Hongniba Book Review

Introduction: Cao Wenxuan’s latest masterpiece, a beautiful, romantic and fairy-like juvenile novel full of emotion. The story tells the growth history of the young Genniao, and it is also a story for everyone. A personal history of spiritual growth.

Reading suggestions: Although a work must pass the test of many years before it can be called a classic, we insist that this novel, which represents the highest level of contemporary Chinese children's literature, "can be called a classic." This poetic "symbolic novel" can compete with world-class similar novels, at least compared with "The Fantastic Journey of the Shepherd Boy" recommended below, it is slightly better in many aspects.

This is a very special book. The growth stories introduced earlier all have the marks of the times. Even in stories with a science fiction flavor like "The Child Out of the Can", we can generally tell that they are contemporary Austrian children. But Cao Wenxuan's "Root Bird" does not have such a mark. It tells the story of the growth of young Genniao, but it can only be said that the era when the story takes place is not our era, but "that era".

A Brazilian writer, Paulo Coelho, once wrote a book called "The Fantastic Journey of the Shepherd Boy" (also translated as "The Alchemist"). On the surface, it is also about a young man's adventures in adventure. A coming-of-age story, but at its core it is a fable about spiritual growth. From this perspective, the story of "Root Bird" is surprisingly similar to it. They are both juvenile novels, and both are fables with strong legend.

When Cao Wenxuan tells the story of Root Bird, he is more like a poet, the kind of blind poet who specializes in telling heroic stories among tribes. He used beautiful words like narrative poems, with hidden passion, to tell a story that seemed to have been circulated for a long time. The young hero in the story did not know which era he lived in, but he was so similar to us that he was almost certain to be Say, he is ourselves.

Genniao lives in Jupo, a beautiful and peaceful village. He and his father depended on each other, and his mother left mysteriously a long time ago.

On the day when he was fourteen years old, he went hunting alone in the woods. This was his first time and he had to prove that he was already a hunter. But the whole morning passed, and he didn't catch a single sparrow. As dusk approached, an eagle flew up from the sky as blue as a lake - a white eagle.

The boy had never seen or even heard that an eagle was white. The eagle not only looked special, but also had an awe-inspiring noble temperament. The young man's heart was completely attracted by it. But the eagle is not his prey. He must continue hunting, even if he catches a small rabbit.

As the sky grew dark, the almost completely disappointed boy finally found a rabbit squatting on a rock. The boy aimed at it like a real hunter. But the white eagle once again descended from the sky like a ghost, scared the rabbit away, and stood defiantly in front of the young hunter's gun. The furious boy pulled the trigger.

The dying Bai Ying summoned the young man with his eyes, and he came to Bai Ying's side. There is a strip of cloth on the eagle's leg, and the strip of cloth actually has words written on it:

My name is Zi Yan. I went to the cliff to pick flowers and fell into the canyon. Perhaps only this white eagle can tell people this news. It has always stayed with me. Now I let it fly into the sky. I am thirteen years old and I want to go home! Save me, save me, save Zi Yan!

Taking this piece of cloth, the young man searched all the villages, towns and valleys around Jupo. No one had heard of a girl named Zi Yan, and no one had seen or even heard of it. Over white eagle. But the stubborn young man never gave up. Everyone around him was laughing at the boy's stupidity, and his father shook his head and sighed: "This kid is so stubborn!"

One night, a grand canyon appeared in the boy's dream:

< p> A canyon filled with lilies. The lilies bloom quietly, they are not crazy or noisy, and they have no bright colors, as if they are blooming, that is, blooming, without any other thoughts. Several white eagles circled in the canyon. A girl appeared under a ginkgo tree and said her name was Zi Yan.

A sad voice came out of the girl's eyes: Help me!

When taking the last step in Jupo in autumn, the dream of the Grand Canyon appeared again in the boy's dream.

Genniao, a young man awakened by his dream, left Jupo. The father said: This is God's will.

The young Genniao used his dream as a horse to embark on a journey. You may be a little confused, what is the power that "awakens" this young man and sets him on a long journey? Cao Wenxuan said with Genniao's father's mouth: "God's will". This word appears several times throughout the story. This is a legendary explanation. Others have explained it in other ways. For example, when Mr. Wang Guowei, a master of Chinese studies, used words to describe the three realms of life experience, the first realm used Yan Shu's words: "Last night, the west wind withered the green trees, and I went up to the tall building alone, looking out. The road to the end of the world." This is the spirit after being awakened by a sense of mission, full of ambition, and also a bit tragic.

There are many hardships on the journey. The first hardship a young man encounters when he first enters the world is that no one believes or understands him. Genniao told his story to others with enthusiasm, but almost everyone regarded him as stupid, which could only arouse ridicule and laughter. People with ulterior motives will also use this story to deceive him. The boy gradually learned to keep the story deep in his heart. However, the young man is not completely alone. On the road, he meets Ban Jin, a middle-aged man who is looking for a dream for his family, and he also learns that the most terrifying nightmare is the absence of dreams.

Another hardship is survival itself. To pursue your dream, you must first be able to survive. Ban Jin taught him that he should even beg to survive when necessary. For the sake of his dream, he could only ignore everything else. But young Genniao prefers to rely on his own hands to survive. But there is another kind of person in the world who survives exclusively by possessing other people's lives. Genniao was abducted into a ghost valley because he was kind and too trusting of others. It was a real existential ordeal. After experiencing this calamity, Genniao gradually matured.

There is also a kind of suffering that is actually very charming. It is the comfortable reality and the beautiful gentle country. While passing through Mixi, a land of fish and rice, Genniao was attracted by the wealthy rice store owner's family. He fell in love with the beautiful Qiuman. As long as he was willing to stay, a sweet life would be within reach. But the dream continued, and his father woke him up again. On a quiet morning, he bid farewell to Mixi and moved forward resolutely again.

Among all the hardships, the most terrifying one is your own heart. The young Genniao can overcome suffering and refuse comfort, but he cannot easily get rid of the entanglement of his inner demons. When entering a small town called Yingdian, the young man's heart became empty. He started hanging out, going to the theater, drinking, gambling, and became obsessed with the opera girl Jin Zhi. He began to hate Baiying, the Grand Canyon, and the girl named Ziyan. He hated his dream and everything he had done to pursue it. But everything that has passed away no longer exists. Young people are willing to perish.

Jin Zhi and Ban Jin saved him. Jinzhi said to Genniao: Leave quickly. I think the Grand Canyon might really exist. Before his death, Ban Jin told Genniao that although he failed to find the dream, his son would continue to look for it.

Finally one day, a group of white eagles led the boy riding a white horse into a grand canyon full of lilies:

When countless white eagles circled gracefully in the sky At that time, the bird had been looking up at their roots for a long time. Suddenly, his eyes suddenly turned black, and he rolled down from his horse into the lily bushes.

When the mountain wind woke up the root bird, he saw those white eagles still flying in the sky. He let his whole body lie on the ground, buried his face in the lilies, and howled loudly...

"The crowd searched for him a thousand times, but when I suddenly looked back, that person was there, in the dim light." - Only fullness Only after going through hardships can we appreciate the mixed emotions of this moment.

The story of "Root Bird" is a growth story for young people and also for every adult. A truly good coming-of-age story does not belong to any particular era, it belongs to all eras.