Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian

[NickAdams]

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2000/gao.jpg


As one of Gao Xingjian's characters remarks, if a fiction writer could know the true stories of the people he passes on the street, he would be amazed. Surely the Nobel laureate's own story, which forms the basis of Soul Mountain, is worthy of amazement. In 1983 Gao was diagnosed with lung cancer, the disease that had killed his father. At the same time, he had been threatened with arrest for his counterrevolutionary writings and was preparing to flee Beijing for the remote regions of southwest China. Shortly before his departure, however, the condemned man got at least a partial reprieve: a second set of x-rays revealed no cancer at all. On the heels of this extraordinary redemption, he began the circuitous journey that would lead him to the sacred (and possibly mythical) mountain of Lingshan--and to this daring, historically resonant novel.

http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Mountain-Gao-Xingjian/dp/0060936231/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207749222&sr=1-1

Please post your thoughts and questions on the book in this thread.

[NickAdams]

I emancipated my copy of Soul Mountain, from the prison of my shelves, last night. Looking at its size, I was tempted to extend its sentence.

I decided to read the introduction and I'm glad I did, because it put his narrative style in perspective. I still think he is not reserved enough for the short form, but I think he might be stronger in this novel.

I've read a few pages already and notice he is very nastalgic;
there is a longing for childhood.

[NickAdams]

Ms. Lee, in her introduction, says the the pronouns are introduced to deal with the narrators lonleiness.

If Xingjian thought social interaction crippled the artist, he might have created multiple selves to interact with, but since they are him he does not conform. I figure this by the way he assumes 'You" would react in situations: it is how he would react.

[SirRaustusBear]

I love Soul Mountain, and apparently the Nobel Prize committee does too because Xingjian won based entirely on this novel. If you don't mind the unconventional narrative structure then you should enjoy it thouroughly. After I finished it I recommended the book to a lot of people and ended up lending it to a friend who hasn't returned it in a year, so it may be time to buy another copy if I want to read it again.

I just finished his second novel One Man's Bible. It's not as brilliant as Soul Mountain but still good.

[NickAdams]

I just finished his second novel One Man's Bible. It's not as brilliant as Soul Mountain but still good.

Then I must thank Antiquarian, thank you Antiquarian, because she is the reason that I am reading Soul Mountain and not One Man's Bible. I have both and planned on reading one this month, after finishing Mr Xingjian's short story collection so quickly.

[SirRaustusBear]

Nick I plan on reading his book of short stories some time soon. You said he wasn't reserved enough, does that mean I should skip it or is it worth reading anyways?

[NickAdams]

from Chapter 1:
When a man gets to middle age shouldn't he look for a peaceful and stable experience, find a not-too-demanding sort of job, stay in a mediocre position, become a husband and a father, set up a comfortable home, put money in the bank and add to it every month so there'll be something for old age and a little left over for the next generation?

Xingjian's answer (and what he hopes the empathetic reader will confirm) is: no. This is a circular and ritualistic prison for the artist, which the Warden maintains through social pressure. A man who has escaped death, must now escape prison.


a little left over for the next generation?

This is a very interesting line when you consider the recurring instances of the narrator finding, what he believes is the past intact, only to find that it has been marked and turned into a tourist monument. Nature as museum. Memories, childhood and legends are key symbols.


Chapter 2

There is a humorous bit concerning a Grandpa Stone.

There is some more that I wanted to quote, but I forgot; it's in the third chapter.



Nick I plan on reading his book of short stories some time soon. You said he wasn't reserved enough, does that mean I should skip it or is it worth reading anyways?


It depends on your motives as a reader. I read as a writer and find value in failed experiments. This was said by a film critic in regards to a director, some time ago: "his failures are more interesting than most directors successes." There is an essence of Carver, before his Editor got to his stories, but it's sprawling (if that's not a paradox). All of the themes and and techniques in the short story collection, have matured in this book. You should join us in this read.

[NickAdams]

I think the narrator/author knows, of course, that he'll never find "Soul Mountain," but he also knows he must make the journey in order to make sense of his life. In order to put the traumatic past into perspective.

In this case, it really is the journey, not the destination, that's important.

How much have you read?

The journey is important, because it distances him for the city. He is looking for purity of nature, which he believes Soul Mountain has. I'm not too familiar with transcendentalism, but there is an air of it. I think what I enjoy most is the history: the stories of bandits etc. I would have enjoyed Borges's A Universal History of Iniquity in Xingjian's style.

[NickAdams]

I've been taken up by The Aeneid, and have neglected Mr. Xingjian. I resume this week.

Once the narrator reaches his destination, then the mundane will return. There is no definite escape.