《生命册》的主题是时代与人。在从传统乡土到现代都市的巨大跨越中，李佩甫深切关注着那些"背负土地行走"的人们。他怀着经典现实主义的雄心和志向，确信从人的性格和命运中，可以洞见社会意识的深层结构。《生命册》以沉雄老到的笔力塑造了一系列鲜明的人物形象，快与慢、得与失、故土与他乡、物质与精神，灵魂的质地在剧烈的颠簸中经受缜密的测试和考验，他们身上的尖锐矛盾所具有的过渡性特征，与社会生活的转型形成了具体而迫切的呼应。《生命册》正如李佩甫所深爱的大平原，宽阔深厚的土地上，诚恳地留下了时代的足迹。（The theme of The Book of Life is times and people.Through a huge span from traditional rural areas to modern cities, Li Peifu pays close attention to those people who "travel in the world with the mission of their homeland".With the ambition and aspiration of classical realism, he is convinced that the deep structure of social consciousness can be seen from people's characters and destiny.The Book of Life creates a range of distinctive character images with grand and sophisticated types of writing, such as the combination of quickness and slowness, gain and loss, homeland and alien lands, material and spirituality. The nature of soul was subjected to meticulous tests and tests in the violent turbulence. The transitional features possessed by the sharp contradictions in them echo with the transformation of social life in a concrete and urgent manner.Just as the great plain Li Peifu loves deeply, The Book of Life earnestly leaves the footsteps of the times on the broad land.）