For his part, Bao Pu told me he is shifting from nonfiction to fiction. The battle to shape perceptions of recent history and objective reality has become increasingly impossible to fight. “There are other ways to shape hearts and minds besides using nonfiction,” he told me. “I think the people in the twenty-first century receive information from either education or entertainment. Perhaps entertainment would be a better tool.”
Reminds me of literature lessons right after USSR ended - there were more or less subtle anti-USSR messages throughout the classics we were studying! So much so that you could bet on it when you didn't know the answer that the teacher was looking for!
Scary.
