MCLC: life after prodigy

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: life after prodigy
***********************************************************

Source: Global Times (11/17/13):
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/825486.shtml#.UpC7NWTwJgI

Life after prodigy
By Li Jingjing

When looking back at our past, the younger version of ourselves sometimes
excites us, sometimes embarrasses us. As we grow older, we tend to rethink
or even regret what we did. Life experience shapes us into a different
person. 

This also holds true for Jiang Fangzhou, who was hailed as a gifted child
when she published her first book at the age of 9 in 1999. A well-known
writer by her teenage years and then a student at Tsinghua University,
Jiang is now the deputy editor of New Weekly - at the ripe old age of 24.

With so much attention put on her precocious pursuits, Jiang had a lot of
eyes watching her as she made the transition into adulthood. Despite her
reputation as a brave and even rebellious writer, Jiang is now admitting
that she "has not lived."

After going five years without publishing any new books, Jiang returns
with I Admit That I Haven't Lived. She looks back on what she gained and
lost in her unique adolescence and tries to say goodbye to her prodigy
past.

With age comes wisdom

Born in 1989, Jiang has already penned 10 books. She was also a columnist
for many publications when she was a teenager.

When Jiang first started publishing her books at such a young age, people
questioned whether her mother was the ghostwriter. When she was accepted
by Tsinghua University, people questioned whether the university lowered
its enrollment standards to let her in. When she became the deputy editor
of New Weekly right after she graduated from Tsinghua, people questioned
her qualifications for that, too.

The biggest reason this young woman attracts so much controversy, though,
may be her candid writing style. She's never concealed her desire to be
famous. She wrote boastfully in one of her earlier books that "early
ripening apples sell well" and "I have high standards about finding a
boyfriend: He has to be as rich as Bill Gates, as handsome as Chow
Yun-fat, as romantic as Leonardo DiCaprio and as strong as Viagra." Her
sophisticated yet unconventional way of writing inspired many debates -
all centered around her.

All the fame and all the disputes don't seem to ruffle Jiang's feathers.
However, in an interview with the Global Times, Jiang revealed that "the
older I grow, the more fragile I feel."

She said she did not fear those judgments when she was a child and had the
feeling of proving herself to those who did judge her. The more negative
the voices, the stronger she wanted to be.

"I used to think all those people who hated me and said bad things about
me were bad people," Jiang said. "But now that I've grown up, I can
totally understand them. You can't judge one person as a bad guy just
because he or she questioned you."

Compared to her previously sheltered life in a small city in Hubei
Province where she was insulated from insults, Jiang now can easily view
all the hurtful comments online herself - and she has found that she can
be easily hurt.

The 'post-1980' attitude

On the cover of her new book, she wrote "recording itself is a
resistance." This is also the main idea of the second chapter.

When she came up with this phrase, Jiang said she was not entirely sure
what to "resist." Was she resisting age, resisting society?

"Then I came up with a perfect answer: To resist anything that stopped us
from being ourselves," she said.

Her attitude and her experiences are representative of the "post-1980"
generation, which used to be questioned, criticized and once regarded as a
hopeless, self-absorbed generation in China.

Post-1980s were once judged for being too self-centered and rebellious. In
recalling her school days, Jiang addresses these ideas by comparing and
contrasting her own generation with those preceding it.

Unlike those who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s with strong collective
memories shaped by political and historical events, post-1980s don't have
these same shared experiences. That is one reason, Jiang said, that they
are more focused on themselves and disregard conventions.

Jiang shared that she was once concerned that her age cohort was more
pessimistic, but when she finished working on this book, she found her
generation to be a hopeful one.

"You have the space to make choices," Jiang said. "The last generation
just accepted the rules of this world, whereas we see ourselves as the
ones who make the rules."

Yan Lianke, an influential Chinese novelist, praised the young writer, who
is a friend of his.

"Her understanding about literature is different from our generation,"
said 55-year-old Yan. "Her understanding has already surpassed our
generation. This book can end the last generation's writers' doubts about
the newer generations."

Farewell to labels

Jiang admits that in the five years she wasn't putting out new books, she
encountered writer's block. She expressed her frustration many times when
she was in college. The excellence of the other students made her doubt
herself.

Ever since she published a book at 9, Jiang had been coming out with a new
book every year. 

"One day I suddenly doubted the meaning of publishing new books," she
said. "Am I doing it for others or for myself?"

Even in her break from publishing books, Jiang never stopped writing, and
turned to other ways of creating.

That's why in this book, she includes a collection of all the articles she
wrote over the past few years. She adds postscripts to each piece about
the circumstances that led to the article, and what she thinks now when
she rereads it.

Though far from her first effort, this book represents something new and
different for Jiang.

"Many messages from readers touched me deeply," she said. "They didn't see
Jiang Fangzhou in this book. They saw themselves."

And for Jiang personally, I Admit That I Haven't Lived marks the end of
her childhood. Farewell to the child prodigy, farewell to the teenage
writer, farewell to the Tsinghua genius, farewell to all the labels.

"When I finally hung up all my titles, I felt I finally got a book that
doesn't embarrass me," she said.