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Wang Shuo thought bombPosted by Banyue on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 at 6:26 PM
Wang Shuo (王朔) is a popular Chinese novelist. He is known as something of a rebel, perhaps the closest thing China has to a counter-cultural icon.
His works include novels, TV shows and movies. Most of them were written during the 1980s, in prose dialogue with a heavy Beijing flavor. In 1999, Wang wrote an article fiercely criticizing the Hong Kong popular culture that has had such a strong influenced on the Mainland. But after this, he faded from public view and refused media interviews. But recently, Wang's name has appeared on many websites, newspapers and magazines, and there is a lot of speculation about him publishing a new novel. The cover story of last week's San Lian Life Week magazine was an interview with Wang, titled Wang Shuo's Thought Bomb (王朔的思想武器). Below is a translation of an excerpt from the interview: San Lian: What have you done since 2000? Wang: Getting to know myself. I need to know what's going on with me. It's intense. I have to break myself into pieces. San Lian: Zheng Yuanjie (郑渊洁) also made a series of talk show videos [watch on Tudou, or see Zheng's blog]. San Lian: I once saw a comment from someone born in the 1980s. He said he knew who Xu Jinglei was, but not Wang Shuo. What do you think of this? The famous blogger and San Lian journalist Wang Xiaofeng also wrote a blog post about Wang's return to the public eye: "If Wang really put his new work on the Internet, he will regret it someday. The Internet is just fluff. The traditional publication is the right way for [Wang]". Links and Sources
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Comments on Wang Shuo thought bomb
Wang's comments are disgusting humbug. Any writer who allows his speech to be littered with exclamation marks is a ersatz writer. Another striking thing is the way he trash-talks commercial culture while associating himself with the entirely spurious actress Xu Jing Lei. Wang is truly a reprehensible individual.
"Thought bomb"?
Bit of a damp squib, if you ask me. Not that you did.