英闻天下——52 Mo-Mania across China

 　　This past year, Chinese writer Mo Yan became the first Chinese national to win a Nobel Prize in literature.

 

　　Since then, his books have been flying off the shelves in China.

 

　　As such, today's key word is "Mo-mania".

 

　　CRI's He Fei has more.

 

　　Chinese writer and 2012 Nobel Literature Prize winner Mo Yan receives a bunch of flowers after his lecture at Swedish Academy in Stockholm, capital of Sweden on Dec. 7, 2012. [Photo: Xinhua]

 

　　"The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2012 is awarded to the Chinese writer, Mo Yan"

 

　　With this announcement on October 11, 2012, the name Mo Yan has become a household name here in China.

 

　　The Zhicheng Classic Bookstore, which is found on Taobao's T-mall site, sold around 15-hundred volumes of Mo Yan's latest novel "Frog" in just 6-hours after the announcement.

 

　　The book also jumped from 560th to number-14 on Amazon.cn within two days of Mo Yan winning the award.

 

　　The book has already earned him the Mao Dun Literature Prize, which is one of the most prestigious¹ literature prizes in China.

 

　　One day after the announcement, Mo Yan sat down to autograph 35-hundred books on the Shanghai leg of his national book tour.

 

　　"I'm not overwhelmingly entranced by today's number, as 3,500 doesn't excite me the way 35 could lead to my despair. A writer enjoys his or her increasing readership only if he or she can preserve his or her style. That should be the prerequisite²."

 

　　While personally soft-spoken, Mo Yan's works often tend to hit his readers hard.

 

　　Liu Mengxi is the Director of Institute of Fine Arts in China.

 

　　"Mo Yan's novels reach the inside the flaws and pains of rural China. He touches on human nature, the toughness and the timidness of the transition process. His narration³ is powerful."

 

　　Hunger, desire, and nature are elements that shaped Mo Yan's childhood, and subsequently, many of his characters.

 

　　Howard Goldbatt is one of those who translate Mo Yan's works.

 

　　"Is it structurally⁴ good fiction? Maybe not. Is it tight? Is it organically pure? Is it logically pure? Hardly ever. Is it passionate⁵? Does it have fire? Always."

 

　　"A Transparent⁶ Carrot" is being added to the curriculum for senior high school students all over the country in the coming spring semester.

 

　　Published in 1985, the novella tells the story of the lives and inside world of ordinary Chinese people in the countryside.

 

　　Many view the book as a reflection of Mo Yan's hard and lonely youth.

 

　　Mo Yan's book "Pow!" is his first published in English after winning the Nobel Prize.

 

　　Mo Yan wrote this book in a first-person narrative⁷.

 

　　"WISE MONK⁸, where I come from people call children who boast and lie a lot 'Powboys', but every word in what I'm telling you is the unvarnished truth."

 

　　Howard Goldbatt worked on the translation for this latest Mo Yan work.

 

　　"This is an age when reality TV and other silly things that is supposedly honest and truthful⁹ and real are capturing the public. We need more fiction; we need more truth from people like Mo Yan. Individual perceptions of the world of viewpoint that only he has was somehow represents everything we believe."

 

　　Given Mo Yan's fame following the Nobel Prize, there is little doubt "Pow!" will do a lot to help keep "Mo-mania" thriving here in China.

 

　　For CRI, I'm He Fei.

1 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

2 prerequisite   

n.先决条件；adj.作为前提的，必备的

参考例句：

• Stability and unity are a prerequisite to the four modernizations.安定团结是实现四个现代化的前提。
• It is a prerequisite of entry to the profession that you pass the exams.做这一行的先决条件是要通过了有关的考试。

3 narration   

n.讲述，叙述；故事；记叙体

参考例句：

• The richness of his novel comes from his narration of it.他小说的丰富多采得益于他的叙述。
• Narration should become a basic approach to preschool education.叙事应是幼儿教育的基本途径。

4 structurally   

在结构上

参考例句：

• The house roof was (structurally) unsound. 这屋顶（结构）不牢固。
• Pinhole on shot-hole damage is never structurally significant. 针孔和蛀洞所造成的危害对结构的影响不大。

5 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

6 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

7 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

8 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

9 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。