Mentioning Mo Yan is referring to novels and short stories. The writer with the works of Treasures of Life, Red Sorghum, Sandalwood Figure, Angry Garlic… has become a familiar name for readers. The presence of the essay collection “The awake talk sleepwalking” is humble but an “interesting” dish for the readers. Thinking about people and the reason for living is revealed in many articles.
The collection of prose includes 25 large and small, impressive articles about Russia, the Russian steppe and Russian people’s life. Birds, fertile prairies, sunsets and moonlight. There are interesting comparisons and associations in Mo Yan’s prose, “The sound of birds chirping like children who just heard the school bell“good”The undulating mountain range reminds me of a dreamy girl sleeping, the mountains look like plump breasts“. An open and generous soul is happy when feeling “full of moonlight in the palm of your hand… even feel the moon breaking“.
What is profound is the anxiety and premonition of the writer. Belief in the labor and creativity of the working people. Russian nature, Russian people not only give the author “glorious” emotions but also sometimes “disappointment”. The boring and bland lunch made the imagination of a literary Russia “evaporate”, fortunately Russian women created a special affection for the author.
Animal
Articles about dogs, birds, and horses show the writer’s unforgettable feelings and memories. The story of being bitten by a dog caused him to have profound psychological changes, forcing him to kill the dog, but what is heartbreaking for Mo Yan is that he did not beat it to death “in a painful gesture”. The attachment of dogs and humans in the history of human evolution, the injustices of dogs, the merits of dogs and even the hidden memories in the “eyes” of the domestic dog before death are the emotional cords that make the family emotional. thinking text. The way of speaking is rude, but rich in emotion is the charm of Mo Yan in literature. The way he describes the images of dogs in small velvet hats lying in the “breast ravine” of Russian women shows that he has an affectionate affection for Russia and its people.
Wherever you are, the impressions of the animals at home are special. Although domestic dogs do not have a good meal like German dogs, what they do have is freedom. Talking about the close relationship between humans and animals, the writer evokes an unforgettable memory about the story of the broken leg of the horse. Only in his own children did he find the “wild licentiousness” in their bodies. “Dozens of horses gallop on the wild fields like a colorful river roaring with waves.”.
In Mo Yan’s words, he had “penetrated” into the “spirit” of animals to be able to feel their pain and thoughts. The writer is very honest, he dares to look directly into the eyes of each animal. The story of the writer reporting to his superiors about his comrade who shot and killed the birds indiscriminately and the details of the woodpecker’s dead tongue shows how well he understands them.
Life in Northeastern Gaomi
Spending most of his book, the author writes about issues that have a close relationship with people. It’s about eating, living, bathing and enjoying music, reading books, etc. If we’ve read Mo Ngon’s novels, we all know that the context and people in many works come from their homeland. His Northeastern Gaomi. Reading The Awake Talks Sleepwalking, we get a true picture of where the writer was born and raised.
The story “Singing Wall” describes specifically and meticulously that village. The golden sand road in the middle of the village with the rows of “golden” trees in autumn, the black soil through the “skillful hands” of his ancestors has turned into ceramics, grass and many kinds of animals in nature. creating a familiar and warm rural space. The ponds in the field and its legends arouse curiosity and interest in the reader about this land. Not only the scene, but the people are also the unique elements of the story. These are the Big Hand Promises, the beautiful mute girls of the Sun family and many people in Gaomi. The image of “Snow Market” is forever a beautiful memory in the writer’s soul. Just like the wall that can sing even though it has collapsed, the sounds have been instilled in many people’s memories and are forever handed down.
Eating story
Writing about my hometown, about the place I was born, the most concern in the author’s work is food. In this pamphlet, he devoted many pages to writing about hunger. The story of eating haunts Mac Ngon. Because, right from the moment he could think, hunger was constant in his life. The writer was born in 1955, during 20 years of working in his hometown until his enlistment (1976) was a time when China went through many ups and downs, like many Chinese people, Mo Yan lived these days. The darkest when hunger is always lurking, waiting and threatening. Self-acceptance of gluttony belongs to one’s human qualities. Until later, even though he was no longer worried about eating, eating still haunted him. The fact that he eats a lot, eats quickly or “aggressively eats” is not simply because he is hungry. The issue of eating and hunger have become deep impressions in Mo Yan’s soul.
The story of winning food with her cousin, the story of eating food clumsy and even stealing to eat were meticulously recorded by Mo Yan. Horrible memories of hunger are always present in the writer’s mind. The darkest is death, the starving and the hungry day meal. But beyond those dark years, Mo Yan still retains a clear view of life.
Hunger becomes a human struggle, covering the dark landscape of space, but in hunger, people also receive values worth living on. A pot of mixed vegetables in a helmet, a bowl of horse meat soup, a piece of dry pressed cake, the scene of the whole village looking for food during the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. Childhood memories are bleak but still warm. And it was those same days that left Mo Yan with the most experiences that later became the source of material in his book.
Not only about eating, the poem Mo Ngon talks about human happiness. It can be a hot bath, a musical taste, a story about a pair of sheep, a story about stealing wine, and most of all, going back and forth in his prose are still stories about his homeland, his dreams. dreams, aspirations from a boy who loves to read to dream of going to college and becoming a writer.
