The Departed and the Vanished

Name: The Departed and the Vanished
ISBN: 9787530692547

王棘Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House · ChinaJul 2026

3.4

Word count: 120K words
Chapters: 9
ISBN: 9787530692547

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Summary

This collection brings together eight short stories and one novella by the author, all previously published in domestic literary journals and the digital magazine ONE. Several pieces, including "Lost Night in Chengdu," "The Child Born at Night," and "The Empty Room," were reprinted by selections such as Fiction Monthly and Works and Contention.

The stories in this collection portray ordinary people pushed to the margins of life and overlooked by the world. They may have suffered psychological trauma, been betrayed by a spouse, or fled their former lives due to physical or mental reasons. The stories focus on revealing the confusion, loneliness, struggle, reluctance, and release in the hearts of modern people, using words to illuminate the predicaments and fates of these marginal figures in everyday life.

Editor's review

Wang Ji's short-story collection Departing, Fading gathers eight short stories and one novella, several of which were reprinted by Fiction Monthly and Works and Contention, indicating that these works have gained a measure of recognition in the field of literary fiction. The stories turn their lens on ordinary people pushed by life into a corner: some carry psychological wounds, some suffer a spouse's betrayal, some flee their former lives for physical or mental reasons. Rather than manufacture dramatic conflict, the author presents the bewilderment, loneliness, and struggle of modern inner life in restrained prose, capturing the tug between defiance and acceptance within small everyday moments. Reading it, one feels a low, lingering tone throughout, like someone quietly telling, at night, of lives that go unnoticed. For readers who like to feel the weight of reality in short fiction, this book offers a sustained and steady literary texture. It suits slow reading story by story on quiet evenings, not for plot momentum but for pausing after each story to savor what lingers after the characters exit. It also serves as a sample for observing the current landscape of literary short-story writing.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who love literary short stories and prefer slow, attentive reading
Fans of fiction about marginalized people and psychological predicaments
Readers who want to understand the current writing of young authors through short stories
Literary readers who need short-story pacing for commutes or bedtime

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking strong plot and fast-paced twists
Those who prefer light, healing reads and avoid themes of trauma and loneliness
Readers who only read long novels and lack patience for short forms

Reading tips

Read slowly in the order of the contents, pausing briefly after each story rather than rushing into the next.
Start with reprinted pieces such as Lost Night in Chengdu and Empty Room to sense the author's typical style.
Keep a pen to mark emotional turning points and, after finishing, revisit how these details support the themes.
If time is fragmented, read just one story a day and keep the reading quiet and focused.

About the publisher

Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1958

Founded in August 1958 and restructured into Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. in 2009, Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House is known for publishing essays and fiction, and it hosts the journals Fiction Monthly and Essays. Its 757 titles in the library span classic works, culture, folk literature, essays and miscellaneous writings, foreign literature, and general biography. They include Lao She's Camel Xiangzi, Zhu Ziqing's selected essays and Classic Essays, Fu Lei's Twenty Lectures on Masterpieces of World Art, and a Chinese translation of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's Rashōmon, as well as cultural and performing-arts titles such as the illustrated Biography of Liang Qichao and A Dictionary of Crosstalk. Its authors include Lao She, Zhu Ziqing, Wu Qichang, Fu Lei, Xue Baokun, Gao Yucong, Wei Zhiqiang, and Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.

版权信息
小说家的遗产
迷失成都之夜
夜晚出生的孩子
在漩涡里
离开的消逝的
黑色梦中
晚风
空房间

FAQ

How many works are collected in this volume?

It contains eight short stories and one novella, all previously published in Chinese literary journals and the electronic magazine ONE. Among them, Lost Night in Chengdu, Child Born at Night, and Empty Room were reprinted by journals such as Fiction Monthly and Works and Contention.

What kind of characters do the stories mainly portray?

They portray ordinary, unnoticed people pushed by life into a corner. They may experience psychological trauma, suffer a spouse's betrayal, or flee their former lives for physical or mental reasons. The works focus on showing their inner bewilderment, loneliness, struggle, and the pull between defiance and acceptance.

I haven't read the author's other works. Can I start with this book?

Yes. This is a collection of short stories and a novella, each standing alone and not dependent on previous works. You can enter through any piece to sense the author's focus on ordinary people and psychological predicaments; starting with the reprinted pieces is recommended.

Is it suitable for reading in one sitting?

Not really. The emotional tone is rather heavy, dealing with themes of trauma, betrayal, and escape, and continuous reading can be tiring. Reading one or two stories a day is better, leaving time to digest and savor the aftertaste of each story's ending.

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About the author

王棘 Author

Wang Ji is a writer about whom relatively limited public information is currently available. The name appears in a Chinese book database, with the representative work Leaving, Fading. Based on the existing information, this work is categorized as a social novel, suggesting that Wang Ji's writing engages with social reality and explores the relationship between individuals and their social environment. Because the author's nationality, dates of birth and death, educational background, and writing career are not clearly documented, it is not yet possible to sketch a complete biographical outline or to identify the overall trajectory and phases of the author's creative work. As for Leaving, Fading, its title carries a sense of the passage of time and the transience of human affairs, echoing the realistic concerns common to social fiction and possibly presenting individuals' situations and choices amid changing times. A single work is not enough to summarize Wang Ji's writing style and literary influence; readers may learn more about the author's approach and concerns through the specific content of the book.