A widower's entertainment

Chapter 299 [The Last Literature of Atonement] (Please Subscribe)
In Beijing, discussions about the novel *Atonement* at a symposium naturally touched upon the themes of atonement and reflection.

In fact, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, because of the end of that special period, a group of writers naturally emerged to restore the essence of that period from the perspectives of governance and society, and traced back to the previous history. They went from simply revealing social fallacies to summarizing historical experiences and lessons. Compared with the "scar literature," their vision was more profound and clear, their themes were more profound, and they had a stronger rational color. They were called "reflective literature."

It is precisely because of this that Lin Youcheng's "Atonement" is now considered by many literary critics to be the last reflective literature of the 1980s.

Of course, this is just one opinion, since the novel *Atonement* is a completely different reflection.

It's important to understand that the structure and plot of reflective literature during that period still exhibited a formulaic pattern: misfortune → exile → rescue → return. This could be considered the basic plot structure of such novels. The reflection mainly focused on the protagonist's inner feelings during the "rescue" or "return," which was completely different from Lin Youcheng's "Atonement."

According to Xu Huazhou, editor-in-chief of People's Literature magazine, the two are completely different.

Xu Huazhou put down his manuscript, shook his head and said, "I don't think Comrade Lin Youcheng's 'Atonement' is a reflection, it has nothing to do with that period, it's more about human nature."

"Whether the accusation by that thirteen-year-old girl was a misunderstanding, jealousy, or the author's creative desire, the comrades present will have different opinions. But no matter what the opinion is, I think there is no way to deny that a person's mistake can ruin a person's life. Even if one wants to atone for such a mistake, there is no way to atone for it."

Clearly, what Xu Huazhou said was also agreed upon by many writers and professors present.

The entire seminar was quite intense, with various viewpoints clashing. Even after the seminar ended, the participants seemed reluctant to leave, as if they still had a lot to say.

The most important person to communicate with is naturally the author, Lin Youcheng.

After the seminar, Li Huajun, deputy editor-in-chief of Harvest magazine, and others came over to Lin Youcheng to express their love for the novel Atonement and to share Ba Jin's views on it.

“Youcheng, Mr. Ba really likes your book ‘Atonement’ and said that your novel is remarkable.”

Upon hearing Li Huajun's words, Lin Youcheng naturally expressed his gratitude humbly.

"By the way, Mr. Ba asked me to bring you a book, his book 'Random Thoughts'."

As he spoke, Li Huajun took out the copy of "Random Thoughts" from his briefcase, handed it to Lin Youcheng, and said with a smile, "Old Ba even signed it."

Lin Youcheng was somewhat surprised. He took the "Random Thoughts" handed to him by Li Huajun, opened it to the first page, and indeed saw Ba Jin's signature.

He never expected that Ba Jin would send him this book, even though he knew very well that Ba Jin's collection of essays, "Random Thoughts," was of great significance.

This book has been hailed as "a great book that tells the truth" and "the conscience of 20th-century Chinese literature." These two titles respectively reflect its value in truthfully recording history and the high praise from the literary world. Through the writing principle of "telling the truth," it reconstructs the spiritual value system of contemporary intellectuals and has won widespread acclaim from readers entirely because of its profound reflections and unique insights.

It can be said that Ba Jin was the true master of Chinese literature.

Li Huajun was also surprised to see Lin Youcheng, and said with a smile, "Actually, when Ba Jin read your book 'Atonement,' the character Lin Xue in the novel gave him a lot to think about."

Lin Youcheng naturally knew about this, because Ba Jin had also published a commentary in Harvest magazine praising his book "Atonement." He also remembered that Ba Jin's words in the commentary were quite profound—

"...What's hateful is that the culprits who caused this tragedy, whether intentionally or unintentionally, filled with hatred or pity, all escaped unscathed in the end. They deprived others of the joy that belonged to them, and then thoughtlessly transferred it to their own bodies, without bearing any punishment... And even then, the heartbreaking truth doesn't stop there. Even if the author could imagine a romantic seaside cottage in his mind, where the dead lovers could frolic to their hearts' content, by the end of the story, this freedom of imagination is shattered by the cold narration, because all the happiness, all the love, all the reunion, are illusions, illusions, this damned illusion, everything is a self-deceiving lie, there has never been forgiveness, and there never will be."

