false 45961 26 As one of Gao Xingjian's characters remarks, if a fiction writer could know the true stories of the people he passes on the street, he would be amazed. Surely the Nobel laureate's own story, which forms the basis of <I>Soul Mountain</I>, is worthy of amazement. In 1983 Gao was diagnosed with lung cancer, the disease that had killed his father. At the same time, he had been threatened with arrest for his counterrevolutionary writings and was preparing to flee Beijing for the remote regions of southwest China. Shortly before his departure, however, the condemned man got at least a partial reprieve: a second set of x-rays revealed no cancer at all. On the heels of this extraordinary redemption, he began the circuitous journey that would lead him to the sacred (and possibly mythical) mountain of Lingshan--and to this daring, historically resonant novel. <p> A destination chosen arbitrarily, at the suggestion of a fellow traveler, the elusive Lingshan becomes rich with meaning for the narrator of <I>Soul Mountain</I>. Meanwhile, the narrator himself shows a tendency to go forth and multiply. First he divides into You and I. Then You generates yet a third voice, a somewhat simple but intense young woman named She, followed by He--and none of these personae can resist the elemental lure of the sacred site. Indeed, the search for Lingshan becomes a metaphor for all spiritual striving: <blockquote> Would it be better to go along the main road? It will take longer travelling by the main road? After making some detours you will understand in your heart? Once you understand in your heart you will find it as soon as you look for it? The important thing is to be sincere of heart? If your heart is sincere then your wish will be granted? </blockquote> Along the way, I and You mourn the devastations of the Cultural Revolution, when thousands of monuments, temples, and graves were reduced to rubble. The obliteration of these reminders of the dead becomes a torment to the narrators of the novel, who struggle to assert their individuality--itself a proscribed act in Communist China--against what they see as a false and brutal ideal that has swept away history, literature, and tradition as decisively as it has destroyed the ancient forests. (At one point Gao describes the sad spectacle of the few remaining pandas, who wander a shrinking woodland wearing electronic transmitters.) Seamlessly translated by the Australian scholar Mabel Lee, <I>Soul Mountain</I> is a masterpiece of self-observation set against a soulful denunciation of "progress" and practicality. <I>--Regina Marler</I> 45123 200 Soul Mountain total:576|5:125|4:179|3:166|2:73|1:33| 576 2018 1075 107 4 1 false false Thu Aug 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 14 22:14:11 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 28 05:31:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sat Jan 26 22:22:07 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 03 16:08:45 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Wed Mar 19 14:16:08 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 09 12:26:33 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 07:19:30 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 3 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Sun May 20 06:44:05 -0700 2007 Sun May 20 06:52:32 -0700 2007
I am prone to exaggeration. But I have such specific remembrances--memories...more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Mon Feb 23 06:14:12 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 06:59:40 -0800 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false false Fri Jan 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 08:48:11 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 10 07:43:07 -0800 2009 1 The author frequently refers to China's many Dynastys and The Culturol Revolution ( a very sad time for the people of Chi...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 27 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 10:29:48 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 10:31:16 -0800 2008 This is not an easy work to some up. As a critic speaking with one of the narrative perspectives says, Gao has 'slapped together travel notes, moralistic ramblings, feelings, notes, jottings, untheoretical discussions, unfable-like fables, copied out some folk songs,...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Aug 03 12:54:43 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 13:16:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jul 18 18:07:35 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 18 18:13:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 true false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Fri Jul 17 19:17:12 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 20:24:43 -0700 2009 1
That being said, it is a 5* book all the way.

What is challenging, i...more...]]> 2 2 false false Fri Mar 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 25 09:55:35 -0700 2007 Fri Mar 21 10:54:24 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Tue Apr 14 14:30:07 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 22:31:48 -0700 2009
As far as I know, no other readrs have commented on the dreamlike, or even Kafkaesque, quality that some passages have, such as:

May I walk with you? Again, this is really a stupid thing to say.
You're really a funny person...more...]]> 2 1 false false Thu Sep 20 11:16:30 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 20 11:24:05 -0700 2007 If you liked Frazier's meandering style (in Cold Mountain anyway), then huzzah; this is the book for you.
]]> 4 1 false false Tue Jan 29 16:29:15 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 29 16:33:19 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 19:58:48 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 20:07:22 -0800 2009 ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Mar 25 13:03:13 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 25 13:11:28 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 10 14:44:16 -0700 2008 Thu Nov 20 08:27:52 -0800 2008
As you may have guessed, my "other-fiction" shelf is pretty much a catch-all category. But in this case, "other" is particularly applicable. As fiction goes, Soul Mountain is quite unusual, as it doesn't have a plot, or even characters, per se...more...]]> 5 2 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Oct 02 15:55:27 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 02 15:56:03 -0700 2007 3 1 true false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon May 28 18:23:17 -0700 2007 Mon May 28 18:24:33 -0700 2007 2 0 false false Tue Aug 25 20:31:07 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 06:34:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2340803