The High Man

The High Man is a novel by Liu Haisheng, the second book in his "People" trilogy alongside The Noble Man and The Famous Man. Set in a county town and reaching outward to the provincial capital, it follows a group of ordinary people at the bottom of society as they climb upward amid the reforms and the gains and losses that follow. Xiao San comes from an ordinary family and has no steady job; after catching the eye of his boss's daughter on a delivery run, he is drawn into the circle of a local private enterprise. As the entrepreneur and the power relationships behind him shift, Xiao San is pushed into the foreground and witnesses firsthand the rise and fall of the business, the reshuffling of personnel, and the warmth and coldness of human ties. The book also brings to life a cast of sharply drawn small figures such as Taohua, Third Uncle, and the blind man, each with their own calculations, dignity, and struggles. The author sketches his characters in an almost cartoonish manner, with plain yet pointed language, and is adept at unfolding psychological description at key moments; the story advances along linear time, and the narration is steady and solid. The novel neither creates lofty heroes nor rushes to pass moral judgment; instead it suspends the term "high man" and lets readers decide for themselves who stands on high ground and what that high ground means. The work attends to the survival resolve and spiritual aspiration of those at the bottom, and reveals the slow, complex growth of the soul amid entanglements of interest.