《红煤》是河南籍当代著名煤矿作家刘庆邦的长篇力作。小说通过叙述一个农民轮换工宋长玉为了改变农民身份成为一个城市人不择手段向上爬的故事,着力揭示在煤矿这个舞台上,轮换工身份的焦虑所引发的为获得认同而进行的斗争;在城乡二元对立和冲突的体制内,农村青年人由于遭到城里人的排斥而滋生出的怨恨情绪;在成功之后恣意放纵欲望,遭到自然的报复和惩罚,进而沦落为漂泊的异乡人。小说为我们深入了解转型期中国社会农村青年进城打工的生存状态和深层的情感心理提供了一种可能性。 “Red Coal” is a masterpiece of Liu Qingbang, a famous coal mine writer in Henan Province. By describing the story of a peasant commuter Song Changyu changing peasants’ status as an unscrupulous urbanite, the novel focuses on revealing the struggle for gaining recognition in the arena of coal mines on the stage of coal mines. In urban and rural areas, In the system of opposition and conflict, the youthful people in rural areas resent the sentiments born of being excluded from the city; after the success, they wantonly indulge their desires and are naturally retaliated and punished, thus reducing them to being strangers who are wandering. The novel provides a possibility for us to deeply understand the living conditions and deep sentiments of rural youth in cities in transition in China.