Li Huajun looked at Lin Youcheng and said, "Actually, Ba Jin himself wanted to come to Beijing to participate in this seminar, but he had other things to do and couldn't come. However, he did ask me to express his appreciation and love for your novel."

Lin Youcheng naturally expressed his gratitude repeatedly, as he could sense that Mr. Ba truly loved "Atonement".

Li Huajun had come specifically to talk to Lin Youcheng and convey Ba Jin's words. He then asked, "Mr. Ba, I'd like to ask you, when will you submit another article to Harvest magazine?"

"He also regretted that the novel 'Atonement' was not published in the magazine 'Harvest'."

This left Lin Youcheng somewhat at a loss for words.

It should be noted that Lin Youcheng had only published "The Message" in the magazine "Harvest" before, and had not submitted any more articles to "Harvest" magazine since then.

Lin Youcheng had probably been featured in one of the four major literary magazines, but he didn't intend to get a second chance, since Zhang Wei, the editor of People's Literature, was keeping an eye on him in Beijing.

"Editor-in-Chief Li, you can leave things as they are in Shanghai. We're all waiting for Lin Youcheng's manuscript here too."

Before Lin Youcheng could say anything, Yang Yiping, the editor of the magazine "October" who was standing to the side, heard Li Huajun's words and quickly said, "Youcheng, we at 'October' have been waiting for your manuscript."

"I've gone to Xinghua Hutong and looked for you several times. When will you be able to submit articles to our 'October' magazine again?!"

Clearly, Yang Yiping's words also contained some resentment, because after "My Chief and My Regiment," he never received any more manuscripts from Lin Youcheng in the editorial department of "October."

When Li Huajun saw that Yang Yiping had also come over to speak, he found it amusing. If the "October" magazine couldn't even secure a manuscript in Beijing, it would be even more difficult for "Harvest" in Shanghai to get one. He laughed and said, "I agree. You're also in Beijing. How can you just watch "People's Literature" keep scrambling to publish Lin Youcheng's novels?" His words sounded like he was enjoying the drama and deliberately adding fuel to the fire.

Lin Youcheng knew, of course, that Li Huajun was saying this on purpose, encouraging Yang Yiping to compete more with People's Literature for manuscripts, but he was just joking around.

Upon hearing Li Huajun's words, Yang Yiping shook his head and said, "It's not easy for me either. I really want to get Lin Youcheng to write the next article for me."

Zhang Wei, who was originally talking with other authors on the other side, seemed to notice Lin Youcheng chatting with the editors of Harvest and October. He was curious, so he came over and heard Yang Yiping asking for a manuscript. He quickly said, "We at People's Literature also very much hope to get Youcheng's next manuscript."

Even now, during the symposium on "Atonement," these magazine editors are already thinking about his next manuscript.

This point also left Lin Youcheng somewhat helpless.

When Yang Yiping saw Zhang Wei approaching, he said very frankly, "Director Zhang, I knew that Youcheng was writing a new novel before, so I went to Xinghua Hutong specifically to try and snatch the manuscript from him. Please don't try to take the next manuscript from us again."

Zhang Wei shook his head repeatedly and said, "That won't do. Youcheng said before that what he writes is not avant-garde literature, nor popular literature, but people's literature, so it should be published in our People's Literature magazine."

Yang Yiping and Li Huajun were both surprised that Zhang Wei would use Lin Youcheng's previous words as a reason, and found it quite amusing.

Yang Yiping looked at Zhang Wei and asked, "So you mean that the literary works published in our 'October' magazine are not people's literature?"

"I didn't say that!"

Zhang Wei waved his hands repeatedly, not daring to say such a thing. He just smiled and said, "This is still a seminar on You Cheng's novel 'Atonement'. His next novel is not yet available."

Lin Youcheng thought to himself, "You all know this is still a seminar on the work 'Atonement'. I, the author, have only published 'Atonement' for a short time, and I'm already thinking about the next manuscript. It's true that all editors are the same."

