The Sentiment Of An Exile

Su Tong, a well-recognized pioneer writer, is also famous for his "New Historical Novel". He harmoniously combined the objective general history with subjective individual perspectives in his novels, featuring both the isolated tranquil life of royal family and the plain and trivial lifestyle in countryside characterized by maples, poplars and Xiangcun Tree Alley. The main characters in his novels radiate the vigorous of life. The minds, distorted by the times and the environment, are vividly depicted in his stories. Within certain history background, he successfully revealed the eternal human nature. In his new historical novels, he put aside the grandeur of history and turned to emphasize the importance of simple life. While narrating the history, the writer attached great importance to the destinies of the characters as well.A variety of writing skills of story-telling are employed in Su Tong's novels. Some stories are developed by focusing on the general perspective and individual perspectives. Some tell the story through the experiences of main characters and supporting characters, mingling the sadness and happiness of them. The structure of the novels is also different, from the step-by-step mode to the monologue mode in the first person, to the integrated-mode (a style like a traditional Chinese Sihe Yard), and to the root-following mode.The artistic level achieved by Su Tong is one of the richest and the most profound, which is characterized by the combination of various art forms, suspensions, local customs of city life, mysterious legendaries, satirical black humour, and the elegant writing style with a touch of sadness.