Some people say literature is not likely to change much in the space of a year, and that it takes at least five or 10 years to trace any difference in literary trends.

But, the surface of today's literature is almost as busy, fast-changing and complicated as today's life, consequently it is not easy to survey the literary output of even a single year.

Currently around 1,000 or so novels are published annually. But at the same time it is also true that only about 30 make an impact with the reading public.

And the figure of 1,000 does not include the numerous novels released on the Internet. According to the Tencent website, within a year of its launching a national Internet novel competition at the beginning of 2004, over 3,800 were pasted on its website.

In my view, the novel as a style has changed greatly. It is no longer defined by epic narration, but has become rather more free and casual. Readable stories, personal memory, spiritual experience, reports of real events and lengthy prose can all be categorized as novels now.

At the same time, the authors of novels have also changed considerably. Many newcomers are trying to write, including teenagers. Furthermore, the popularization of the Internet has provided a material premise for the huge increase of novels.

Of course, I still employ the traditional way of observing and studying novels, and the works selected by Novel Review are mostly novels in the traditional sense.

Maybe because of the overwhelming globalization and dominance of trendy and sensual writings, I have high regard for works of spiritual exploration.

Jiang Rong's The Totem of the Wolf seems to deviate somewhat from what we commonly consider a novel, for it integrates several forms and blurs the border between fiction and non-fiction. However, it attracts the reader with its raw style.

Through one after another violent tale of how people deal with wolves on the steppes of Inner Mongolia, the novel's message seems, on one level, to be that "you have to be tougher than the wolf if you want to live on the steppes," but underlying this is an examination of the national psyche.

Why do people lack courage and rectitude? Why do people seem to be weak? Obviously these questions have long haunted the author, so he brings along the wolf. Just as people appeal to religion, rural life or historical figures, The Totem of the Wolf is also a symbol for idealism.

Realistic works

Government Officials concerns reality, politics and the lives of people from the lower strata of society in an urban setting. The author Zhang Ping exposes the formation of a group with vested interests, their alliance with the patriarchal clan culture, and how they intensify social conflicts and block the development of democracy. Unlike many superficial works of the same theme, Government Officials is politically and culturally insightful.

Rural life remains an important theme among novelists. Yan Lianke's Suffering depicts a disadvantaged group in the countryside, about whom the author has much knowledge and sympathy.

Yan is not satisfied with what one finds on the surface of rural life, but tries to explore the people's spiritual reality, to which end he sometimes draws on absurd plots. To combine the most indigenous with the most modern is perhaps what he is pursuing.

Yan says that he "writes because of fear," and he writes about "farmers' fears," but his miserable images often break through the last border of aestheticism. This "aesthetics of miserableness" is a subject that needs further study.

In parallel with the rural theme, the spiritual predicament, ethical concerns, and tragedies and comedies of the loves of urban people make for another broad stage for literature.

Blue Fox displays Wang Meng's thorough understanding of the spiritual condition of Chinese intellectuals over the last 20 years. Ning Ken's Gate of Silence looks at the thought-provoking "symptoms" of a "psychopath."

The conflict between men and women remains one of the most enduring in literature. Wang Hailing's The Chinese-style Divorce -- which ran as a successful television series -- probes the irrational and subconscious aspects of the man-woman relationship, misplaced values, and the nausea of everyday life. But the transition between the two languages of the television play and novel is a problem which the author has not fully resolved.

Henan Province's woman writer Qiao Ye's I Really Love You is about twin sisters who left the countryside swept up in the wave of urbanization, only to find themselves forced into prostitution in the city. In the miserable circumstances they find themselves, they turn from resistance to indifference. The author does not try to exhibit human desire, but writes in a rather understated way, which cries out the tragedy of their lives.

Other memorable novels of 2004 include Ge Fei's Face like a Peach Blossom, Dong Libo's Fragrance of the Rice and Hai Yan's River Runs like Blood.

Three stand out

Looking back on the novels of 2004, we find that many writers still lack a general grasp and sense of observation of our times, society and its spiritual situation. Today's novels are generally lacking in terms of their ability to express the courage required to face reality and philosophical meaning. But three books may be considered the exception and are among the best of 2004.

Wu Jun's We Are Not the Same Human Beings, published by the Shenzhen Writers Press, portrays the lives of those in Grey Dirt Street. Located somewhere in the country's far northeast, its characters are not locals, but people who have drifted there from Shandong Province.

The author tries to present the lives of grassroots people through the stories of those on the move since the 1970s. The novel tells about a number of characters, but the most important is the street itself, a metaphor for circumstances that are above people.

Through its fragmented narration, the author provides a personal and folk account of a group of people. She knows them well because she herself is one of the inhabitants of Grey Dirt Street.

We read of how the people in the street like to shout abuse. None have ever been to university, but many have made it into prison. If even one day passes when no one is found pounding and breaking things, no one is fighting and or being menaced with death, or no one hits their children, Grey Dirt Street would no longer be.

When the consumer economy started, the people of Grey Dirt Street began to go into business. Through what changes and what remains, the author explores the dark side of human nature and how difficult it is to change.

Wen Lan's Valley of Destiny, published by the Shanghai Literature and Art Press, is a work the author revised and rewrote for more than 20 years. In it Wen pours his unforgettable personal experiences and a part of social, political life that was closely related to his youth and love.

It has been nearly 30 years since the end of the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), however, we do not seem to have many good works concerning this bitter period, one which touched the whole nation.

The value of Valley of Destiny is just that. It reproduces the social and humanistic life of a small town in the west from the 1950s to 1970s, and provides a first-hand account of the spiritual lives of the peasants, military, cadres and intellectuals there.

The author's successful portrayal of the protagonists is powerful. Ge Donghong's blind faith in revolution and spiritual numbness is shocking, but real. The timid and inconsistent character of another protagonist, Cai Wenruo, discloses the very inhumanity of the time.

In some sense, Valley of Destiny is a written confession of not only Cai, but the author himself. Though I do not appreciate the author's detective-style beginning, Valley of Destiny is a book which shakes the apathy and forgetfulness of our nation.

Xu Guixiang's Sky of History is an outstanding novel about army life in recent years. It became even more famous after being adapted for the small screen.

The outstanding part of the novel lies mainly in its treatment of the relationship between history and individual characters. We have seen many novels with this theme with clear-cut clues, but symbolic characters who seem to function only as some negative and passive tools for the interpretation of historical rules. In Sky of History, the lives of the characters are filled with dramatic changes, with wrong decisions at every turn.

The author does not exaggerate casual factors, but rather interprets from a new angle people's destiny when caught up in war and politics, and their confusion over the reality in which they find themselves. The book is not only about people in history, but also about the history of humankind.

With its various vivid characters, scenes that sound both familiar and strange, and its structure through time and space, Sky of History inspires the reader to ponder on both history and life.

Since the 20th century, the Chinese nation has experienced many disasters, and modern Chinese literature has followed a winding path. In this new era, with the nourishment of world literature and modern art, Chinese literature has made great achievements. And as an important genre of literature, Chinese novels have also developed considerably.

However, on the level of reshaping the national soul, and in regard to possessing the deep human content displayed by world literature, our novels are still not mature and deep enough. We have seen too much commercialization in writing. This is not to be wholly criticized, but it should be, at most, just one of the dimensions of literature. What we hope to see, are novels that give a strong expression of the lives and development of the Chinese nation.

(China Daily May 10, 2005)