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我的丁一之旅
在《务虚笔记》推出十年后，史铁生又献上新长篇小说《我的丁一之旅》，主题却是其以往作品回避的“性与爱情，这一对千年不死的游魂。”作者通过发生在不同的人生阶段、不同的人、不同的时代爱情故事，探寻从性意识最初的萌动到性爱－情爱－爱情之间扑朔迷离飘忽不定的轨迹。主人公丁一的故事是小说的结构主体，其间穿插了姑父的故事、依的故事、娥的故事、秦汉的故事、丹青岛的故事等等。这些故事既是现实的、好看的，又被赋予寓意，有很大的想像空间。
这是一部独特的、耐人寻味的现代爱情小说。小说家和思想者的史铁生用洁净优美、富于诗意和理性的文字描写爱情、性和性爱，追溯爱情的本原，探寻爱情的真谛和意义。那些灵与肉的纠缠、性与爱的排演，那些孤独的感动和温情的抚慰，那些柔软的故事和坚硬的哲理，无不给人以情理之中的体验和意料之外的启示。
该书的故事从爱情的本原写起，描述了流落到人间后，亚当与夏娃互相寻找的过程。“自从伊甸分手，自从那无花果叶飘然而至，遮蔽了我们的信物，抑或其实是遮蔽了爱恋者独具的语言……我们就成了别人。”在书中，史铁生这样写道。
这是一部独特的、耐人寻味的现代爱情小说。小说家和思想者的史铁生用洁净优美、富于诗意和理性的文字描写爱情、性和性爱，追溯爱情的本原，探寻爱情的真谛和意义。那些灵与肉的纠缠、性与爱的排演，那些孤独的感动和温情的抚慰，那些柔软的故事和坚硬的哲理，无不给人以情理之中的体验和意料之外的启示。
该书的故事从爱情的本原写起，描述了流落到人间后，亚当与夏娃互相寻找的过程。“自从伊甸分手，自从那无花果叶飘然而至，遮蔽了我们的信物，抑或其实是遮蔽了爱恋者独具的语言……我们就成了别人。”在书中，史铁生这样写道。
430 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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June 15, 2019
So, I could be a bit dim. I mean, I didn't pursue philosophy at university beyond first year, so Shi Tiesheng's 156-chapter stream-of-consciousness journey through life, the universe and everything – by painstakingly recounted way of Soderbergh's Sex, Lies and Videotape – might be just be something that's rocketing over my head, satellite style, shooting across the heavens leaving a trail of profundity that I'll never grasp, dullard that I am.
Could be.
Or it could be that My Travels In Ding Yi is a bit of a mess. That it's 156 chapters of rambling in desperate search of an editor. But who would edit the work of a man who's a legend in Chinese literature? Who wrote as a way to explore the world following a paralysing accident? And who's now dead?
Yeah.
That's the problem. The book reads as a shaggy dog tale without the benefit of the tight rein that other famed shaggy dog wranglers exhibit. It's not as calculated as Sterne, say. There's no sense of planned capriciousness here; more a feeling that someone's getting their thoughts down on paper with the intention of forming them into something meaningful. (Except they never returned to do so.)
I have the feeling that part of the aim of the book is to encapsulate a gigantic journey, a whole arc into its covers. In the way Perec's Life, A User's Manual tries to shovel a building's whole history inside, or how Joyce's Ulysses shrinks a heroic cycle into one man's (admittedly busy) day. Here, there's a tale that spans creation – seriously, we're on the hunt for Eve of Eden fame – and reaches from that point forward throughout everyone who's ever lived.
The story, such as it is, is of a nameless spirit, who's hung around since pre-fig leaf Adam times, who enters the titular Ding Yi at the moment of his birth. Ding Yi is only the most recent stop on the spirit's investigatory trip through life, and he acts as a constant companion, interrogating and driving the hapless bloke through his life. Is he a fate? Is he along for the ride or is he at the controls? It's never made particularly clear.
What he is, though, is loquacious. Holy fuck can this spirit talk. And talk. He causes dreams, but also has a lot to say about sex, love, philosophy and the ideas of confinement and freedom. He also manages to namedrop a lot of authors and artists – read Borges, haven't you? – in a manner that immediately grates. Life may be a dream, but this one's a bad one.
(That's not even covering the chapter where Sex, Lies and Videotape is recounted in tedious, tedious detail.)
