Writers should be true to their convictions

I still remember that afternoon more than 20 years ago when I first read Red Sorghum. I was bowled over. I hadn't yet come across the works of William Faulkner or Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and as I read Red Sorghum then, I felt a rush of elation that a story about "my grandfather" and "my grandmother" could be told so boldly and without restraint.

Now when I reread the novel to try and recapture that thrill, I realised it is gone for good. I also tried to read Mo Yan's other works that I hadn't read before, but I gave up before long. A voice inside kept telling me I was wasting my time.

I stopped reading his works some years ago because his verbose and repetitious writing began to irritate me. Now, I must admit that I don't like his work for reasons other than literary merit.

A writer can be politically incorrect or completely apolitical, but he must be honest. If a writer writes honestly about something outside politics, or reflects movingly about his inner struggles, that's something of value to us.

But if a writer has to walk a fine line in his daily life, yet the content of his works reflects nothing of this spiritual tussle, I can only conclude that the works are not serious.

Mo Yan once told a foreign reporter after the June 4 crackdown in 1989 that he had lost faith in the Chinese Communist Party. Yet he kept his party membership, accepted party promotions and today is the vice-chairman of the state-run Chinese Writers' Association.