《荒漠里有一条鱼》
作者：赵本夫 著
出版时间：2020年6月
书号：978-7-5306-7893-0
《荒漠里有一条鱼》是著名作家赵本夫的最新长篇小说。故事发生在一个经历过大洪水、不受任何文明束缚的野性荒原——鱼王庄，在这片奇诡神秘的传奇之乡诞生了生命力惊人的野性生灵——鱼王庄人，这些野性强悍的鱼王庄人在荒原上繁衍、生存、一代代坚持不懈地种树，终将荒漠变为绿洲。本书具有雄浑厚重的史诗气质，展现了华夏儿女坚韧强悍、原始自由的生命强力和执着坚韧的精神光辉。作者在小说中深入挖掘上续秦汉、根植农耕的地域传统，展现出中原文化阳刚雄浑、苍凉悲壮的慷慨之气，是一曲现实世界的精神浩歌。
作家塑造的以“鱼王庄”为代表的黄河故道荒原，和贾平凹的“商州”、莫言的“高密东北乡”形成彼此的呼应与对照，成为当代文学中又一内蕴丰富的空间地标。
作品持续探问鱼王庄中几代人的精神世界，彰显恶劣的自然生态对人类精神的塑形作用，特别是极端环境对人类原始生命强力的激发。鱼王庄人是绝境中的生命奇迹，永远面临着苦难、死亡、矛盾和信仰的磨砺，而他们的野性生命力最终在对信仰的坚持中得到了超越和升华。在泥潭中挣扎了几十年的鲤鱼王是书中重要的意象，象征着永不屈服、生命力惊人的中华民族，鱼王的生存意志和生殖能力对鱼王庄人有着重要的意义，正是鱼王的精神支撑着人们能够在绝境中艰难求生、繁衍。在作者笔下，对生命的渴望和尊重是本书令人肃然的精神内核。
在《荒漠里有一条鱼》中，故事以三个时空交叉叙写：第一个时空写渔夫老八与大黑牛在洪水后幸存，回到荒原重建家园，他们发现了鱼王，建立鱼王庙与鱼王庄；第二个时空写大药商梅云游偶然发现鱼王庄后，带领鱼王庄人种树以改变环境，为鱼王庄人树立了美好生活的信念；第三个时空是梅家的后裔老扁与鱼王庄人一起抵抗战争与灾祸，终将荒漠变为绿洲。作者这种充分利用时间、空间的特征来推动故事的发展，并将时间次序和空间打破、重组的手法使得小说形成了一个旖旎多姿的叙述空间。
本书对于野性土地、野性生命力的描绘，能够唤醒当下读者对土地和人性那原始而神圣的记忆，从而给当代人以巨大的心灵震撼。作品强调了人类原始基因中的种植本能，这对今天我们倡导的生态意识、寻觅生命根基，极有现实意义。
《荒漠里有一条鱼》展示了中国人超强生存意志与能力，探究了中华文化的深厚底蕴，是一部以中国人的生活经验为人类命运共同体的前行提供启示的大书。
There’s a Fish in the Dessert is the latest novel by the famous writer Zhao Benfu. The story takes place in a wild wasteland that has experienced a great flood and is not bound by any civilization—Yuwang Village. In this strange and mysterious land, people of Yuwang Village were born. These wild and fierce Yuwang villagers survive, breed, and plant trees unremittingly from generation to generation, eventually turning the desert into an oasis. This book shows the tough, primitive and free life force and perseverance of Chinese people. In the novel, the author deeply digs into the regional traditions rooted in farming, and shows the masculine, desolate, tragic and majestic generosity of the Central Plains culture, which is a spiritual song of the real world.
The barren wasteland of the Yellow River, represented by “Yuwang Village” which is created by the author, echoes and contrasts with Jia Pingwa’s “Shangzhou” and Mo Yan’s “Gaomi”. The Yuwang Village now becomes another rich spatial landmark in contemporary Chinese literature.
The work explores the spiritual world of several generations in Yuwang Village, highlighting the harsh natural ecology’s shaping effect on the human spirit, especially the powerful stimulation of primitive life by the extreme environment. The people of Yuwang Village are the miracle of life in a desperate situation. Faced with suffering, death, conflicts, their wild vitality has finally been surpassed and sublimated in the persistence of belief. The King Carp, who has been struggling in the mud for decades, is an important image in the book, symbolizing the Chinese people’s unyielding determination to survive and their amazing vitality. The desire and respect for life is the soul of the book.
In There’s a Fish in the Desert, the story is cross-narrated in three time zones. The first time zone is about two fishermen who survived the flood and returned to the wasteland to rebuild their home. They discovered the King Carp and built the Yuwang Temple and the Yuwang Village. The second time zone writes that after Mei Yunyou, a medicine merchant, accidentally found Yuwang Village, he led people there to plant trees to change the environment, and established the belief in a better life. In the third time zone, together with other villagers, Lao Bian, a descendant of the Mei family, resisted wars and disasters. They eventually turned the desert into an oasis. The author makes full use of the characteristics of time and space to develop the story, and reorganizes the time order and space to create a charming narrative.
The description of the wild land and vitality in this book can awaken readers’ primitive and sacred memories of the land and human nature, thus giving a spiritual shock to contemporary people. The work emphasizes the primitive instinct to plant of human beings, which is highly relevant to the ecological consciousness and the search for the roots of life that we advocate today.
There’s a Fish in the Desert shows the strong will and ability of Chinese people to survive, and explores the profound foundation of Chinese culture. It is a great book that uses the life experience of Chinese people to provide inspiration for the advancement of all mankind.
