Soul Mountain

by Gao Xingjian

Overview

Gao Xingjian was a virtual unknown in this country when he won the 2000 Nobel Prize in Literature for his bold and lyrical novel Soul Mountain. The Swedish Academy described it as "an odyssey in time and space through the Chinese countryside," while The New York Times celebrated the novel "not only for its magical tales, folkloric roots and eroticism but also for its patchwork of narrative styles, from poems and monologues to ballads and conversations." Inspired by Gao Xingjian's true-life epic journey to freedom through the ancient forests of China a five-month trek over 15,000 kilometers -Soul Mountain at once challenges conventions and lays bare the human condition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061752568
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	530
Sales rank:	463,144
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Gao Xingjian (whose name is pronounced gow shing-jen) is the first Chinese recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in 1940 in Jiangxi province in eastern China, he has lived in France since 1987. Gao Xingjian is an artistic innovator, in both the visual arts and literature. He is that rare multitalented artist who excels as novelist, playwright, essayist, director, and painter. In addition to Soul Mountain and One Man's Bible, a book of his plays, The Other Shore, and a volume of his paintings, Return to Painting, have been published in the United States.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

The old bus is a city reject. After shaking in it for twelve hours on the potholed highway since early morning, you arrive in this mountain county town in the South.

In the bus station, which is littered with ice-block wrappers and sugar cane scraps, you stand with your backpack and a bag and look around for a while. People are getting off the bus or walking past, men humping sacks and women carrying babies. A crowd of youths, unhampered by sacks or baskets, have their hands free. They take sunflower seeds out of their pockets, toss them one at a time into their mouths and spit out the shells. With a loud crack the kernels are expertly eaten. To be leisurely and carefree is endemic to the place. They are locals and life has made them like this, they have been here for many generations and you wouldn't need to go looking anywhere else for them. The earliest to leave the place traveled by river in black canopy boats and overland in hired carts, or by foot if they didn't have the money. Of course at that time there were no buses and no bus stations. Nowadays, as long as they are still able to travel, they flock back home, even from the other side of the Pacific, arriving in cars or big air-conditioned coaches. The rich, the famous and the nothing in particular all hurry back because they are getting old. After all, who doesn't love the home of their ancestors? They don't intend to stay so they walk around looking relaxed, talking and laughing loudly, and effusing fondness and affection for the place. When friends meet they don't just give a nod or a handshake in the meaningless ritual of city people, but rather they shout the person's name or thump him on the back. Hugging is also common, but not for women. By the cement trough where the buses are washed, two young women hold hands as they chat. The women here have lovely voices and you can't help taking a second look. The one with her back to you is wearing an indigo-print headscarf. This type of scarf, and how it's tied, dates back many generations but is seldom seen these days. You find yourself walking towards them. The scarf is knotted under her chin and the two ends point up. She has a beautiful face. Her features are delicate, so is her slim body. You pass close by them. They have been holding hands all this time, both have red coarse hands and strong fingers. Both are probably recent brides back seeing relatives and friends, or visiting parents. Here, the word xifu means one's own daughter-in-law and using it like rustic Northerners to refer to any young married woman will immediately incur angry abuse. On the other hand, a married woman calls her own husband laogong, yet your laogong and my laogong are both used. People here speak with a unique intonation even though they are descendants of the same legendary emperor and are of the same culture and race.

You can't explain why you're here. It happened that you were on a train and this person mentioned a place called Lingshan. He was sitting opposite and your cup was next to his. As the train moved, the lids on the cups clattered against one another. If the lids kept on clattering or clattered and then stopped, that would have been the end of it. However, whenever you and he were about to separate the cups, the clattering would stop, and as soon as you and he looked away the clattering would start again. He and you reached out, but again the clattering stopped. The two of you laughed at the same instant, put the cups well apart, and started a conversation. You asked him where he was going.

"Lingshan."

"What?"

"Lingshan, ling meaning spirit or soul, and shan meaning mountain."

You'd been to lots of places, visited lots of famous mountains, but had never heard of this place.

Your friend opposite had closed his eyes and was dozing. Like anyone else, you couldn't help being curious and naturally wanted to know which famous places you'd missed on your travels. Also, you liked doing things properly and it was annoying that there was a place you've never even heard of You asked him about the location of Lingshan.

"At the source of the You River," he said, opening his eyes.

