Passing the Hurdle

Name: Passing the Hurdle
ISBN: 9787550737099

郭海鸿Shenzhen Publishing House · ChinaNov 2023

3.5

Word count: 137K words
Chapters: 17
ISBN: 9787550737099

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Summary

The novel *Crossing the Pass* follows two families and two generations in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, portraying the tender affections, pure love, and entrepreneurial journeys of young people against the backdrop of deepening Shenzhen–Hong Kong integration in the new era. The encounters between Zhu Charlie and his son and the family of Li Gaimei are dramatic and coincidental, yet also embody the broader currents of social development. The novel illuminates the emotional and spiritual worlds of its characters while reflecting the complexity and intrigue of business dealings; it attends to the happiness of elderly romance and the hardships of young people building careers, rich in dramatic conflict and expressive of the times.

The author writes with delicate strokes and a precise grasp of human nature and feeling, creating well-rounded, vivid characters in Li Gaimei, Zhu Charlie, Professor Zhang, and others, each with a distinct spiritual world. At the same time, the novel offers a comprehensive and profound understanding of the broader era, capturing the complex textures of the urban business world. It is an excellent work warm with the spirit of the times and alive with contemporary resonance.

*Crossing the Pass* depicts the intersections of a small number of people, yet reveals a grand theme: the coordinated development of Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Editor's review

Passing the Test is a novel by Guo Haihong that focuses on grassroots civil servants. With delicate brushwork and solid, lived detail, it depicts the protagonist's complex journey of growth, striving, and choice within the system. It is not a simple officialdom novel or workplace guide; its core value lies in its deep exploration of the faint glimmers of humanity woven into the intersection of individual fate and the tide of the times. Guo Haihong has long been rooted at the grassroots, and his writing carries a gritty authenticity and groundedness that make the characters' predicaments and spiritual breakthroughs highly convincing. Reading this book, you can feel a restrained narrative tension—there are no dramatic schemes and power struggles, but rather the friction between ideals and reality in daily work, the collisions between principle and human sentiment, and the persistence in trying to keep one's spirit "passing the test" amid triviality and pressure. For readers, this book offers a rare internal perspective for understanding the survival state and spiritual trajectory of individuals within a vast system; its literary value and significance as social observation far exceed mere curiosity about a particular industry.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in the relationship between the contemporary institutional ecosystem and individual destiny
Lovers of realist fiction who value lived detail and psychological portrayal of characters
Working professionals who resonate with, or feel torn between, holding fast to ideals and adapting to reality
Observers who hope to understand the living conditions of a particular social group through literature

Not a good fit for

Entertainment-oriented readers seeking strong plot, fast pace, and workplace intrigue or romance
Pragmatists expecting clear career-advancement techniques or practical guides

Reading tips

Read it as a serious contemporary novel of human feeling, attending to the characters' inner turbulence more than the ups and downs of external events.
Pay some attention to the book's depiction of southern county society and grassroots work scenes; this is an important part of its texture.
As you read, consider the multiple metaphors in the title "Crossing the Border": it is procedural, but also moral and spiritual.

About the publisher

Shenzhen Publishing House China · Founded in 1984

Shenzhen Publishing House is a comprehensive publisher whose list spans biography, essays and miscellaneous writings, social psychology, management, documentary literature and social sciences. In biography and documentary writing, it offers translations such as Simone de Beauvoir's "All Said and Done: Beauvoir's Autobiography" and "A Very Easy Death"; in literary essays it includes works by Feng Zikai and Liang Xiaosheng, such as "Years Flow By" and "Riding Out in Spring, Blossoms in Summer Nights." Books on social psychology and thought include Alan Watts's "The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are" and "Just Want to Be a Cat or Dog, Free from worldly sorrows." In economics and management there is Zheng Yongnian's "Industrial Policy Transformation: China and the World," and in writing methods, "The Rower: My Entertaining Notes on Creative Writing Training." The library currently holds 137 titles; public information is limited, and the above reflects its publishing directions solely on the basis of its catalog.

版权信息
第一章李改梅
第二章朱查理
第三章李改梅
第四章朱查理
第五章李改梅
第六章张教授
第七章朱查理
第八章李改梅
第九章朱查理
第十章李改梅
第十一章张教授
第十二章李改梅
第十三章张教授
第十四章李改梅
第十五章朱查理
第十六章尾声

FAQ

How is this book different from common "officialdom novels"?

The book focuses more on depicting the daily living conditions and inner worlds of grassroots civil servants. Its literary quality and concern for ordinary human nature outweigh its display of power tactics and rules, and its style is plainer and more introspective.

Does author Guo Haihong have any special creative background?

Guo Haihong has long experience working and living at the grassroots level, and his writing is mostly rooted in the familiar Lingnan countryside and market-town life, which gives his work a strong texture of lived experience and regional character.

Is the novel's tone heavy, or does it carry hope?

The tone is realist and somewhat weighty, honestly presenting many difficulties, yet throughout it explores human goodness, responsibility, and original aspiration, and against its gray backdrop there is no lack of warmth and resilient glimmers of light.

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About the author

郭海鸿 Author

Public information about Guo Haihong is limited. What can be confirmed at present is that the author has two works, Record of the Ancestral Hall: The Coming and Going of Governor Wang Lairan and Crossing the Pass, which fall respectively into the categories of biography and social fiction. Record of the Ancestral Hall: The Coming and Going of Governor Wang Lairan shows the author's interest in historical figures and local memory, narrating the deeds of the Qing dynasty official Wang Lairan in a documentary biographical mode. Crossing the Pass, classified as social fiction, indicates that the author also ventures into realistic fiction, focusing on the situations of people in social life. The two works span quite different subjects, one a biography of a historical figure and the other a social novel, reflecting the author's attempts in both nonfiction and fiction. Since the available materials do not provide information on the author's nationality, dates of birth and death, educational background, or writing career, a detailed account of the author's life cannot yet be given; readers may understand the author's writing through the two works mentioned above.