Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 598: Pure Literature Is Not Popular Anymore

"Minghua, Shengshi Bookstore would like the novel I wrote?!" Chen Zhongshi was surprised.

"Why don't you think highly of it? Although I haven't read the content of your novel carefully, just because you are Chen Zhongshi and you have been writing this novel for five years, how bad can the quality be?" Fang Minghua asked back.

"Minghua, to be honest, I don't agree if anyone says that my book has low literary quality. But if someone says that the sales won't be good, I dare not refute it. Now, pure literature is not as popular as before." Chen Zhongshi said with a self-deprecating tone.

I have no confidence.

Your book has high literary value and is also a best-seller!

Of course, if I say this now, the other party will think it's just flattery, so Fang Minghua said: "Teacher Chen, how about letting the CEO of Shengshi Books take a look first? Anyway, you are not in a hurry."

"That's fine." Chen Zhongshi agreed.

"If you don't like it, I'll submit it to Contemporary Magazine."

Fang Minghua smiled and did not refute. He just asked if I could take the manuscript back and read it while I contacted Shengshi Books.

Chen Zhongshi also agreed.

He trusts Fang Minghua.

The two said goodbye, Chen Zhongshi returned to Bailuyuan, and Fang Minghua drove back to his cabin.

Song Tangtang had already gone to Yanjing, and there was no one at home. After Fang Minghua returned home, she made herself a cup of tea and sat on the sofa to read the manuscript of the novel.

He had actually read "White Deer Plain" before he came to this era. It was the revised version that won the Mao Dun Literature Prize.

However, there are still some differences between this draft and the final revised version in some details.

The main difference is that many explicit descriptions of Tian Xiao'e have been deleted, such as her first meeting with Heiwa, her second meeting with Lu Zilin, and the things between Tian Xiao'e and Bai Xiaowen, which were all written in great detail in this draft.

妹的
I was influenced by Japanese movies on the Internet before I came to this era, so I felt strange when I saw these bold and explicit descriptions.

Forget it, stop reading.

My wife is not around, and I feel uncomfortable because I have been watching too much.

Fang Minghua put down the manuscript.

In fact, if you think about it, the erotic descriptions in Bai Lu Yuan are almost on par with those in Wasted City.

Unfortunately, the two books had completely different fates.

One won the Mao Dun Literature Prize, and the other was banned.

But now is not the time to be sentimental. Now that I have the manuscript of "White Deer Plain" in hand, the next step is to consider publishing and marketing.

Fang Minghua walked to the TV cabinet, picked up the landline phone, and dialed a number. It was Shu Bin from Shengshi Books.

"Mr. Su, I'm Minghua." Fang Minghua said.

Su Bin's Mandarin with a strong Hunan accent came from the other end of the phone.
"Minghua, why are you being so polite to me? Why call me Mr. Su? Just call me Su Bin."

"Well, Su Bin, I have the manuscript of a novel written by Chen Zhongshi from our province."

"Chen Zhongshi? Vice Chairman of your Writers Association?"

"Yes, it was him. He spent five years writing a novel of more than 400,000 words. It's called White Deer Plain. I think it's very well written. It's very literary and readable."

"Five years? Isn't that like Lu Yao's book "Ordinary World"? The writers in your Qin Province are really humble and never stop until they say something shocking." Su Bin sighed on the phone.

"Please just send the manuscript over. I'd better come to Xijing. I want to meet Chen Zhongshi in person." "Okay, call me when you get to Xijing and I'll help you make the contact."

In Haikou, Su Bin hung up the phone and dialed another number: "Office? Book me a flight to Xijing, the sooner the better!"

Fang Minghua received a call from Su Bin the next afternoon, saying that he had arrived in Xijing and checked into the Shangri-La Golden Flower Hotel on the East Second Ring Road.

"Okay, I'll come over now."

Fang Minghua put the manuscript of "White Deer Plain" into a briefcase, then drove straight to Jinhua Hotel. In a room on the 10th floor, he met Su Bin, who was accompanied by a young man.

After the introduction, Fang Minghua learned that this person's name was Zhou Ming. He graduated from Wuhan University last year and went south to "venture into the world". He studied publishing and editing, and his current position is Su Bin's assistant.

Zhou Ming was a little excited when he saw Fang Ming, and he shook his hand and said, "Chairman Fang, I have heard of your name a long time ago."

"You're welcome." Fang Minghua said with a smile, "I heard that the publishing and editing major at Wuhan University is quite impressive."

"It's OK." Zhou Ming was quite proud: "But the books are all dead. I have learned a lot from Mr. Su in this year."

Well, for a student from a prestigious university, his attitude is quite humble.

After chatting for a few minutes, they got down to business. Fang Minghua took out the manuscript and handed it to Su Bin.

"What I mean is that you guys watch it first, and then go find Chen Zhongshi after you're done, how about that?"

"Okay, I'll try to finish it as soon as possible."

Fang Minghua invited Su Bin to go out for dinner in the evening as a welcome party, but Su Bin declined.

"Minghua, I know your alcohol tolerance. It's very strong. If you drink, you won't be able to read the manuscript tonight. Let's wait until we finish our work."

After hearing this, Fang Minghua didn't force it anymore.

Two days later, Fang Minghua had just returned home from eating spicy soup when he received a call from Su Bin in the hotel.

He said he had finished reading the manuscript and asked him to come to the hotel to exchange ideas.

Fang Minghua did not hesitate and drove straight to the Jinhua Hotel.

When he saw Su Bin and the others, he got straight to the point: "What do you think of it?"

"Zhou Ming, go ahead and say it." Su Bin said.

Zhou Ming was not polite. He thought for a moment and said, "Teacher Minghua, Mr. Su and I exchanged opinions after reading it. We think this book has high literary value and is a realistic work. But its realism is different from the realism of Lu Yao's "Ordinary World".

"In the book, there is a lot of use of modernist techniques such as subconsciousness, irrationality, magic, death consciousness, sexual instinct, etc., especially Latin American magical realism. The first sentence of the book imitates the beginning of One Hundred Years of Solitude."

Fang Minghua nodded after hearing this.

That’s quite sensible.

"What about your perspective as a publisher?" he asked again.

Zhou Ming hesitated for a moment, and unconsciously glanced at Su Bin who was sitting next to him. After receiving encouragement from the other party, he said, "If we consider it from the perspective of publishing. From the overall environment, pure literature is no longer popular now, and the sales are not very good, unless it is a novel like Wang Shuo, but Wang Shuo's novels are not pure literature either."

"In addition, the book contains a lot of erotic descriptions, which may be criticized by readers and literary critics after publication, which will affect the sales of the novel."

Fang Minghua didn't say anything after hearing that.

After a while, someone suddenly asked, "What if this book can win the next Mao Dun Literature Prize?"

(End of this chapter)