One of the neater things, I thought, was that the spirit also mentions that he's inside Shi Tiesheng, as well. To the extent that it's unclear who is real and who is not. Who's writing this book? Even the book seems to not know. It reminds me of this quote by Zhuangzi, undoubtedly intentionally:
It's a cool idea, but the book absolutely bogs down in minutiae instead of delightful questing. The sense of who is who (and whether they are constant throughout the work) is handled sloppily, and by the end of my time with the text I didn't care. It's a shame, as there's a lot here to like – but the author seems intent on confounding the reader at every turn. Interestingly, Shi Tiesheng uses the spirit at some points to try and engage in some form of self-critical reflection... but it never holds.
I wish there was more of that.
An alternate translation of the title is My Sojourn In Ding Yi, which, given the languid pace and wobbly lines of definition in the narrative, would be more suitable. Everything is porous, here. Shall we throw in a play that turns into a sex game but really is a communion with nature? Why not. How about some dead artists? A lover who never knew you existed? Some videos? Nudity? Lots of drinking? How about all at once? It's like a long cruise where the days become endless and you're not quite sure if it's shuffleboard or sunbathing next.
(Oh, and time is something that's malleable at best, and an inconvenience at worst. So don't expect that you'll be having a strong hold on the timeline of this thing: you'll be perfectly settled in one stage of life before being whipped back elsewhere. Or, if you're lucky, to a couple of times simultaneously.)
Alex Woodend's translation appears to be a pretty good job. There's not a lot of areas where we're left with the feeling that there's particular things missed because of an inability to transfer them to English. There's a couple of times where there's probably been some insertions to explain untranslatable homonyms, but for the most part the text reasd well, and I imagine as exactly thorny as Shi Tieshing intended.
(I'm certain there's deeper meaning to passages focusing about changes of fortune related to the Revolution, but I readily admit that my lack of knowledge in this area may be clouding the issue.)
There is undoubtedly someone out there for whom this would be a life-changing read. I'm just not that person. I found My Travels In Ding Yi to be a book that'd be more enjoyable if it would stop trying to impress upon the reader how goddamned smart and thoughtful it is.
This ebook was supplied by Netgalley in return for an honest review.
Could be.
Or it could be that My Travels In Ding Yi is a bit of a mess. That it's 156 chapters of rambling in desperate search of an editor. But who would edit the work of a man who's a legend in Chinese literature? Who wrote as a way to explore the world following a paralysing accident? And who's now dead?
Yeah.
That's the problem. The book reads as a shaggy dog tale without the benefit of the tight rein that other famed shaggy dog wranglers exhibit. It's not as calculated as Sterne, say. There's no sense of planned capriciousness here; more a feeling that someone's getting their thoughts down on paper with the intention of forming them into something meaningful. (Except they never returned to do so.)
I have the feeling that part of the aim of the book is to encapsulate a gigantic journey, a whole arc into its covers. In the way Perec's Life, A User's Manual tries to shovel a building's whole history inside, or how Joyce's Ulysses shrinks a heroic cycle into one man's (admittedly busy) day. Here, there's a tale that spans creation – seriously, we're on the hunt for Eve of Eden fame – and reaches from that point forward throughout everyone who's ever lived.
The story, such as it is, is of a nameless spirit, who's hung around since pre-fig leaf Adam times, who enters the titular Ding Yi at the moment of his birth. Ding Yi is only the most recent stop on the spirit's investigatory trip through life, and he acts as a constant companion, interrogating and driving the hapless bloke through his life. Is he a fate? Is he along for the ride or is he at the controls? It's never made particularly clear.
What he is, though, is loquacious. Holy fuck can this spirit talk. And talk. He causes dreams, but also has a lot to say about sex, love, philosophy and the ideas of confinement and freedom. He also manages to namedrop a lot of authors and artists – read Borges, haven't you? – in a manner that immediately grates. Life may be a dream, but this one's a bad one.
(That's not even covering the chapter where Sex, Lies and Videotape is recounted in tedious, tedious detail.)
One of the neater things, I thought, was that the spirit also mentions that he's inside Shi Tiesheng, as well. To the extent that it's unclear who is real and who is not. Who's writing this book? Even the book seems to not know. It reminds me of this quote by Zhuangzi, undoubtedly intentionally:
Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chou. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.
It's a cool idea, but the book absolutely bogs down in minutiae instead of delightful questing. The sense of who is who (and whether they are constant throughout the work) is handled sloppily, and by the end of my time with the text I didn't care. It's a shame, as there's a lot here to like – but the author seems intent on confounding the reader at every turn. Interestingly, Shi Tiesheng uses the spirit at some points to try and engage in some form of self-critical reflection... but it never holds.
I wish there was more of that.
