''Lapse of Time'' is a 1982 Chinese novella by

Wang Anyi Wang Anyi (born 6 March 1954) is a Chinese writer, vice-chair of the China Writers Association since 2006, and professor in Chinese Literature at Fudan University since 2004. Wang widely write novels, novellas, short stories and essays with dive ...

. The novella follows Ouyang Duanli, a strong-minded

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

woman who worked hard to support her and her husband's large family during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

when they were attacked as "former bourgeois". It was translated by

Howard Goldblatt Howard Goldblatt (, born 1939) is a literary translator of numerous works of contemporary Chinese (mainland China & Taiwan) fiction, including '' The Taste of Apples'' by Huang Chunming and '' The Execution of Mayor Yin'' by Chen Ruoxi. Goldblatt ...

and published in the 1988 anthology of the same name.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' praised the novella as having "the feel of a small epic yet never lapses into sentimentality or melodrama". Noting the author's social background before the Cultural Revolution, Rosemary Haddon felt Ouyang Duanli was Wang's persona and wrote that "driven by the proletarian standard, Wang Anyi has won a small victory in China's class struggle". Michael S. Duke, however, was highly critical of the novella for containing "all the major faults of Wang's writing: excessive wordiness, repetitiveness, unrealistic or stereotypical characterizations, overly abrupt changes in moral character, didacticism, and shallow moralizing".

Aamer Hussein Aamer Hussein (born 8 April 1955, Karachi) is a Pakistani critic Biography
Aamer Hussein official website. ...

also noted the "insipid" approach but called Wang's examination of relationships "moving and perceptive" and the novellas an "honest account of a woman's search".

Awards

*2nd National Novella Prize awarded by

China Writers Association China Writers Association or Chinese Writers Association (CWA, ) is a subordinate people's organization of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC). Founded in July 1949, the organization was initially named the China National Liter ...

Adaptation

*'' The Zhang Family's Daughter-in-Law'', a 1985 film directed by Ye Ming, starring Li Lan

References

{{Wang Anyi Novels about the Cultural Revolution Chinese novellas Novels set in Shanghai 20th-century Chinese novels Chinese novels adapted into films Novels by Wang Anyi Novels set in the 1960s Novels set in the 1970s 1982 novels