divorce

"Divorce" is Lao She's most satisfying work.

The story is simple and exquisite, and it revolves around several staff members and their families of the Beijing Finance Institute. It describes the daily life of small bureaucrats during the Republic of China, and gently satirizes their perfunctory life.

"Divorce" may seem trivial, but it can arouse strong resonance among contemporary people. In addition to the eternal "seeking understanding, longing to get rid of vulgarity", readers can also see: office struggles, social terror, interference with privacy, scumbags, gnawing on the old, mistresses, marital conflicts, children's education, gender equality, regional discrimination, etc. . We will be surprised to find that there seems to be no essential change from then to now, perfunctory, numb, weak, philistine... Still maintaining a weird society, but insisting on the belief in morality and aesthetics, keeping conscience, can become A hero who vanquishes mediocrity and evil.

People understand that Lao She has always passed "above the temple" works such as "Four Generations Under One Roof" and "Camel Xiangzi", while ignoring "Divorce" which is divorced from the grand narrative. However, Lao She has repeatedly stated that "Divorce" is his most satisfying work on different occasions. He himself said:

"Since this novel, I have established my own style of writing...The language I use in "Divorce" is the first, and possibly the best, a model of concise and fresh writing."

"I intended it to be humorous, but this time I caught the humor."

In the early 1940s, in Longquan Town, Yunnan Province, Lao She asked the students of the History Institute of the Peking Academy to vote for his best work. Everyone unanimously voted for "Camel Xiangzi", but Lao She said, "No, I like "Divorce."