An alternate translation of the title is My Sojourn In Ding Yi, which, given the languid pace and wobbly lines of definition in the narrative, would be more suitable. Everything is porous, here. Shall we throw in a play that turns into a sex game but really is a communion with nature? Why not. How about some dead artists? A lover who never knew you existed? Some videos? Nudity? Lots of drinking? How about all at once? It's like a long cruise where the days become endless and you're not quite sure if it's shuffleboard or sunbathing next.
(Oh, and time is something that's malleable at best, and an inconvenience at worst. So don't expect that you'll be having a strong hold on the timeline of this thing: you'll be perfectly settled in one stage of life before being whipped back elsewhere. Or, if you're lucky, to a couple of times simultaneously.)
Alex Woodend's translation appears to be a pretty good job. There's not a lot of areas where we're left with the feeling that there's particular things missed because of an inability to transfer them to English. There's a couple of times where there's probably been some insertions to explain untranslatable homonyms, but for the most part the text reasd well, and I imagine as exactly thorny as Shi Tieshing intended.
(I'm certain there's deeper meaning to passages focusing about changes of fortune related to the Revolution, but I readily admit that my lack of knowledge in this area may be clouding the issue.)
There is undoubtedly someone out there for whom this would be a life-changing read. I'm just not that person. I found My Travels In Ding Yi to be a book that'd be more enjoyable if it would stop trying to impress upon the reader how goddamned smart and thoughtful it is.
This ebook was supplied by Netgalley in return for an honest review.
June 24, 2019
‘So I came to Ding Yi. Ding Yi was one of many roads, not your average road. Ding Yi was an independent soul and unusual person. Ding Yi had a concrete fate and non-abstract era. Ding Yi was an unrepeatable story and a representative of all history.’
Phew! With a sense of relief I got to the end of chapter 156. Yep, 156 chapters – OK most of them are short but this is an epic in every sense of the word. What to make of this 2006 Chinese classic that now receives its first English language publication?
This is the story of a nomadic, immortal spirit, who goes back in time to the first man in the Garden of Eden, and who now inhabits the body of the author, Shi Tiesheng, but who also once inhabited the body of our ‘hero’ Ding Yi. There is much play on the meta-textuality of it all, as the book quotes passages from Tiesheng’s other works, as well as conversations between the spirit and Tiesheng. Ding Yi’s story is one that develops during the time of the Cultural Revolution, so there is much made of personal freedom versus loyalty to the family and the state. It is also about sexual freedom, as Ding Yi explores this with Qin E and Lu Sa in some sort of polygamous relationship that develops. Over the course of Ding Yi’s life, the spirit and he ponder on a huge number of issues, as the book relies heavily on ideas and conversations and philosophies. The spirit is constantly searching for his Eve, the other half of himself that was lost with the expulsion from Eden: ‘Separation followed by searching is the primary intention of God’s creation – the only way this path could be maintained.’
It’s all a bit of a mish-mash; that’s not to say it isn’t good – some of the writing (and I have to commend the translation by Alex Woodend) is lyrical and deeply moving. But there is also a lot of distraction and dreams and, well, just general coming and going. Central to the book – literally, as it comes in chapter 84 – is a bizarre exposition of the entire plot of Steven Soderbergh’s 1989 film ‘sex, lies, and videotape’, which Ding Yi and his one-time bully and now friend Qin Han watch together. The film they watch is missing the last couple of minutes at the end, and thereafter the book references again and again the film and its characters. I can only imagine that this film somehow meant a lot to the late Shi Tiesheng, but it all got a little confusing as to exactly what it was that he was trying to say.
Clearly this was an important work when it was first published, and given the current political climate it is only to be applauded that this now gets a wider audience. In its scope and ambition, however, it seems to overreach itself, which is a shame because the author clearly is gifted with a poetic lyricism that draws the reader in. Worthy is the word I would use, and take that in whichever way you want. Life is a journey, it seems, and we are always looking for something that will constantly just elude our grasp. It reminded me just how astonishing was David Mitchell’s debut novel ‘Ghostwritten’, published in 1999, which explores a similar idea of a soul travelling between bodies. For me, that was a tighter and much more subtle work. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this, if at times just found it a little too self-referential. Recommended? Yes, but with reservations. 3.5 stars.
Phew! With a sense of relief I got to the end of chapter 156. Yep, 156 chapters – OK most of them are short but this is an epic in every sense of the word. What to make of this 2006 Chinese classic that now receives its first English language publication?
