A widower's entertainment

Chapter 397 [Bloodshed and Chaos] (Please Subscribe)
The publication of Lin Youcheng's short story "Hunting" undoubtedly caused a great stir and debate in literary circles. It should be said that it was not only in the literary world, but also because of the influence of Lin Youcheng as a writer. As a truly well-known author, every time his work is published, it will receive a lot of attention, no matter what.

Many literary critics have published commentaries on Lin Youcheng's novel, with some praising it but others debating its plot, arguing that it is too contrived and stiff, lacking the naturalness and authenticity of his previous novel, "Love."

Some literary critics even believe that Lin Youcheng's stories are too extreme and unrealistic. How could a child tell such lies? Naturally, they also believe that the plot of Lin Youcheng's novels is very fake and the stories feel very contrived.

Such controversy and discussion are very intense. Of course, the main focus is on the theme of "three men make a tiger" in Lin Youcheng's novel "The Hunt," or the harm caused by rumors. After all, just like in the novel, the prejudice of the masses against the male protagonist cannot be reversed by countless irrefutable evidence and belated truths. The discussion of the male protagonist's experience reflects the terrible extent of rumors in today's group society. One person's slander becomes an invisible blade, stabbing the helpless victim. And the real perpetrators, even after the truth comes out, will still choose to turn a deaf ear to save face and continue to commit violence.

As the author, Lin Youcheng naturally received feedback on such discussions. Some readers even wrote to him, saying that he had brought a very cold story during the winter.

Lin Youcheng put down one of the letters that Zhang Wei had sent over and said, "It seems that they really do think this story is too depressing."

In this letter, the reader expressed that he liked Lin Youcheng's literary works very much, but when reading the story "Hunting", he felt very depressed and desperate, and it was difficult for him to calm down. So he wrote to Lin Youcheng to express his feelings.

Hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Xie Shuhua couldn't help but laugh and said, "I felt the same way when I was watching it."

Lin Youcheng said with a smile, "Perhaps, we should write a more concluding story later on."

Upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Xie Shuhua couldn't help but ask, "It seems that most of your works end in tragedy."

"I cried for a long time when I read my first novel, 'Under the Hawthorn Tree'."

Hearing Xie Shuhua's words, Lin Youcheng couldn't help but laugh. He thought about it carefully; most of his works seemed to be tragedies. Whether it was *Under the Hawthorn Tree*, *The Devotion of Suspect X*, or *Love Letter*, they were all sad stories. Even the reversed life in *Strange Tales of the Human World*, and those war novels, couldn't possibly have happy endings in that era. As for *Atonement* and *The Reader*, they were equally tragic. Truly comedic stories—

Lin Youcheng thought about it carefully and realized that there really weren't any particularly happy endings. Of course, the endings of "The Time Traveler's Wife" or "Human Wonders" did involve a reunion, but those were after a long wait.

Seeing that Lin Youcheng seemed to be really thinking about this, Xie Shuhua thought it would be difficult for him to come up with a comedic story and found it somewhat amusing. She said, "You are still good at writing tragedies. Even in a story like 'If Love Has a Destiny,' there are still sad parts."

Hearing Xie Shuhua's words, Lin Youcheng couldn't help but nod, but then said, "You've seen 'The Truman Show,' it's actually a comedy."

"You really think it's a comedy?"

Xie Shuhua actually finds it hard to imagine that anyone could experience what Truman went through, a life of manipulation and deception. It's truly tragic.

When Lin Youcheng heard Xie Shuhua's question, he naturally knew that although "The Truman Show" was a story about bravely stepping out of a lie, the premise of the story was terrifying. After all, who could accept living in a false world for more than 30 years, and then suddenly the building collapsed and they found out that everything was fake? That was something that was really hard to accept.

Of course, this is also what makes "The Truman Show" so great; even in such a world, Truman ultimately bravely walked out of it.

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "At least the ending is beautiful; Truman chose to leave that false world."

