Blossoms

Name: Blossoms
ISBN: 9787532148004

金宇澄Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House2013

4.3

Word count: 349K words
Chapters: 34
ISBN: 9787532148004

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Summary

Blossoms is the major novel by Jin Yucheng. It was first serialized online in 2011 under the pen name "Dushang Gelou" on Longtang.net, appeared in 2012 in the long-form special issue of Harvest, and was published by Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House in March 2013. The book follows three childhood friends—Husheng, Abao, and Xiaomao—as its main threads, linking the fortunes of many Shanghai residents and moving back and forth between the 1960s and 1990s. Through extensive dialogue and meticulous details of everyday life, it presents an ever-expanding network of life in Shanghai's alleyways, restaurants, factories, and neighborhoods. The narrative shifts frequently between boyhood dreams and the feasts and toasts of the 1990s, neither hiding life's coarseness and loss nor failing to preserve the warmth in food, clothing, dialect, and old objects. The novel uses a written language imbued with the feel of the Shanghai dialect and has been seen by critics as an attempt to continue the tradition of storytelling scripts and The Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai; the word "buxiang" (no response) recurs throughout, becoming a marker of the characters' silence and the mood of the era. Blossoms won the 9th Mao Dun Literature Prize, the first CCTV "China Good Book" award, and first place on the Chinese Fiction Society's 2012 novel rankings, among other honors.

Editor's review

这是一部可以慢慢读、反复读的当代上海小说。金宇澄不靠情节的强刺激取胜，而是用一场场饭局、一段段闲谈、一次次沉默，把三代人的命运铺展成一张细密的网。语言最为独特：带有沪语语感的书面语加上大量对话，读来像听说书人笃悠悠地讲述，句子短、节奏慢，却极耐咀嚼。书中人物众多、时空跳跃，初读或觉散，读进去便会发现每个人物都在为自己的处境作答，悲欢并不虚张。它既写饮食男女，也写山河岁月与时代变迁；既是地域小说，也是记忆小说。对关心城市文学、方言写作和中国当代长篇小说叙事的读者而言，《繁花》是绕不过去的一本。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢上海城市史与市民生活细节的读者
对中国当代长篇小说和茅盾文学奖作品有兴趣的读者
愿意接受缓慢叙事与方言语感的耐心型读者
有一定阅读积累、喜欢群像叙事的文学爱好者

Not a good fit for

偏爱强情节、快节奏悬疑或爽文的读者
对大量人物与跳跃时间线难以适应的入门读者
希望靠阅读系统学习上海方言的学习者

Reading tips

初读可先记住沪生、阿宝、小毛三条主线，其余人物随情节逐步归位，不必一开始理清全部关系。
阅读时留意章节中两条时间线的切换标记，遇到时间跳转可回看本段首句的年份或场景提示。
可备一份人物关系表，或参考版本附录的人物小传与关系图，避免中途混淆。
不必追求速度，每章读完后停顿片刻，回味其中的对话与沉默，更能体会文本的节奏。

About the publisher

Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1952

Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House takes modern and contemporary Chinese literature and folk literature as important publishing directions, while also covering social novels, classic works, and prose and miscellaneous writings, and has long introduced foreign literature and philosophical works. Its books include masterpieces such as Lao She's Teahouse and Camel Xiangzi, Lu Xun's Call to Arms and Wandering and Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk, and Xiao Hong's Tales of Hulan River, as well as translations such as Gilles Deleuze's Nietzsche and Philosophy, Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, and The Pillars of the Earth trilogy. Its authors include Lao She, Lu Xun, Xiao Hong, Zhou Ying, Liu Yuyu, and Jiang Yi, reflecting a publishing character that balances original literature, academic translation, and general reading.

Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Epilogue
Afterword

FAQ

《繁花》和其他上海题材小说有什么不同？

它主要依靠大量对话与细密的生活细节推进，而非依靠戏剧性冲突。金宇澄以接近说书人的口吻叙述，语言带有沪语语感，并有意接续话本与《海上花列传》的叙事传统，因此常被评价为别具一格的城市写作。

这本书获过什么重要奖项？

《繁花》获第九届茅盾文学奖，并获首届央视“中国好书”、第二届施耐庵文学奖、中国小说学会2012年度长篇小说排行榜第一名，以及华语文学传媒大奖年度小说家等奖项。

书里的“不响”是什么意思？

“不响”是吴语中“不说话、不吭声”的说法，书中出现上千次。它既是上海人日常对话里的应答习惯，也承载了人物在特定情境下的克制、回避与情绪，是理解本书语言风格的一个关键词。

没有上海话基础能读下去吗？

可以。全书使用带有沪语语感的书面语，并非纯粹方言写作，多数句子按普通话阅读即可理解；少数方言词与句式可结合上下文推断，不影响整体阅读。

电视剧《繁花》和原著关系大吗？

王家卫执导的电视剧《繁花》取材自本书，但影视改编侧重九十年代的部分人物与故事，并作了较大艺术加工。原著时间跨度更长、人物更多元，叙事也更为分散，建议把两者当作不同的作品看待。

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About the author

金宇澄 Author

Jin Yucheng is a Chinese novelist and essayist. Public information about him is limited, and this database does not systematically record details of his life, education, or professional positions. It currently holds four of his works: the novel Blossoms, the nonfiction work Looking Back, the four-volume collection Family Letters, and the essay collection The Shuffling Era. Blossoms is his representative work, known for its Shanghai-inflected voice and street-level storytelling, and was adapted into a同名 television series starring Hu Ge, Ma Yili, and Tang Yan. The Shuffling Era is regarded as a sourcebook for Blossoms, reflecting his long-standing attention to Shanghai's urban memory and everyday life. Looking Back leans toward documentary and biographical writing, while Family Letters presents personal and family records in epistolary form. Overall, Jin Yucheng's writing is often categorized as social fiction, documentary literature, and classic works, with a nuanced, restrained style and a strong sense of place and period.