You didn't know this You River either, but was embarrassed about asking and gave an ambiguous nod which could have meant either "I see, thanks" or "Oh, I know the place". This satisfied your desire for superiority, but not your curiosity. After a while you asked how to get there and the route up the mountain.

"Take the train to Wuyizhen, then go upstream by boat on the You River."

"What's there? Scenery? Temples? Historic sites?" you asked, trying to be casual.

"It's all virgin wilderness."

"Ancient forests?"

"Of course, but not just ancient forests."

"What about Wild Men?" you said, joking.

He laughed without any sarcasm, and didn't seem to be making fun of himself which intrigued you even more. You had to find out more about him.

"Are you an ecologist? A biologist? An anthropologist? An archaeologist?"

He shook his head each time then said, "I'm more interested in living people."

"So you're doing research on folk customs? You're a sociologist? An ethnographer? An ethnologist? A journalist, perhaps? An adventurer?"

"I'm an amateur in all of these."

The two of you started laughing.

"I'm an expert amateur in all of these!"

The laughing made you and him cheerful. He lit a cigarette and couldn't stop talking as he told you about the wonders of Lingshan...

Text copyright © Gao Xingjian 1990 English language translation copyright © Mabel Lee 2000

Reading Group Guide

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature

Introduction

A man is diagnosed with lung cancer -- precisely the same cancer that had proved deadly to his father not long before -- and then is surprised to discover in a follow-up visit to the doctor that he is in fact perfectly healthy. And, the good news is not delivered with the amount of sensitivity that a new lease on life would seem to merit -- describing the attending doctor, the book reads, "'Go and live properly, young man.' He swiveled his chair around, dismissing me."

So begins Gao Xingjian's Soul Mountain. It is from this peculiar and clear-eyed position that a journey begins through the remote mountains of China. The narrator explores rural villages and reflects on the influence that the Cultural Revolution has had on the people and the land, and reveals a rich inner life and a poignant search of meaning and a sense of purpose.

The text begins in the second person, telling what it is that You do. Then it quickly switches to being told in the first person. Later there is a She and a He, both of whom take control of the tale for their parts. And while there is a clear connection between these narrative voices, each one also has his own story, his own feelings, and his own reasons for being on the trip. There is inevitably a certain comfort that the reader acquires with regard to the changing voices -- for, as with any set of characters, we expect different things from each one. Their issues cross over and their narratives correlate -- perhaps only vaguely at times, or even indiscernibly on occasion -- but always powerfully with regard to theirgenuine sense of yearning.

Soul Mountain is an incredible epic that benefits from an author capable of describing the sound of a river at night with a great sense of poetry. And yet, he also has a precision in his writing that is almost icy in the way it captures both beauty and ugliness in people and in the world. A complicated and heartfelt novel that is rich in poetry and history, it displays an unabashed desire to find meaning in the accidents of politics, the progression of history, and all of the surprising effects of life.

Discussion Questions

How many protagonists are there in this book? In what ways can I, You, He, and She be linked?

Xingjian's writing seems often to be used as a tool for uncovering history -- for discovering past events that have been obscured by political forces such as the Cultural Revolution, or even just the general decay of nature, as with metal tiles rusting off of a roof. Would you say that the preservation of the past through art is a driving motivation of the book? If so, why does it matter? And if not, then what is the preoccupation with stories of the past, both ancient and recent?

What is Soul Mountain? Is it ever reached, or would that be too literal a translation of something deeply metaphorical?

Nods to existentialism abound in Soul Mountain, from the references to nausea, to the general preoccupation with death, decay, and the cruelty often found in human nature. How does existentialism inform your understanding of the book?

How is the protagonist changed by his brush with death? He says at one point, "How should I change this life for which I had just won a reprieve?" -- but why do you suppose he responded to a near-death experience in this way?

Many of the stories are about women being commodified and abused, raped, killed, or driven to suicide. Further, the She character is one that often feels unsafe, uncertain of her sexuality, and distrustful of You. Did you ever feel that the book was sexist? What point do you think was being made, or is it unfair to ask so general a question about such a vast array of stories and situations?

There are so many stories, histories, fables, and myths scattered throughout the book it would be impossible to even keep track of them all as one reads. What do you think is being sought within all of the stories? Why does the first-person narrator look through the rubble of so many ancient Chinese cities, and why does She ask You to constantly tell her more stories?

