "the vast white land had fallen and the earth was really clean." In a story set in modern and contemporary China, the Mai family vividly displays the beauty of classical music and Zen.
"Even if you are defeated, you must respect yourself"
"The Letter from the World" does not have the ups and downs and the pleasures of the world, but insists on digging all the way into the depths of human nature, but it presents a thrilling story that is not inferior to the heroic legend.
The story of this book revolves around a family in Shuangjia Village on the Fuchun River. Their father, a promiscuous bastard, brings shame to the whole family. In an era of crisis, everyone is involved in a series of disasters and nightmares, and it is almost impossible to survive. " "How should I choose?"
Choose to cut off the involvement with the nightmare, or stay together with your family and perish. Which one is the real justice? Have I finally made peace with my family and my past?
"Even if you are defeated, you must respect yourself." This time, the Mai family "want to dig deep into their hearts and share the dark side of the world and something deep in human nature with readers." Because of this, the novel has the courage not to be afraid of weakness and not to be ashamed of tears, allowing readers to not only watch other people's stories, but also see their own hearts.
Dong Yuhui once interpreted the Mai family's works: "People who are trapped in childhood try to escape from childhood." His hometown was once a place that the Mai family did not want to look back on. The "war" with his father was protracted, and the pain of childhood was always with him. The young Mai family's way of escaping their childhood was to fly far away. It has been more than 20 years since I left home in 1981 to pursue my career.
Perhaps, the real escape is return. After his father passed away, there was no chance for reconciliation between father and son. The Mai family stopped writing for many years, and finally decided to return to their hometown and start over. "Life in the Sea" is a transformation after returning to his hometown.
"Letter from the World" continues to return to hometown and childhood to explore what "home" is - home is a person's covenant in the world, which restrains people and also holds hope. After being away for half your life, you will eventually find a way for your heart to return home.
Just like the "I" in "Letters from the World" received a letter from an old friend: "The further away you are, the more relevant everything here is to you."
Fate is not only to be endured, but also to be overcome. "Letters from the World" also shows the energy that individuals burst out at the moment when they are overwhelmed by fate. The portraits of women in the book are particularly touching - the upright grandmother, the submissive mother, the little girl who has been tempered by the fire of life to look mature... One by one, women mend this broken world. The novel not only writes about their betrayed and deprived side, but also pays affectionate tribute to their weed-like vitality.
Behind the joys and sorrows of individuals, there is also food, clothing and livelihood, and mountains and rivers are more difficult. How people on the Fuchun River put moso bamboo into the torrent to exchange food for money, how a paper-making workshop turned into a collective tank factory, how people "began to madly chase the heat of gold and the softness of the body"...a "Letter from the World" It carries countless voices singing and crying, and also provides a miniature sample of China's Jiangnan villages in the 20th century.
Mai Jia and Dong Yuhui have both stumbled along the way. Because of this, they understand the true meaning of life better. In 2022, Mai Jia, who was a guest of Oriental Selection for the first time, met Dong Yuhui, and the two hit it off.
"There are no old or young people in a life-long friendship. When talking about friendship, why should we first agree with each other." The Mai family praised Dong Yuhui as a real hero, and Dong Yuhui also expressed many times that the Mai family was a writer he admired. After the manuscript of "Letters from the World" was completed, Dong Yuhui read it immediately and was filled with emotions. This work of breakthrough and sincerity, which has been accumulated for five years, is written for those who are trapped in the past and gives people the strength to move forward.
"Please indicate the source for reprinting"
