Gray City
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Summary
"I am always there beside myself
Love is only eternal, never hostile
A cloud, a tree
A girl or a fish
All, all of it
Are seeds of flying memory
Breaking apart and merging, choosing and letting go"
In "One of the Spring Festival Overtures," he becomes an ordinary person, using the line "Those who leave will return to lift the lid on your memory" to express lonely longing, drawing you unawares to gaze into the abyss and touch the human soul.
In "Dish," he is nothing less than a young Werther, speaking his mind with a minimalist touch and stirring the resonance of youth.
"Because of you
I cannot be still
......
If the light you arrange
Were darker still
I could use imagination
To know all your virtues
If you stayed silent forever
I would not be dizzy from your voice"
The author often leaps between images. In "White Nurse," he writes:
"Dreams live in the dark
Hope is buried beneath the cold
......
The white nurse, old and faded
Took out a syringe
We have sores and ulcers on our bodies
And we have some words as well"
Poems like these make us feel he is saying something, and also that he is not saying anything. Perhaps "hesitating to speak" is another realm of poetry. Either way, we can still find beauty in the author's classical or modern narratives.
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers interested in urban literature and social issues
- Literary fans who enjoy exploring themes of human nature and memory
- Readers seeking a narrative style that combines the surreal and the real
- Thinkers concerned with the conflict between environmental protection and industrial development
Not a good fit for
- Readers who prefer light entertainment or fast-paced stories
- Readers who find abstract metaphor and complex narrative structures difficult
Reading tips
- Read in a quiet setting and immerse yourself, so as to better appreciate the author's delicate descriptions
- Compare the story with real-world cases of urban development as you read
- Pay attention to the recurrence of symbolic images in the book and try to understand their deeper meaning
About the publisher
Universal Publishing House is a comprehensive publishing institution headquartered in the United Kingdom. It focuses on publishing Chinese-language books, primarily for overseas Chinese authors, and its range covers literary genres such as wuxia novels, mystery and suspense, and social fiction, as well as law, art, and essays. Its catalogue currently contains about 220 titles, with representative works including Ximen Ding's complete Yidao Yunyan and the Shanmao Wangsen series, along with Burden of Proof in Medical Damage Liability Disputes in the Civil Code Era and Aesthetics, Calligraphy, and Miscellaneous Notes. Other representative authors include Tuo Mingsheng, Cao Lihua, Qian Baohuai, Zi Fei, Chen Yading, Ou Zhaoping, and Cang Er. Public information is limited; based on the books in the catalogue, its publishing direction leans toward genre fiction, humanities and social sciences, legal practice, and popular art books, and it offers authors one-stop publishing services including editing, typesetting, and distribution.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 内容简介
- 自序
- 辑一 春雨集（1982-1986）
- 月亮和星星总是要坠落
- 不告而辞
- 车站
- 记忆
- 风
- 无题
- 又一次
- 我漫无目的
- 油画
- 镜子和心
- 这是一个沉默的恋爱
- 不安
- 波特莱尔时代
- 深夜的阳台上
- 睡吧，一睡到底
- 水
- 误会
- 浪花情
- 法国梧桐
- 夏天
- 鲁迅的烟
- 对比句
- 蛇与兽
- 路灯
- 睡眠
- 康德的画像
- 挂历
- 空闲
- 多少次
- 空屋
- 梦见达利
- 湖滨
- 孤独
- 致Alice Wang
- 劳动者
- 旋转
- 政治
- 三个少年谈理想
- 仿志摩
- 丰满的天使
- 无之美
- 自由人
- 这条街
- 为什么
- 命题
- 真理之一
- 致弗洛伊德
- 流水
- 十四行诗
- 不要多想
- 辑二 浮雨集（1987-1987）
- 灰城
- 阳台上的那个姑娘
- 冷月
- 白色护士
- 致北岛
- 蚊友
- 三色猫
- 死恋
- 次晨
- 白色玫瑰
- 街市
- 世界
- 心灵终究能留住一些东西
- 夜
- 致野兽派画家弗拉芒克
- 真理之二
- 午后
- 家庭
- 栈桥上的少女
- 周末之雨
- 鸽子
- 树干
- 树
- 独步
- 永恒的记忆
- 魔鬼
- 自由是一首十四行诗
- 坦白
- 诗学
- 夜之印象
- 至少
- 春天要唱歌了
- 星归
- 悲伤的面庞
- 灵感
- 这不仅仅是脆弱
- 黑夜的礼物
- 梦
- 白炽灯
- 瓶中
- 辑三 新雨集（1988-2004）
- 假如我住在莱茵河畔
- 听着你播放的乐曲
- 今晚无人来访
- 思
- 致——
- 沙都河上的垂钓者
- 楚歌
- 江心岛
- 永恒的爱
- 魔鬼河岸
- 芹
- 菜
- 梦草
- 你是我的昨天
- 秋天的望城
- 时间
- 我曾经被你照亮
- 午夜花园
- 珠宝
- 回忆
- 黄昏
- 我们将离去，如夜莺
- 在你的身上我寄托了梦想
- 生命之水
- 靠近海峡的肌肤
- 迷你山的梦
- 风景
- 核——致年轻的王
- 世界永远魅力不减
- 天使长
- 这是一个无星辰的世界
- 无题之二
- 紫色杜鹃
- 诗是——
- 深绿色的幽灵
- 很久以前
- 我回答，我是渺小的
- 我知道时间是痛苦的
- 无情的呼喊
- 我不生气
- 我还不想就此消失
- 孩子，人世间瞬间的欢喜
- 孩子，我对你是这样地不了解
- 寂静之晨
- 中百六店
- 让雨声将我淹没
- 金色而秀丽的地方
- 赶集（长诗）
- 辑四 寒雨集（2014-2023）
- 春节序曲之一
- 春节序曲之二
- 一只穷猫
- 去，还是不去
- 秘密花园
- 病人
- 雪山
- 藏女童
- 又是一个元旦
- 爱需要——
- 白鸟
- 一刻珍贵
- 这么快，你就走了
- 母亲的双眼
- 囚禁自己
- 老友聚
- 陪护
- 湖北情人
- 洛阳
- 虚无之桥
- 灰尘
- 绿皮车
- 长假
- 组诗：大漠无烟
- 乌云
- 救赎
- 幸存者
- 满足
- 肿瘤病房
- 失眠
- 阳光下读诗
- 康沃尔的梦
- 人世
- 纸钱
- 五七
- 止语
- 礼物
- 曲径
- 晚安，灵魂
- 狮子
- 风景画
- 包围
- 阿尔兹海默症的自白
- 玩家
- 望城
- 北极熊
- 理想国
- 云也这么日系了
- 梅雨季
- 幸福之人
FAQ
How is Grey City related to Hornbill's previous work, White City?
Do the surreal elements in the book affect the story's realism?
Is this book suitable as material for a book club discussion?
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About the author
Hornbill is an author about whom limited public information is currently available; the library holds only one work by this author, the representative piece Grey City. Judging from the existing classification, Grey City is categorized as modern poetry, which suggests that Hornbill enters readers' view primarily through poetic writing. Since basic details such as nationality, dates of birth and death, and English name are not clearly recorded, this introduction makes no speculation about the author's personal history, creative development, or literary lineage. Based on the materials currently available, Hornbill's writing profile is concentrated in this single work, Grey City, which takes the form of modern poetry and carries the atmosphere of contemporary poetic writing in both subject matter and style. Readers wishing to learn about this author may begin with Grey City and sense its linguistic choices and emotional tone within the text itself. Given the limited material, a complete picture of Hornbill's creative output still awaits further works and public information.