This is the story of a nomadic, immortal spirit, who goes back in time to the first man in the Garden of Eden, and who now inhabits the body of the author, Shi Tiesheng, but who also once inhabited the body of our ‘hero’ Ding Yi. There is much play on the meta-textuality of it all, as the book quotes passages from Tiesheng’s other works, as well as conversations between the spirit and Tiesheng. Ding Yi’s story is one that develops during the time of the Cultural Revolution, so there is much made of personal freedom versus loyalty to the family and the state. It is also about sexual freedom, as Ding Yi explores this with Qin E and Lu Sa in some sort of polygamous relationship that develops. Over the course of Ding Yi’s life, the spirit and he ponder on a huge number of issues, as the book relies heavily on ideas and conversations and philosophies. The spirit is constantly searching for his Eve, the other half of himself that was lost with the expulsion from Eden: ‘Separation followed by searching is the primary intention of God’s creation – the only way this path could be maintained.’
It’s all a bit of a mish-mash; that’s not to say it isn’t good – some of the writing (and I have to commend the translation by Alex Woodend) is lyrical and deeply moving. But there is also a lot of distraction and dreams and, well, just general coming and going. Central to the book – literally, as it comes in chapter 84 – is a bizarre exposition of the entire plot of Steven Soderbergh’s 1989 film ‘sex, lies, and videotape’, which Ding Yi and his one-time bully and now friend Qin Han watch together. The film they watch is missing the last couple of minutes at the end, and thereafter the book references again and again the film and its characters. I can only imagine that this film somehow meant a lot to the late Shi Tiesheng, but it all got a little confusing as to exactly what it was that he was trying to say.
Clearly this was an important work when it was first published, and given the current political climate it is only to be applauded that this now gets a wider audience. In its scope and ambition, however, it seems to overreach itself, which is a shame because the author clearly is gifted with a poetic lyricism that draws the reader in. Worthy is the word I would use, and take that in whichever way you want. Life is a journey, it seems, and we are always looking for something that will constantly just elude our grasp. It reminded me just how astonishing was David Mitchell’s debut novel ‘Ghostwritten’, published in 1999, which explores a similar idea of a soul travelling between bodies. For me, that was a tighter and much more subtle work. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this, if at times just found it a little too self-referential. Recommended? Yes, but with reservations. 3.5 stars.
August 3, 2019
I was drawn to this book about an entity that shifts from being to being because I greatly enjoyed books such as Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore, Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, and Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. This book differs from those in that it is told as a stream-of-consciousness in 156 short chapters. While I loved the whole concept, the rambling, lack of cohesiveness annoyed me. The whole chapter dedicated to the synopsis of the film Sex, Lies and Videotape, however, did inspire me to rewatch the movie. So there's that.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC
June 3, 2019
The narrator here seems to be some kind of conscious spirit, setting up residence in all kinds of host bodies including but not limited to Adam in Eden, the author of this book Shi Tiesheng (who interjects throughout), and of course Ding Yi. It's very hard to characterize Ding Yi because he's described as a dunce but also a shameful intellectual and at times even brilliant; he is everything, he is contradiction, he is survivor, he is however the narrator feels like making him sound from chapter to chapter. Even his name changes abruptly to Er but then reverts again back to Yi. Much is made of Ding Yi's relationships, interests, adventures and mistakes, but in no conventional format. It's almost as if the author published his notes on every topic and cultural reference he'd considered for a few years: religion, plastic surgery, prostitution, political protest, rape, advertising, homosexuality, etc are all touched upon, and many cultural references come up from Carl Lewis to Mohammed Ali, including an entire synopsis of the movie Sex Lies and Videotape. Something akin to Haruki Murakami and Bret Easton Ellis but without a story line.
I just read Clarice Lispector's The Hour of the Star, it was a similar philosophical stream-of-consciousness tragicomic melodrama that didn't make a lot of sense to me, but it was only 81 pages long. My Travels in Ding Yi runs to 156 chapters.
I just read Clarice Lispector's The Hour of the Star, it was a similar philosophical stream-of-consciousness tragicomic melodrama that didn't make a lot of sense to me, but it was only 81 pages long. My Travels in Ding Yi runs to 156 chapters.
August 11, 2019
Een kort verhaal met als titel
Notities van een theoreticus
van de hand van Shi Tiesheng en vertaald door Mark Leenhouts (Tirade 2009) dat mij deed besluiten dit boek van Tiesheng te lezen.
