The Painter

Name: The Painter
ISBN: 9787544773119

周李立Yilin Press2018

3.5

Word count: 153K words
Chapters: 11
Series: The Graceful Collection
ISBN: 9787544773119

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Summary

The Painter is a short story collection by the young writer Zhou Lili, published in 2018 by Yilin Press as part of the "Graceful Collection." The book is threaded through by the experiences of Qiao Yuan, a university teacher who gives up his post, believing that entering the art district will allow him to embrace freedom—that taking a different road will lead to a different way out. Yet the art district is no utopia; as one of the "saved-as" people, he loses his footing again and again and gradually loses his sense of direction. The collection includes more than ten pieces, among them "Fortification," "Circuit," "Revisit," "Transplant," "Round Trip," "Save As," "Succession," "Next Year," "Jump Rope," and "Seven Years," plus an afterword, "In This World Are Countless Painters, Yet No One Can Paint a Broken Heart." Set against the backdrop of an art district, the stories portray a diverse contemporary community of artists and capture the chance or inevitable loves and hatreds, partings and reunions, support and injuries between people. Zhou Lili's writing is distilled from everyday life and leans toward quiet observation and detachment; she does not rush to judge her characters but reveals the circumstances and inner states of those on the margins through detail and omission, giving the whole collection a restrained and distinctive lyrical quality.

Editor's review

在“窈窕文丛”这批风格鲜明的年轻女作家中，周李立的写法显得格外克制。她不写传奇，也不急着替人物找答案，只是把一个辞去教职、漂在艺术区里的人，连同他周围的画家、经纪人、朋友和旧情，一段段摆出来给读者看。全书约十五万字，十来篇小说彼此呼应，人物在不同篇目间往来，读起来既像短篇集，也像一幅拼贴起来的当代艺术圈风俗画。“另存者”这个说法尤为精准：既指没有保存下来的文件，也指那些把自己另存到主流生活之外的人。书中写的失落、失重与失掉方向，并不限于艺术圈，任何在职业与理想之间犹豫过的人读到，都会有共鸣。周李立曾获第十七届百花文学奖等多项文学奖，笔力稳定，文字干净，偶有锋利的洞察藏在平淡叙述之下。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢中国当代短篇小说、偏爱克制叙事的读者
对艺术家群体、艺术区生活与文艺圈生态感兴趣的人
正在职业转型或对“不走寻常路”有所犹豫的读者
关注年轻女作家写作、想系统读“窈窕文丛”的读者

Not a good fit for

偏爱强情节、快节奏类型小说的读者
期待得到明确答案或励志结论的读者
不适应多篇互文、跳跃式人物关系的读者

Reading tips

可先读同名压轴的《另存》，抓住“另存者”乔远这条主线，再回头读前面的篇目。
留意同一人物在不同篇目中的再次出现，把它们当作同一世界的不同侧面来读。
读完正文后别跳过代后记《世间无限丹青手，一片伤心画不成》，它提示了书名的来处与全书情绪。
适合在安静时段每天读一两篇，保持篇目之间的间隔，更能体会作者留白的分寸。

About the publisher

Yilin Press China · Founded in 1988

Yilin Press focuses mainly on translated foreign literature. Its current catalogue of 318 titles covers common categories such as mystery and detective fiction, foreign literature, world classics, biography, and social novels. Representative books include The Complete Sherlock Holmes 2: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Pride and Prejudice, To the Lighthouse, The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, and Lives of the Artists: Michelangelo, often presented in bilingual or English-language editions that serve both original-text reading and language learning. Its author resources include foreign writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, and Romain Rolland, as well as translators including Li Jiazhen, Gao Fen, and Ma Ye. The catalogue also includes Chinese works such as Li Jieren's Ripples Across Stagnant Water. The press shows a concentrated publishing strength in foreign classics and bilingual readers; given limited public information, this overview is based only on catalogue data.

Fortification
Circuit
Revisit
Transplant
Round Trip
Save As
Succession
Next Year
Jump Rope
Seven Years
Afterword: In This World Are Countless Painters, Yet No One Can Paint a Broken Heart

FAQ

《丹青手》是长篇小说还是短篇小说集？

是短篇小说集，收录《设防》《回旋》《复访》《移栽》《往返》《另存》《更迭》《来年》《跳绳》《七年》等篇目及一篇代后记，各篇人物与场景彼此关联，整体围绕艺术区生活展开。

这本书和网文作者“丹青手”有关系吗？

没有关系。周李立的《丹青手》是2018年译林出版社出版的短篇小说集；“丹青手”同时也是晋江文学城一位网络小说作者的笔名，著有《三弃公子》等作品，容易混淆，请注意区分。

这本书属于哪个丛书？

属于译林出版社的“窈窕文丛”，该丛书收录多位风格鲜明的年轻女作家的作品，书中附有丛书编者的话《窈窕文丛：爱情一息尚存》。

全书大约多少字，需要读多久？

约15.3万字，篇幅适中，按每天一到两篇的节奏，一周左右可以读完。

书中“另存者”是什么意思？

既指未能保存下来的文件，也借指把自己“另存”到主流生活轨道之外的人；主人公乔远正是这样的形象，书名与主题由此呼应。

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About the author

周李立 Author

Zhou Lili is an author about whom relatively limited public information is currently available. Only one work by this author is included in the collection, namely Black Bear Monster. According to the existing classification, this work falls under social fiction, suggesting that the author's writing tends toward realistic themes and focuses on the circumstances and relationships of people in social life. Because information about the author's biography, creative career, and overall body of work remains unclear, it is not yet possible to give a complete account of the author's writing trajectory. As for Black Bear Monster itself, the title carries a certain symbolic or allegorical quality, while its placement in social fiction suggests that the work may use a specific story to reflect real-world issues and to present tensions between individuals and their environment, or between the individual and the group. For readers who wish to learn about this author, this work can serve as an initial entry point for encountering the author's writing style, and further materials and works are still needed to supplement the picture.