What can you discern about the author's feelings towards modern China from this book? About the Author: Gao Xingjian (whose name is pronounced gow shing-jen) is the first Chinese recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in 1940 in Jiangxi province in eastern China, he studied in state schools, earned a univer-sity degree in French in Beijing, and embarked on a life of letters. Choosing exile in 1987, he settled in Paris, where he completed Soul Mountain two years later. In 1992 he was named a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. He is a playwright and painter as well as a fiction writer and critic.

Editorial Reviews

In awarding the 2000 Nobel Prize in Literature to Gao Xingjian, the Swedish Academy described Soul Mountain as "an odyssey in time and space through the Chinese countryside." The New York Times celebrated the novel "not only for its magical tales, folkloric roots and eroticism but also for its patchwork of narrative styles, from poems and monologues to ballads and conversations." Inspired by Gao's true-life epic journey to freedom through the ancient forests of China -- a five-month trek over 15,000 kilometers -- Soul Mountain challenges conventions and lays bare the human condition.

bn.com

It is a relief to come to a book that celebrates the pleasures of literature with such gusto and knowingness.

Courier-Mail [Australia]

[Gao's] great talent is for pictorial pathos, conjuring, in a few brush strokes, scenes of a disproportionately affecting intensity.

New York Observer

Chinese literature [of the future] will have to contend with the creative energy and the daring of Gao Xingjian.

Le Monde

Gao's wanderer....has found survival ... in words. And ultimately, it is the miracle of those words that wins Nobels.

Los Angeles Times Book Review

Brilliant.... keen-sighted, defiant.

Washington Post Book World

It's rare for a book to have this kind of introspective power.

Wall Street Journal

Soul Mountain offers many profound pleasures....[It] encompasses history and myth, antiquity and modernity, sex and spirituality, literary theory and journalism.

San Diego Union Tribune

Engaging and elegant...arguably his finest work...in an impressive translation by Mabel Lee.

New York Times Book Review

Startlingly poetic language....bewitching narrative voices...one long immersion in buried strata of history and the psyche.

Boston Globe

A fascinating account of [Gao Xingjian]'s country....powered by anger and an aching sense of loss.

New York Times

THE RECENTLY translated masterpiece from the new Nobel laureate, Gao Xingjian, is a product of the author's experimentation with words, his exploration of the boundaries of conventional forms and his belief in the uniqueness of a literary voice. In important ways, the book is about the struggle of the individual over the interests of the group. Gao's protagonist is a composite character alternately portrayed as "You," "I," "She" and "He." In one chapter, Gao sheds light on his nameless characters: "In this lengthy soliloquy you are the object of what I relate...as I listen to myself and you, I let you create a she...You who are the partner of my conversation transforms my experiences and imagination into your relationship with her...She who is the creation of experience and imagination transforms into various images." "He" is created when "You" and "I" merge and become inseparable; when the need arises to incorporate a distinguishable space. What is most notable about these pronouns is that they are never grouped together into "We": "When I speak of me and you...I never speak of we or us...[T]hey are all the more substantial than what is known as we."

With its unconventional plot, Soul Mountain, which explores China's physical, cultural, historical and political landscapes, is charged with creative energy and artistic audacity. It interweaves myriad stories that "You" and "I" encounter while traveling, recollect from memories, glean from history or fabricate from imagination. The stories' settings range from contemporary China to ancient times—from the notorious Cultural Revolution to China's earliest empires. They cover locations ranging from the metropolitancapital to the remotest regions of southwest China, where ethnic groups coexist with primeval forests. They fuse Eastern and Western philosophies, from Taoism to Buddhism to Existentialism. In short, the book merges fact and fiction, past and present, legend and biography in unique ways that baffle, dazzle, excite and enlighten the reader.

In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Gao addressed the benefits of "cold observation," a means toward achieving higher levels of lyricism. "Poetry is hidden in such detached observation. If this observing eye also examines the writer himself, then even the sufferings and garbage of the world can stand scrutiny...While it causes pain and disgust, it also arouses compassion, pity and love and appreciation of life."

This is precisely what Gao does with Soul Mountain; he captures plights of human sufferings, invoking the tragedies suffered as a result of political dictatorship. By extension, he probes the inner self, the meaning of existence, the complexity of individual human relationships with society and nature. Throughout the book, Gao adeptly illuminates critical scenes with well-placed details: "I have in [my backpack] a Han Dynasty brick with a design on it," he writes. "I came across it in Hezhang where peasants were constructing pig pens with bricks taken from the Han Dynasty tombs." Such images, which speak volumes on behalf of a people plagued by one political movement after another, highlight the absurdities of benightedness and the destruction propagated by the Cultural Revolution.

