Soul Mountain (Paperback)

A destination chosen arbitrarily, at the suggestion of a fellow traveller, the elusive Lingshan becomes rich with meaning for the narrator of Soul Mountain. Meanwhile, the narrator himself shows a tendency to go forth and multiply. First he divides into You and I. Then You generates yet a third voice, a somewhat simple but intense young woman named She, followed by He--and none of these personae can resist the elemental lure of the sacred site. Indeed, the search for Lingshan becomes a metaphor for all spiritual striving:

Would it be better to go along the main road? It will take longer travelling by the main road? After making some detours you will understand in your heart? Once you understand in your heart you will find it as soon as you look for it? The important thing is to be sincere of heart? If your heart is sincere then your wish will be granted?

Along the way, I and You mourn the devastations of the Cultural Revolution, when thousands of monuments, temples, and graves were reduced to rubble. The obliteration of these reminders of the dead becomes a torment to the narrators of the novel, who struggle to assert their individuality--itself a proscribed act in Communist China--against what they see as a false and brutal ideal that has swept away history, literature, and tradition as decisively as it has destroyed the ancient forests. (At one point Gao describes the sad spectacle of the few remaining pandas, who wander a shrinking woodland wearing electronic transmitters.) Seamlessly translated by the Australian scholar Mabel Lee, Soul Mountain is a masterpiece of self-observation set against a soulful denunciation of "progress" and practicality. --Regina Marler

Review
'Chinese literature of the nineties will have to contend with the creative energy and the daring of Gao Xingjian.' Le Monde 'An original voice unlike any contemporary writing available in English... an extraordinary product of an imagination infused with European and Chinese cultures; an exploration of individual identity in a society that exalts the collective; and a daring play with voice that plunders ancient Chinese myths, philosophy, history, folk songs and memory.' Weekend Australian 'Gao's search is a wonderful realisation of the multiplicity of Chinese cultures and the persistence of a sense of the divine in the face of so much official hostility. Soul Mountain is part autobiography, part sexual rhapsody, part cynical rave at the meaninglessness of life. Gao has divided this mass into chapters, many of which can be read as self-contained episodes. Most are brilliant miniatures, exercises in style composed with an instinctive understanding of the way words work. Despite the deliberate disconnectedness, the book hangs together by dint of its linguistic energy and exuberant storytelling.' Courier Mail

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