Voor wie het korte verhaal op DBNL leest, krijgt al direct een prima indruk van de schrijfstijl van Tiesheng: enigszins afstandelijk, filosofisch, doordacht, vragen stellend, grappen makend en een verteltrant die vlagerig genoemd kan worden. Het doet denken aan een stream of consciousness, maar wellicht is het beter te spreken over twee consciousness, want onze hoofdpersoon die al vele gastheren heeft gekend, waaronder de schrijver, kan ook met gastheer Ding Yi een gesprek voeren. Niet direct, want hij ‘betrekt’ Ding Yi als hij nog maar nauwelijks zijn ogen open heeft, maar na een periode van meeliften en - soms - ingrijpen om Ding Yi voor de meest ernstig stomme dingen te behoeden, komt er ook periode waarin er fijne gespreken kunnen worden gevoerd. Zo legt hij Ding Yi uit dat niet elk menselijk lichaam een ziel bezit en wat het verschil is tussen een (menselijk) lichaam met en zonder.
Ding Yi was a bit confused: What do we do about this?
Do about what?
Soulless bodies. If we encounter them, what do we do?
No need to worry. My man Ding is actually unlikely to encounter them.
Why?
Think about a computer. You turn it on, but nothing appears on the screen no matter what commands you enter. Would you consider that an encounter? Think of a human form. You discuss feelings and love with them, and they just shout about food and drink. Have you encountered them?
Het zijn dit soort uitwisselingen en die telkens oppoppende gedachtenspinsels - Fools are foolish because they always deceive themselves - die zorgen dat je door blijft lezen op zoek naar weer zo’n speelse overpeinzing, want het verhaal zelf grijpt je niet direct bij de keel om je hijgerig naar het einde te trekken. Gelukkig maar, want dat zou ongetwijfeld ten koste zijn gegaan van het genieten van die plagerigheidjes van onze geestige hoofdrolspeler.
Voor wie het korte verhaal op DBNL leest, krijgt al direct een prima indruk van de schrijfstijl van Tiesheng: enigszins afstandelijk, filosofisch, doordacht, vragen stellend, grappen makend en een verteltrant die vlagerig genoemd kan worden. Het doet denken aan een stream of consciousness, maar wellicht is het beter te spreken over twee consciousness, want onze hoofdpersoon die al vele gastheren heeft gekend, waaronder de schrijver, kan ook met gastheer Ding Yi een gesprek voeren. Niet direct, want hij ‘betrekt’ Ding Yi als hij nog maar nauwelijks zijn ogen open heeft, maar na een periode van meeliften en - soms - ingrijpen om Ding Yi voor de meest ernstig stomme dingen te behoeden, komt er ook periode waarin er fijne gespreken kunnen worden gevoerd. Zo legt hij Ding Yi uit dat niet elk menselijk lichaam een ziel bezit en wat het verschil is tussen een (menselijk) lichaam met en zonder.
Ding Yi was a bit confused: What do we do about this?
Do about what?
Soulless bodies. If we encounter them, what do we do?
No need to worry. My man Ding is actually unlikely to encounter them.
Why?
Think about a computer. You turn it on, but nothing appears on the screen no matter what commands you enter. Would you consider that an encounter? Think of a human form. You discuss feelings and love with them, and they just shout about food and drink. Have you encountered them?
Het zijn dit soort uitwisselingen en die telkens oppoppende gedachtenspinsels - Fools are foolish because they always deceive themselves - die zorgen dat je door blijft lezen op zoek naar weer zo’n speelse overpeinzing, want het verhaal zelf grijpt je niet direct bij de keel om je hijgerig naar het einde te trekken. Gelukkig maar, want dat zou ongetwijfeld ten koste zijn gegaan van het genieten van die plagerigheidjes van onze geestige hoofdrolspeler.
May 21, 2024
开头挺吸引人，渐渐沉进大量哲思诗意文字以后，越来越看不下去。偶尔跳出来讲故事的时候，又有趣了一些。多女一男，相亲相爱，是不是男作家的共同梦想啊
March 16, 2021
I really struggled with the writing style of this book. It was almost as if a disembodied spirit with ADHD wrote a novel in stream of conscious. Stream of conscious is often hard to read, but it is made harder in this case by the overactive nature of the spirit. The spirit, who has been around basically since the dawn of time, takes a long 156 chapter journey in this book. Time is relative and not exact, there are a lot of thoughts on a full range of topics, and as far as I am concerned there is no real story line or plot. This one just missed the mark for me. I have to give a lot of credit to Alex Woodend though because I imagine that this was quite the momentous task to translate.
May 11, 2019
I loved this book . I couldn't put it down. I'm so hapoy it was translated from Chinese to English. I think it teaches us many things in a novel form. Absolutly wonderful.
I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.
I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews