[Reading Notes] If living is just a misery, how long will we be hurt? - "The Great Crack"

The world is getting worse and worse, like a train rushing off a cliff. And we are sloppy in life.

When one day, people find that they can only repeat what they ate this morning, and suddenly realize the problem, this is an embarrassing situation, so people will do everything they can to prevent themselves from discovering the truth about themselves. others.

 "The book "The Great Crack" is, as its name suggests, a book of harm. Each novel embraces the same question that no one can avoid: 'How long do we have to live (to be harmed)?'" Writer Huang Liqun is the author of this book. A collection of short stories, it can be said to have made the best footnotes. 15 stories, although the protagonists have different identities, they share the same worldview. Every move, every word, reveal the helplessness, frustration, and boredom of living in the world, and in the end, they are like moths to the flames, and they are rude to themselves. Destruction all the way.

 "Have you ever had such an idea that when you were in school, there was a party, and you rushed to the stage and did some random things, such as tearing the clothes of your female classmates, or poking your ass and rushing to the audience, in short, you screwed up this thing, Then see what happens next.”

 Deliberately creating chaos and sin, there is no most depraved, only more depraved. The protagonists use absurd behaviors to resist the etiquette of the world, but while denying the value of others, they also make their hearts more empty. Although there are occasional representations of hope, such as gold, dating, it is always empty. However, at first glance, the unreasonable behavior and the development of the story that does not play cards according to the rules of the card touch a dark corner of the reader's heart.



Everyone in Jinzhan Village wanted to double the housing area, so from the dirty corridor with a two-cubic-meter garbage can every 50 steps, the gray sky was connected to a piece of thick metal. of blue.

 Not only does the character dialogue often stack emotions, but the author's words seem to be ingenious, and each word choice seems to contain infinite meanings. In addition, Hu Qian (real name Hu Bo), who is also an independent director, also pays special attention to the description of the scene, color and taste. The whole novel is filled with filth, stench, gray-blue tones, and even the sky is always gray in the hopeless book world.

 The first time I heard about this was at Li Kai's house, he said that there was an elephant in the Hualien City zoo, "It just sat there all the time, maybe someone was always stabbing him with a fork, maybe he It just likes to sit there, and then everyone runs over, hugging the railings to watch, but it doesn’t care if someone throws something to eat.”

 In the face of frustration and disappointment in life, instead of struggling, it is better to wait for the moment when life ends. The elephant described in "The Elephant Sitting on the Floor" seems to be the portrayal of all the characters throughout the novel. In 2017, the debut film of the same name adapted from this novel won an award, but Hu Qian hanged himself four months ago. "The Great Crack" is one of the only two literary works he left behind in his short career of less than 30 years.

 Reading "The Great Crack" is an uncomfortable experience, but it is the brainchild of the author's own experience and the dark side of his psyche. Through the text, readers can glimpse the spiritual journey of the rising Chinese artist, and at the same time rethink the meaning of life and self-existence.