透過現代主義的技藝，七等生的作品中反覆呈現自我與現實的衝突。可以說，七等生小說的人物多是從現代社會挫敗的隱遁者，他大量刻劃人性的慾望、病態、悖德、荒謬，展現了極為鮮明的負面書寫，這些病徵都和現代都市有關。都市是群魔亂舞之地，既能使人縱情聲色，也是讓人精神錯亂。現代化的力量有如洪水猛獸，而文明人的心靈往往是一塊荒謬且荒蕪的廢墟。在現代社會中如何安身立命，成為七等生不斷自我叩問的書寫主題。只有透過書寫，他才能讓自己的靈魂獲得自由，也才得以遠離生命的不堪。由於世俗責任末了，他的身體始終還是被困在城市之中。〈離城記〉之離城，可以說是代表他無奈心境的最佳寫照。因此，他選擇將心靈放逐到無人的荒島，也讓自己成為一座孤島。七等生作品中的孤島意象，是他對抗現代文明的一種方式。而七等生作品中恆常存在的沙河，則是支持他一路書寫下去的鄉愁。因此，本文企圖建構七等生持續追求現代主義的身影，以及探討他作品中的都市記憶與孤島意象。在七等生筆下的河流與沙岸，森林與原野，鄉村與都市，都展現了相當殊異的地理景觀。透過這些空間的對置並比，我們可以窺探七等生的人生地圖，以及他在美學技藝上的執著。

By means of his craft of modernism, Qi Deng-Sheng repeatedly goes through the conflict between self and reality in his work. We may speak that most characters in Qi Deng-Sheng's stories are the hermits failed in the modern society. He writes the desire, morbidity, immorality, and absurdity of humanity, displaying the notable feature of the writing of the negative. These symptoms are related to the modern city. In his viewpoint, the city is the land on which rogues of all kinds running wild. It not only lets people indulge themselves, but also makes them insane. The force of modernization is dreadful, and the mind of the civilized man is an absurd and desolate land. How to be fitted better in the modem society becomes the everlasting theme in Qi Deng-Sheng's writings. Only by means of writing can he free his soul and leave away from the unbearable of life. However, since he has not achieved his secular responsibility yet, his body still traps in the city. In his short story "A Tale of Going-out-of-the-City" (Li Chen Chi), going-out-of-the-city is the best description for his helpless frame of mind. Hence, he chooses to exile his mind to a deserted island, and even makes himself become an isolated island. The island image in Qi Deng-Sheng's work is his way to resist the modern civilization, and the eternal Sa River in his work also signifies his nostalgia which motivates him to keep writing. In this regard, this paper intends to clarify the modernistic figure which Qi Deng-Sheng continues to look after, and examines the urban memory and the island image in his work. In his words, the river and the shore, the woods and the fields, the country and the city, all display the specific landscapes. By the examination of these landscapes, we may explore Qi Deng-Sheng's life map and his insistence upon the craft of aesthetics.