Henry James novel

 　　If we are bold, we can say that Lu Dekun's "Cosplay" is a Henry James novel, or at least has worked hard in the direction of Henry James's great work.

　　We know that in the world of Henry James' novels, there are very few facts that can be called "events". The relationship between the main characters often does not progress, but is in a stalemate and stalemate. Although that kind of stalemate and stalemate often makes the reader's nerves more tense than the thrilling action depicted by other writers. For Henry James, the events of the novel are rather what happens in the hearts of the characters. Whether it's ripples in the lake of the heart or waves of the heart, if there is an absent-minded bystander standing at the scene of the story, he probably won't notice any signs, because Henry James's characters will never be able to To wear his heart on his sleeve. There, there is an inaudible roar, an invisible collapse.

　　It is in this sense that we say Role Play is a Henry James novel. In this novella by Lu Dekun, there are almost no plots that can be called "events". We might as well try to summarize its story in one sentence: it tells the story of Xue Bing, a woman who used to be a "third party", who met and fell in love with an unmarried man named Yu Zhongping because of her friend Ran Ran, but after living together for a period of time She found that her relationship with Yu Zhongping was cracked and on the verge of collapse. This sentence not only summarizes the plot of the novel, but also does not miss any key content, because although the novel seems to imply that the relationship between Xue Bing and Yu Zhongping is related to Ran Ran, it is only a hint after all. , or even just a guess by Xue Bing, without actual evidence. As for the novelist arranging Xue Bing, Ran Ran, and Yu Zhongping into the chain of the entertainment industry, and letting the two work as hard-working screenwriters for Yu Zhongping, the script broker, this setup, to be honest, is probably not essential—it certainly makes them There is a reasonable relationship combination including economic relationship, but if their actual relationship is replaced by another combination, it seems that it will not affect the topological relationship between them. Therefore, we It shouldn't be a problem not to include this loose employment relationship in that plot summary. As I said before, the events of "Role Playing" happened in the heart of the character, or more precisely, in Xue Bing's heart. And what Lu Dekun wants to achieve in the novel is to let us hear the roar of Xue Bing's heart and see the collapse of her heart.

　　The novel is narrated in the third person, but the perspective is strictly limited to that of the heroine. The reader does not know what the heroine does not know. What the reader knows is limited to what the heroine observes, conjectures and thinks, and, naturally, it cannot be ruled out at all. These things may mislead readers. Such techniques are precisely Henry James's—just think of famous works like "The Portrait of a Lady." Xue Bing, the heroine, undoubtedly has the characteristics of some Henry James characters: they do not rely on actions and words to relate to the world around them, they prefer to make endless speculation about the external world in their hearts. Occasionally, when the edges and corners of the world define the scope of speculation, they will not stop speculating, but turn the pointer of their minds at a slight angle and continue to contemplate in that new direction. Their hopes will never be fulfilled, and the emptiness in their hearts will never be filled, because no matter how close they are to their pre-determined goals, their boundless speculation will always push the mundane happiness and satisfaction farther. . Therefore, we can not only admit that Xue Bing's suspicion of Yu Zhongping may not be aimless, but at the same time we should realize that if we use speculation to examine the world, it will never be difficult to find materials for speculation. Xue Bing held a hammer in his hand, and naturally everything was a nail.

　　Of course, like all true love disputes, Xue Bing and Yu Zhongping couldn't get along with each other. The fundamental reason was that they were not the same kind of people. The novel hints at this in a rather unique way, that is, as Yu Zhongping said, Xue Bing "has a special expression". In essence, Xue Bing's spiritual world has some kind of "otherworldliness" attribute, which occasionally appears outside, which is the special expression of trance. And this implies that the spirits of Xue Bing and Yu Zhongping cannot be unified on the same plane. Therefore, we will find that what Xue Bing asked for Yu Zhongping was actually something that Yu Zhongping could not provide anyway, and because of this, Xue Bing’s search was in vain, and Yu Zhongping was innocent.

　　Perhaps in order to adapt to the tortuous psychology of the protagonist, the author of the novel deliberately adopts a devious and obscure, seemingly profound inner description language. Sometimes, a character has an epiphany, and the reader has no idea what she has realized. The psychological state of the protagonist is constantly described, but there is always that final curtain that never rises for us. This "doubtful" description language is probably very close to the language used in Henry James's later works.

　　The novelist Flannery O'Connor once wrote in an article that Henry James is said to have read a manuscript he did not like and would habitually write when returning it: "You have chosen a very good one. The theme of the book is also straight-forward." O'Connor said that the author may be very happy to read this, but Henry James has actually sentenced the work to death because he is too clear, better than anyone else, to be straight The way of writing can't match the complexity of a good theme. "Maybe we have nothing new to tell, but there will always be some new way to tell, and in art, the way of telling has become part of what is told..." When we look back When tasting Lu Dekun's works, there is indeed that feeling. The way he tells it has become part of what he tells. We even feel that the way he tells it is what he wants to tell.