Block Book cover

Block Book

Rating 4.7
Word count
261K words
Series
CITIC Dafang · Zhao Song Works Series
ISBN
9787521766653

Tags

Summary

Block Book is a representative work by the writer Zhao Song, reissued in a revised new edition by CITIC Press · Dafang in 2024. The book is assembled from hundreds of independent short pieces, each like a building block: readers can enter at any page, set it down at any time, and assemble their own reading order. These short pieces depict how a "person" in a modern city without a clear sense of era builds emotional connections with things concrete or abstract—wind, water drops, buildings, crowds, distance, relationships—through gaze; light, wind, and raindrops can all become stories, and the crevices of daily life hide the subtle measures of how a person coexists with the world. The author assembles the material into a flowing city, letting readers gradually see how a person understands the self, approaches others, and coexists with all things. The book has no table of contents; every piece begins with an ellipsis, and before the old edition went to print the author even deleted an eight-page table of contents. The title comes from a piece of the same name in the book, symbolizing both innocent and stubborn imagination and the instability and fragility of piecing fragments together. The new edition readjusts the overall structure, substantially increases the word count, and revises individual pieces and sentences, presenting this "game between people and fiction" more completely.

Editor's review

这是一本在形式上就让人记住的小说:方块状的精装小书,数百则短章,没有目录,每篇都以省略号起头。赵松删掉了原本八页的目录,把阅读的顺序交还给读者——你可以从头读到尾,也可以随手翻开任意一页,像搭积木一样把碎片拼成自己的城市。形式上足够大胆,文字却很克制:风、水滴、建筑物的阴影、陌生人之间的距离,都被写得安静而有重量。它不靠情节推动,靠的是目光与感受的密度,适合在通勤路上、睡前十分钟一段一段地读。2024年新版结构调整、字数翻倍,并修订了旧版篇目,是认识赵松小说美学比较合适的一个入口;豆瓣9.3的评分,也说明这种“不太像小说的小说”确实击中了不少读者。

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • 喜欢实验性叙事、不依赖强情节的文学读者。
  • 欣赏现代汉语质感、愿意逐句慢读的散文与小说爱好者。
  • 时间零碎、需要可随时拿起放下读物的通勤读者。
  • 想了解中国当代青年作家写作面貌的文学研究者与编辑。

Not a good fit for

  • 期待完整故事线、明确人物与结局的传统小说读者。
  • 偏好节奏紧凑、情节反转的类型文学读者。

Reading tips

  1. 不必按页码顺序读,可先随手翻几则短章,感受语言节奏再决定阅读方式。
  2. 准备一支笔或便签,记录触动你的短章编号,读完后按自己的逻辑重新排列。
  3. 一次读十到二十则即可,间隔着读比一口气读完更能体会碎片之间的呼吸。
  4. 读完后可对照赵松的《你们去荒野》《抚顺故事集》,理解他笔下的城市与人的连续主题。

About the publisher

CITIC Press China · Founded in 1988

Founded in 1988 and affiliated with China CITIC Group, CITIC Press focuses on business and economics, social sciences, literature and children's books, with common categories covering social sciences, finance, literature, Eastern philosophy and literary appreciation. Its library holds 91 titles, including Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens trilogy, Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Wu Xiaobo's Thirty Years of Strife: Chinese Enterprises 1978–2008, Nelly Sachs's The Weight of Butterflies: Selected Poems of Nelly Sachs, as well as New Interpretations of the Analects and Chiang Hsun's lectures on Dream of the Red Chamber. Its authors and translators include Lin Junhong, Ba Shusong, Chen Li and Chang Fen-ling. Overall, the press introduces influential works in finance and social sciences while balancing classic translation and local appreciation in literature and Eastern philosophy, combining academic depth with accessible reading.

FAQ

《积木书》是长篇小说还是短篇集?
它更接近由数百则独立短章构成的小说集,各篇章之间没有连续情节,靠主题与语气相互呼应。赵松本人也把它视为一场读者可自由组合的“人与小说的游戏”,而非传统意义的长篇故事。
这本书为什么没有目录?
据作者自述,临付印时他删去了长达八页的目录,希望阅读顺序完全由读者决定;每一篇又以省略号开头,使任何一页都可以成为入口,呼应“积木”可自由拼接的结构。
2024年新版和旧版有什么区别?
新版由中信出版·大方推出,整体结构有较大调整,字数翻倍,并修订了部分篇目与语句,例如旧版中的《M》在新版更名为《消失》。若只读一版,建议选新版。
需要按顺序从头读到尾吗?
不需要。此书的设计初衷就是可随意翻阅,从任何一则进入都不影响理解;按顺序读会得到一条线索,跳读则更像自由拼装,两种方式都成立。

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About the author

赵松 Author

Zhao Song is an author about whom little public information is available. The library currently holds only one work by this author, a history title called Yin (Concealment). Since details such as nationality, dates of birth and death, and an English name cannot be confirmed, only the known work can be briefly described here. Yin is classified as a history book, indicating that Zhao Song's writing deals with historical subject matter and may approach historical figures, events, or cultural phenomena related to the idea of concealment through narrative or organized exposition. The title Yin itself suggests hiding, withdrawal, and remaining unshown, perhaps pointing to aspects of history that have been overlooked or obscured, though the specific approach and scope cannot be inferred from the limited material. On the available evidence, Zhao Song's body of work is not yet enough to form a complete picture, and readers wishing to understand the style and influence would need to consult the actual content of Yin.

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