Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 696 Fantasy Literature
Fang Minghua looked at him and said calmly, "Of course I hope this book will become a classic, but as I said just now, whether it can become a classic is not up to the author. Its literary value must stand the test of time."

"I quite agree with what Minghua said." Liu Guowei said: "No matter what book it is or who wrote it, it will stand the test of time! But..."

He suddenly changed the subject.

"There are two young people in the literary world who are very eye-catching. They write one novel after another. One is Wang Shuo, a so-called rogue writer, who has an attitude of 'I am a gangster and I am afraid of no one.' As a writer, he actually has the face of a gangster, which is really annoying and unreasonable."

Wang Shuo was scolded again.

But he has been scolded so many times that he probably doesn't care anymore.

"The other one is Minghua. I still admire Minghua very much. Liu Guowei squeezed a smile on his somewhat old-fashioned face:
"His early works, such as Youth, Crossing the Guandong, Skywalker, and The Piano in a Factory and In the Name of the People published in the past two years, are all good works with realism. I thought he would continue to hold high the banner of realism and write more profound literary works, but suddenly he changed his style and wrote The Convenience Store of Sorrow, calling it a fantasy novel?"

"Ten years ago, you wrote a novel called The Legend of Wukong, which was also called a fantasy novel, but I personally think that it was a waste of classics! If you were still young at that time, but now you are the vice chairman of the Writers Association and a famous writer in the literary world, why are you still not doing your job properly? You can't be like Wang Shuo."

At the end of his speech, Liu Guowei looked heartbroken.

It's like an elder giving earnest advice to a younger generation who is "not doing his job properly".

Fang Minghua couldn't stand this kind of "daddy-like" teaching.

You can point out the problems and shortcomings in what I have written. I can understand your personal opinion, whether it is right or not, but don't always act like a senior and make comments.

Fang Minghua thought of this, put the manuscript aside, and looked at the other party:

"Since Chairman Liu has repeatedly mentioned fantasy literature, I need to give a detailed introduction."

"Fantasy literature is a new term in China, but it actually has a long history abroad. Its origins can be traced back to Greek mythology and Roman mythology (especially Homer's Odyssey), Norse mythology (Germanic mythology) epics such as Beowulf, and the Finnish epic Kalevala."

"The earliest extant work of Western literature is the Epic of Gilgamesh, from the Sumerian civilization of about 2,500 BC. It is the world's first great heroic legend, and tells the story of Gilgamesh's eternal journey as a warrior to find the truth about life and death after the loss of his friend Ankidu. This theme of the quest for immortality, as well as the presence of the gods in it, are faithful manifestations of fantasy elements."

The conference room was much quieter, and only Fang Minghua's voice could be heard: "Fantasy novels, serious fantasy, sword and magic, modern fantasy, etc.
"What I'm talking about are all foreign. In fact, our country also had some in ancient times. For example, the Classic of Mountains and Seas is an ancient masterpiece with rich content and unique style. It can be regarded as the founder of Chinese fantasy and magic literature. There are also the Records of Emperor Mu and Records of the Ten Continents. The well-known Journey to the West is actually also a fantasy literature."

"The Legend of Sun Wukong that I wrote is actually an adaptation of a fantasy literature into another fantasy literature. Is there anything wrong with that? To be honest, I have been unfocused recently and wrote another fantasy novel." Fang Minghua said finally.

There was a slight laugh in the conference room.

This Minghua is indeed a good speaker.

People say that Lao Qin is not good at speaking and he is simply an outlier.

"Minghua, the so-called fantasy literature you mentioned is actually a type of popular literature." Liu Guowei couldn't help but interrupt him again: "In my eyes, popular literature such as martial arts and romance is not literature at all!"

This idea is stubborn.
If online literature comes out in a few years, wouldn’t that piss you off to death?
"Chairman Liu, please don't speak so absolutely. Who says popular literature is not classic? Then let me ask, the four great classics: Journey to the West, Water Margin, etc. were not called popular novels in the Ming Dynasty. Hundreds of years have passed, and they are now classics!!"

"This..." Liu Guowei was speechless.

You should know that "Journey to the West" and "Water Margin" were not popular back then, and they were not even included in the "Complete Library in Siku" compiled during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty!

It is not as good as "Xijing Miscellaneous Records", "Soushen Ji" and "Taiping Guangji". But now it has become a literary masterpiece, and a classic masterpiece!
"Okay, Minghua, let's stop arguing and continue with your speech." At this time, Zhang Xianliang, the leader of this group, spoke.

Fang Minghua nodded, glanced at Liu Guowei whose face was a little pale, smiled, picked up the manuscript and continued reading.

"Sales volume", "market" and "quality" are the three key points about the concept of bestsellers. It is believed that sales volume is decisive for bestsellers, and an open and mature book market is the prerequisite for the existence of bestsellers.

Fang Minghua taught these traditional writers a lesson.

After the afternoon meeting, while having dinner in the hall, Lu Yao whispered to Fang Minghua, "Minghua, I heard that you scolded Liu Guowei from Province X this afternoon?"

"How do you know?" Fang Minghua was a little surprised.

Lu Yao was assigned to Group 3. Everyone was not even in the same building for the discussion, and how much time had passed?

"You don't know? Liu Guowei went to Wang Meng to complain. Wang Meng is in the same group as us. I heard it."

What the hell!

It's not that serious, is it? Do you have to go to the Writers Association to complain about such a trivial matter?
"I guess you don't know that Liu Guowei is a highly respected person in the literary world of Province X. He must be a little embarrassed to be criticized by you in public."

Fang Minghua was speechless after hearing this.

Is that all you have?
In this respect, I really can't compare with Wang Meng.

You see, he is over 60 years old, but he still joins a bunch of young people in criticizing others in newspapers and magazines. Regardless of whether what he says makes sense or not, at least he does not use his status to pressure others.

But you don’t need to pay attention to this kind of people anymore. Fortunately, you are not in Qin Province, otherwise you would be killed by me.

After dinner, Fang Minghua was just about to go upstairs to her room when she saw Wang Meng coming over.

"Minghua."

"President Wang."

"After dinner, let's go out together to digest the food?" Wang Meng took the initiative to invite.

"Okay, let's go for a walk."

The two of them left the hotel and took a walk nearby.

It is summer now, and the water surface is full of blooming lotus flowers, which really fits the poem: "The lotus leaves are endless and green, and the lotus flowers are particularly red in the sun."

As they walked out of the corridor, they heard Wang Meng say, "Minghua, I heard that during your group discussion today, you had an argument with Chairman Liu from Province X?"

(End of this chapter)