死水微澜

by Li Jieren, 李劼人

《死水微澜》是中国现代著名作家李劼人的一部长篇小说。小说以四川成都和周边乡镇为主要背景，以当时中国内地社会上教民和袍哥两种势力激荡的历史事件为中心，描写了《辛丑条约》签订前后中国社会的现实；对当时地方上的民俗风情、市民阶层的心理状态和生活方式作了全面的惟妙惟肖的刻画，被誉为“小说的近代史”。此书为作者创作的“大河三部曲”的第一部，与巴金的《激流》三部曲、茅盾的《子夜》、老舍的《骆驼祥子》共同标志着中国现代长篇小说的成熟。

218 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1936

Reviews

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Ripples across Stagnant Water" is an interesting slice-of-life drama set in the late Qing dynasty in southwestern China, generally in and around Chengdu. I really enjoyed the plot and suspense of it all. It can be said to loosely follow Sister Deng and her actions in the town of Tianhui, while also transitioning to tell stories from different perspectives and the fame or dishonor that follows. In spite of this quite episodic approach, Li manages to tell a story that flows with the ease of a more linear story.

It hasn't been entirely smooth sailing, however. Included in the rich background described by Li is an overabundance of details; he gives the reader more than they could ever need about the setting. This is a blessing and a curse. In doing so, he writes in a few areas of the story that feel as if they are plot holes. They fit and are forgivable within the context of the story, but it feels uncomfortable to have finished the book and still have these remaining loose ends. There are also many awkward and overly formal sounding phrases in the book which I found myself stumbling over.

However, despite not being originally written in English, I found the story engaging and fun to read. The most easily translated idioms included in the story are easily interpreted by an attentive reader, more difficult ones are given parenthetical explanations, and the most cryptic of them given their own footnotes. Speaking of footnotes, the text has also been considerate of their foreign (or just ill-informed) audience by adding additional footnotes to give historical context about particular events, groups, or people mentioned by the author, even if they are mentioned only once, as to help the reader better understand the text.

Overall, I am giving this book five stars, though not only because of its story. The characters are interesting and complex, the plot has many facets that are explored, and the settings are exquisitely detailed. However, just as important, from my perspective, is the work of the publisher and translator to make the reading experience as enjoyable as possible for the reader. This is something I deeply appreciate, and something that makes me give such a positive review.

[Callum Ellerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Not that her body had no blemish, but that the blemishes were nature’s way of accentuating beauty” (p. 216).
“Birds die for food. Men die for love” (p. 217).

My readthrough of Ripple on Stagnant Water was cursory at best. I read it over the course of just four days as an assigned reading in my Modern Chinese Fiction in Translation course, and for the most part only skimmed it.

That being said, I truly feel like this is a masterpiece of fiction, and I wish I had more time to sit down with it and give it the attention it deserves. There is a great level of depth to the plot and subplots, and the setting and characters are dynamic and interesting.

I will probably revisit this one day when I have more free time, but for now I feel justified in giving it a solid four stars.

[Aki Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

在成都太古里的方所書店買的，回來讀著清末四川與成都的人與事與物，掙扎的時代，故事微微悲涼，我內心卻悄悄歡喜，真想再去成都。

[Xiaolink · Rating 5 out of 5]

一气呵成 实在太精彩! 对成都民俗的描述 人物的刻画 韵味无穷 恨没早读到~

[Αγγελόπουλος · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.5 好一出老🀄️人鑑賞。特別是中間不斷出現的所以圍觀看客的描寫真是絕了。