How would you describe the narrator’s life? The book, Six Records of a Floating Life by Hersey, J.

Author of the book, Shen Fu's literary name is San Pai. He lived in the late-1700s in Soochow China, and was educated to be a magistrate, but only succeeded in enough of his education to become a secretary to the magistrates in yamen offices, or government buildings. The focus of his records, however, focus almost entirely on his personal life outside of work, so his mediocre success is relevant only in that it is the cause for his moving with his wife several times, and at some times not having quite enough money. He is a lover and an artist primarily, and writes his memoirs with emphasis on those things, inviting the reader to enter in to his most precious and felicitous memories.

He and his wife, Yun, have a playful and equitable romance, respecting each other so completely that they hope that in their next lives, they can be born in reversed roles, so Yun can be the husband, and Shen Fu her wife. He writes in his first record all about their romance, and deep and constant affection, and a marriage in which their only struggles were with his family and her health. His next record focuses on his leisure, and here he demonstrates his capacity as an artist and a landscaper. He fills this record with detailed instructions on how gardens should be arranged, blending illusion with reality, working with scale to recreate grand landscapes in gardens and working with non-plant elements inside and outside the home to create beautiful places. It amounts to a how-to pamphlet on eighteenth century Chinese aesthetic, and an insight into the repose he and Yun found giving their attention and free time to the creation of beauty.

When he writes about losing Yun, he is equally unabashed in bringing the reader in to his most personal moments and their mutual struggle as they recognized that her death was coming. He writes about his children in this chapter, as well, and how Yun and he had to leave them to flee his father in the night Western readers will recognize a level of detachment from his children in this chapter, possibly only present because of the intensity of his affection for Yun. He also writes about losing his father in this chapter, and about his having to stand up to the injustice of a judgmental brother for seemingly the first time as a result. The final extant record is about his travels, and is full of more happy adventures with Yun, and with his best friend, who we only read about in this chapter, since he died when they were young. Shen Fu writes in this chapter about his experiences with concubines, and several stories about monks, fishermen and businessmen from whom he learned about the places he visited throughout his life.