白露春分

by 辽京

这是一个家庭故事，或者说一个家庭最终会走向何处。

奶奶秀梅的生命正在走向尽头，她的养老送终问题成为家中人人避之不及的难题，只有孙女佳月经常给予陪伴和关心。秀梅每况愈下，儿女们人心四散，各怀心事和怨怼。

佳圆和佳月是一对堂姐妹，见证彼此的成长。佳圆曾被前男友囚禁、殴打，她却感受到耻辱的安全感，因为童年里她的父亲也是这样对她施加暴力的。经历了家庭关系与亲密关系中的一系列变故，佳圆和佳月见证了彼此的成长，开始互相懂得，她们各自面对生活难题，也在这个过程中获得成长。

387 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2024

Reviews

[庆忌 · Rating 4 out of 5]

平淡又轰隆隆作响的中国式家庭日常，琐碎细微，几乎略去了背景、社会、政治，下决心只望小处写。确实写进人心里了，如果你有个大家庭，如果你面对过老人的照护，你一定能在这本书里的每个人物里都找到自己的影子。

[jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

- cwn interview with critic 沙童 about 白露春分
- 文化有限 ep about 白露春分

i was really impressed by the scope of this story. 辽京老师 has a very refined understanding of the external forces (social, financial, etc.) that act on a family, distorting relationships, augmenting problems, and driving loved ones apart. i'm thinking about 立秋 moving away to shanghai because her mom shamed her for not getting married; the emotional and physical distance caused by this makes it impossible for her to take care of 秀梅 in her later years. i'm thinking more generally about the movement of the younger generations to the city in search of job opportunities when years earlier they would simply take up their parents' mantle in whatever suburban factory they grew up around—how that naturally meant that 佳圆 and 佳月, two of the only chens who seemed to give a damn about 秀梅, couldn't be at her side all the time when she needed them most. (meanwhile, her own children grumble about taking care of her and try to divvy up the costs of caring for her like she's a shared mortgage and not a person, still alive, who they presumably loved. a perfectly realistic yet horribly jarring conversation.)

there's also that insidious family tradition: clap the oldest son on the back and brag about him all around town; give the youngest son a pat on the cheek to let him know that whatever he's done it's already been forgiven; hide the fact that behind closed doors you're all victims of their brutish father. all this produces: an oldest son that loses all his money, then skims off his mother's renovation fund for his cigs and wagers. a youngest son that sucks so fucking bad his wife has to escape with their kid AND he ruins his mom's last year of life. and your daughter's oldest son will be made to stand trial for domestic abuse. as 立秋 and 立春 discuss this at 秀梅's funeral, there's the bleak implication that violence is in fact the true inheritance of the chens.

i wanted to mention how much i loved the sisterly relationships in this book. the externally careless but internally tortured 佳圆 and the thoughtful, responsible 佳月 have the most compelling dynamic since ferrante's my brilliant friend quartet. the nonlinear, multi-narrator structure works magic in fleshing out their respective characters; several times (as with the bunnies :( and the rainy days with 桥子成) we revisit memories from both of their perspectives and see how the same incident formed them differently. i also really enjoyed the story where 秀梅 takes the two girls to visit her little sister; that was how 佳圆's promise to take her to hainan came about, and it was so bittersweet to know that it was ultimately steadfast, reliable 佳月 who made that happen.

if i think about this book too much i'll cry again so i'll just end it here :)

[bxswww · Rating 5 out of 5]

喜欢 春节时分在家看完 好好看的一本小说 好贴近现实