About Mo Ngon
Mo Ngon loves to read since he was a child. In one way or another, as a child, he read most of the “relaxed” books such as Tam Quoc Dien Nghia, Thuy Hu Truyen, Nho Lam Ngoai Su, … as well as modern novels that he borrowed. Mo Yan displayed a special memory from childhood. Even in conditions of covert and devouring reading, he was able to remember most of the details and the names of the characters. Memories of reading are many, but the love of books left in Mo Yan is reading books and winning books with his brother. In difficult life conditions, each book has given our writer extremely deep spiritual meanings. A child in primary school can be moved to cry at the pain of the character, shed tears of happiness at the love of PaVen and DoNhiA, which proves the ability to perceive literature and the soul. especially sensitive, extremely rich of the author.
Perhaps Mo Yan was born to be a writer. Although the study path was not smooth, had to stop studying when he was in the middle of grade 5, but Mo Yan’s eagerness to learn was very great. The short days of sitting at elementary school are still imprinted in the writer’s mind. The writings with the autographs of teacher Truong along with bottomless pants and belts are the most memorable memories that the author has when he was in school.
It was during the time he was stopped from studying and had to become a laborer that a literary dream was formed in him. Since the 70s, from the local reality, Mo Yan has practiced composing. And after many unsuccessful attempts, in the fall of 1981, his story “Rain at night and spring” was published in the newspaper. Losing school to become a child herding buffalo to cut grass, it seemed that the future was closed in front of him, but with his passion for learning, Mo Yan opened a door to another life. His love of literature strongly motivated him. Through self-study, the poor boy in a backward countryside has gradually become a famous writer, a person with a high status in society (he graduated from the Military Academy of Arts, obtained a Master’s degree from the Institute of Literature at Lu Xun).
Literary style
Born into a tumultuous historical period, Mo Yan had to live a life of poverty from a young age. When he was young, when he won to eat potatoes with his cousin, he only wished he could eat enough potatoes once. After entering the army, new days of satiety existed in him. While weaving his literary dream, what inspired him to become a writer was being able to eat three meals of dumplings a day. Reading Mo Ngon’s prose, many points in his personality make people surprised. The writer’s dream is to build himself a hot tub. His “happy” thoughtswill welcome guests everywhere to my house to take a hot bath. We just soaked in the water and talked about life stories. Oh! What a happy life!“. The starting point of the desire to build a swimming pool was forged by the author from the memories of bathing in rivers in his hometown and bathing in hot water up to 60 degrees while in the army. The country river was hot under the sun, and the heat made the body red like a “boiled shrimp” that became a “halo” and a “pleasure” in Mo Yan’s life.
As a writer, his soul is also very easily attuned to the world of sound – that is music. When he was still herding buffaloes to cut grass in the countryside, the sound of birds, cows, and buffaloes created an unforgettable feeling in the boy’s soul. Born and raised in a rural area where the material and spiritual life is still lacking, Mo Yan did not have the days of his childhood to cherish and protect, but the disadvantages in a certain way made him lose his life. His literary talent shines through.
It was the life in the vast nature that gave him the ability to observe and experience life, creating an extremely delicate and sensitive soul. Not only the sounds of nature, but also local musical forms such as Miao Xoang opera, the erhu tuner, and the self-made songs of the neighboring girls are lessons that help Mo Yan achieve the knowledge of musical perception. Although he only felt music from observing life, the wonderful sounds enriched his soaring soul and many emotions.
As he said, the homeland has become the “source” and “the driving force” in most of his compositions. The work “Red Sorghum” allows us to see the lively sorghum tree as soulful, with personality, the novel “Sandalwood figurine” has a folk character through the art of Miao Xoang, or a series of written pages. otherwise it is still the scene, the people in that land. “Three songs bundle”, “Hot river”, “The old tree became a star”, “The story of the grandfather” are articles that clearly express the personality of Mo Ngon. In an unforgettable memory, the boy who fell into the manure pit was carried by his brother to the river at noon in the summer among the villagers. The cutting of the old willow tree caused a tragic accident in the village (5 dead and many injured).
People need to be afraid of the power of nature and the mystery of culture. Grandfather in Mo Ngon’s opinion is a talented farmer, his rice-harvesting technique is “hard to match”, he also knows how to weave nets, bird cages, catch crabs, catch fish, and shoot birds. Rural life in the rainy season, the scene of farmers’ labor and many “strange” stories about the talents and qualities of workers are the most vivid facts about life put on the page by the writer. book.
Writing about food, about hunger, about bathing, listening to music or writing about animals, what we feel through the collection of poems is a sincere feeling full of concern. But above all, despite the sad and tragic stories about people and scenes in a certain historical period, Mo Yan’s prose still carries a warm breath. In the midst of death, hunger, and the miracle of life, flowers still sprout.
Van Mac Ngon wrote about what was attached to him by flesh and blood, which was the people who had become names and years of age, the house where he lived, the road, the fields, the village ponds, etc. All, even though the times have changed, it’s still the same person, the same scene. Seems to still exist. Of course, in this magazine, the writer also mentions many important issues such as the specific influence of the homeland on the novel, discussing Faulkner and Mishima Yukio – the world’s great novelists. or the story of making the movie Red Sorghum, the story of reading books, the story of heroes, about the beauty, … But deeply, haunting the writer are the pages of the book mentioned above.
Tong Thi Thanh