Li Huajun had finally made it all the way from Shanghai to Beijing, so he naturally wouldn't linger here. But as he was leaving, he looked at Lin Youcheng and couldn't help but say, "Youcheng, Ba Jin is really looking forward to your manuscript! Don't forget!"

Yang Yiping and Zhang Wei, who were standing to the side, felt a sense of pressure when they heard Li Huajun bring up Ba Jin. Of course, this did not mean that they would easily miss Lin Youcheng's next article.

Regardless of what Lin Youcheng's next novel manuscript will be like, the literary world is still discussing Lin Youcheng's "Atonement".

It can be said that the seminar on the novel "Atonement" was not held in a conference room, but rather around all readers who love literature. Countless young people from all over the country had a heated discussion, without being limited to the identities of writers and editors. Those were the real seminars on the novel.

Perhaps due to the rise of reflective literature in the early 1980s, Lin Youcheng's unique "Atonement" has also sparked a literary trend of atonement at the end of the 1980s.

Of course, this literary trend focuses more on the novel "Atonement" itself, discussing the plot, but also on Lin Youcheng's literary structure, especially the narrative strategy adopted in the novel, which fits the realist resurgence of contemporary novels after the baptism of postmodernism. Such a well-structured and highly realistic novel will naturally attract a lot of discussion and study from literary authors.

Previously, magical realism, like that of "One Hundred Years of Solitude," was the mainstream of literature. However, Lin Youcheng's "Atonement" has a completely different narrative style and structure, which will naturally have a considerable influence and has led many literary authors to start studying it.

Even Wang Shuo, who had read Lin Youcheng's "Atonement," couldn't help but admire Lin Youcheng from the bottom of his heart.

In particular, Wang Shuo had also heard that Zhang Guoshi, Chen Aige and others were all vying to adapt Lin Youcheng's novel. He admired them more than anything else. As an author himself, he naturally knew very well how amazing Lin Youcheng's "Atonement" was.

Discussions about Lin Youcheng's novel "Atonement" have been ongoing in literary circles, and could even be said to have become more heated towards the end of 1989. The trend of "Atonement Literature" has intensified, and many literary critics believe that Lin Youcheng's "Atonement" is the most outstanding work in the literary world of the last 1989s and deserves the Mao Dun Literature Prize.

Previously, these were just comments from some editors at People's Literature magazine, but now more literary critics are expressing their opinions in literary journals, believing that the novel "Atonement" could earn Lin Youcheng another Mao Dun Literature Prize.

The key point is that this view is not unique; many people in the literary circle agree with it. Although it is said that writers are jealous of each other, no one has criticized Lin Youcheng's "Atonement" for anything wrong.

Lin Youcheng's novel "Atonement" is worthy of the award. It is perfect in terms of both storytelling and literary merit, and is fully deserving of the Mao Dun Literature Prize.

Such rumors were very popular, much like the current trend of atonement literature.

Lin Youcheng placed the autographed copy of "Random Thoughts" that Ba Jin had given him on his bookshelf. He had already read it before, and he would naturally take another look at this literary conscience of the 20th century when he had the chance.

The biting wind blows outside the window, and whether it's reflection or atonement, time marches on with the wind.

Perhaps it was because at the end of the last year of the 1980s, Lin Youcheng suddenly brought out such a stunning novel, making the entire literary circle even more frenzied, and the winds outside blew even more fiercely.

Of course, the novel *Atonement*, published in 1989, also seemed to foreshadow that literature would not end with the 1980s. After all, just like the wildly popular *Atonement*, no one knows what kind of works the literary world of the 1990s will have. Perhaps it will be *Ruined Capital*, which will be rampant with piracy amidst the clamor and controversy; perhaps it will be *White Deer Plain*, which will be a book that can be used as a pillow after death; perhaps it will be Yu Hua's *To Live*; and perhaps it will be Lin Youcheng...

After this last of the penitential literature of the 1980s, who wouldn't want to know what kind of literary works Lin Youcheng would have next?

(End of this chapter)