《长恨歌》讲述了一个女人四十年的情与爱，被一枝细腻而绚烂的笔写得哀婉动人，其中交织着上海这所大都市从四十年代到九十年代沧海桑田的变迁。生活在上海弄堂里的女人沉垒了无数理想、幻灭、躁动和怨望，她们对情与爱的追求，她们的成败，在我们眼前依次展开。王安忆看似平淡却幽默冷峻的笔调，在对细小琐碎的生活细节的津津乐道中，展现时代变迁中的人和城市，被誉为"现代上海史诗"。（Song of Regret is about affection and love of a woman for 40 years, which are described with an exquisite and gorgeous technique to be sad and moving. Here is a great change to the large city Shanghai from the 1940s to the 1990s. Women living in the narrow alleyways of this city accumulate countless ideals, disillusion, restlessness and resentment. Their pursuit of affection and love, and their success and failure are unfolded one by one before us. Using a seemingly flat, humorous and cold style, Wang Anyi shows people and the city in the change of time through delightful talk about trivial life details. This work is hailed as "epic of modern Shanghai".）