The explanation Chung offers is that he started writing more than a decade after other authors typically got their start, and considers himself a latecomer to the literary world. Moreover, lacking mentors, he had to find his own way, and thus it was natural that he would have adopted a more naturalistic literary style.
但鍾肇政自己的解釋是，他比別人晚了十幾年才啟蒙，算半路出家，自我摸索、無師自通的方式難免傾向寫實主義。