Despite Gao's achievement, this new translation of his book is marred by flaws and inconsistencies. Not only is some of the original, graceful flow of the prose lost in the English translation but, just as unfortunately, the translation itself is riddled with mistakes. The language often reads awkwardly, such as in the line "His death takes place two years before I come here," or "So there is therefore still the unextinguished passion of a soul still being tormented." In the translator's hands, 1 million yuan shrinks to one hundred, while a portrait of Lao-tzu (the father of Taoism) by the famous artist Zhang Daqian changes to a portrait of Zhang Daqian's own father. "Middle school," which is the equivalent of junior and senior high school, is translated variably into middle school, high school and even primary school. In several places, the Chinese word "Haiba" is incorrectly used. "Haiba" is a transliteration of the word "elevation" and the term "above sea level." The translator, unfamiliar with its meaning, capitalizes it and treats it as the name of a place. The line that ends "...in the 2,500-meter giant panda observation compound at Haiba" should actually read as "...in the giant panda observation campground at 2,500 meters above sea level." These examples are just a few of the many inaccuracies that do a disservice to the original Chinese edition.

Soul Mountain is a colossal, encompassing work that was written, according to the metafictional narrator, "without conforming to the method [of fiction] which is common knowledge." This is not an easy read, and the mistakes in translation add an unnecessary element of confusion. The book is like a patchwork quilt made from rich, diversified fabrics in bold, original patterns; though the translation introduces crooked stitches, Gao's achievement still dazzles and delights.

Gao Xingjian was almost unknown in this country when he won this year's Nobel prize. Gao, who lives in exile in Paris, was embroiled in controversy in China in the 1980s because of his plays. This novel is his largest and perhaps most personal work. Around the time Gao's plays were arousing controversy, he was diagnosed with lung cancerDfalsely, as it turned out. The "detestable omniscient self" of the Gao-like narrator sharing these circumstances goes partly underground by getting out of Beijing and going to various underdeveloped regions of China. Officially, Gao is gathering folk songs and tales, but underneath that task we discern a desire to reconnect with the fate of his family, which, like so many others, was fragmented by the revolution. The book itself is narrated in two voices: a rational first person "I" and an emotional second person "you." Gao stays with park rangers, old friends and Daoist monks. The "you" wanders a more fantastic, otherworldly Chinese landscape, looking for LingshanDthe "soul mountain" of the title. To the second person is allotted a series of frenzied sexual encounters with a series of rebellious women. Within this baggy structure, there are repeated memories of the horrors of the Cultural Revolution, episodes concerning "wild men" (the Chinese equivalent of yeti), reflections on China's environmental degradation and comments on old ruins. Seeking out old singers and shamans like a connoisseur of extinct cultures, Gao has created a sui generis work, one that, in combining story, reminiscence, meditation and journalism, warily comes to terms with the shocks of both Maoism and capitalism. Agent, Georges Borchardt. (Dec) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This sprawling, oddball novel is arguably his finest work...Yet only now is it becoming available in America, in an impressive translation by Mabel Lee that was previously published in Australia. And what an introduction to Gao it is! Soul Mountain is a quirky, thick, playful monster of a book, a bit like what one might expect if Beckett or Ionesco had traveled in China and been steeped in Chinese myths. It is not easy to say what the novel is about -- and it is lacking in plot, descriptions and character development -- and yet the marvel is that somehow it is still both engaging and elegant.
—New York Times Book Review

Nicholas D. Kristof

A true work of great literature.” — Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Remarkable not only for its magical tales, folkloric roots and eroticism but also for its patchwork of narrative styles, from poems and monologues to ballads and conversations…Lyrical.” — New York Times

“If a successful novelist is one who tells us something new about the human spirit and a successful novel transports us to another world, then Gao and Soul Mountain have succeeded spectacularly.” — Washington Post Book World

"Chinese literature [of the future] will have to contend with the creative energy and the daring of Gao Xingjian." — Le Monde

"It is a relief to come to a book that celebrates the pleasures of literature with such gusto and knowingness." — Publishers Weekly

“Engaging and elegant…Soul Mountain is a quirky, thick, playful monster of a book, a bit like what one might expect if Beckett or Ionesco had traveled in China and been steeped in Chinese myths.” — New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

A true work of great literature.

Los Angeles Times Book Review