Xie Shuhua nodded in agreement, but then added, "It's a pity you didn't write a novel version of this story. People in China can't read your story yet, so they don't know how wonderful it is."

"It's okay, there will always be other opportunities."

Xie Shuhua asked curiously, "Youcheng, why don't you publish 'The Truman Show'? Even if a literary magazine like 'People's Literature' doesn't work, you can submit it to 'Science Fiction World'. If you submit to them, it will definitely be published."

Lin Youcheng couldn't help but laugh when he heard Xie Shuhua's words. He had never intended to publish the novel "The Truman Show" in the first place. After all, if we were to talk about publishing a novel version of "The Truman Show", he could also publish another novel, "Everyday".

Lin Youcheng said with a smile, "Domestic audiences will have the opportunity to see the movie 'The Truman Show' in the future, so there's no need to rush."

Lin Youcheng was well aware that 1993 was almost here, and soon Hollywood movies from the United States would be showing in Chinese cinemas.

By then, domestic audiences will naturally see the movie "The Truman Show" and will know that Lin Youcheng's works are not just oppressive tragic stories.

……

1993 1 Month 1 Day.

On New Year's Day, the snow in Beijing continued as usual, with no major changes. 1992 had quietly passed, as if in that instant, the stories of 1992 were covered and melted away by these successive snowfalls, leaving only traces. Just like the departed year of 1992, some in the literary world also left. Lu Yao, the author of "Ordinary World," also remained in 1992. These are all traces of the past; covered by snow, even if they disappear, they still record the stories of 1992.

Time always moves forward. Although no one knew that 1993 would be a year of bloodshed and turmoil in the cultural sphere, the literary world, or rather the cultural sphere, had already sensed it.

Because of the leader's Southern Tour speeches in 1992, the market economy reform was further promoted, and reform and opening up and economic construction ushered in new development opportunities. Cultural development presented a diversified pattern with multiple forms coexisting. Cultural workers all know that, in terms of literature, mainstream literature and the so-called "pure literature" advocated by intellectuals have transformed into popular literature that relies on various mass media and consumer markets. Literature seems to have shifted from a "propaganda tool" to a "commodity attribute." Writers no longer pursue "ideological heights" but try to communicate with readers using language that is closer to life. For example, "Troubled Life" describes the trivial troubles of a taxi driver's day, or "A Messy Life" tells the story of a university teacher's helplessness overwhelmed by the trivialities of life, and "Landscape" uses a cold and detached style to depict the survival struggles of a lower-class family...

Even works such as Wang Shuo's "The Playful Master" and "Addiction to Death" were once very popular. The playful master is a small-time character in Beijing who deconstructs authority in a playful tone and uses the wisdom of the common people to fight against the absurdity of the system. However, it also sparked a heated debate on "whether literature should be entertaining".

Amidst such literary debates, Lin Youcheng's works are also controversial. However, as Lin Youcheng himself stated initially, what he wrote was never avant-garde literature, nor was it serious literature; it was simply people's literature.

In this respect, it is ultimately unreasonable for literary critics to criticize Lin Youcheng's works as being too popular or something else.

Of course, there's bound to be some envy and jealousy towards Lin Youcheng's work, after all, the commercial nature of Lin Youcheng's scripts being sold to the United States is quite exciting.

Although Lin Youcheng's script price was very tempting, Yu Hua was also excited about the price Zhang Guoshi offered for the novel's copyright this time.

Yu Hua excitedly told Lin Youcheng, "Zhang Yimou wants to film my novel 'To Live,' for a copyright fee of 26,000 yuan."

Although the price excited Yu Hua, Lin Youcheng did not tell him about the copyright fee for the script of "The Hunt" so as not to upset Yu Hua.

However, Lin Youcheng still said, "This price is too low."

It's worth noting that Liu Zhenyun later sold the copyright to his novel "A Messy Life" for 80,000 yuan. Although that's still next year, Zhang Guoshi's offer to Yu Hua was still too low, especially considering how moving the story of "To Live" is.

Yu Hua, unaware of Lin Youcheng's thoughts, smiled and said, "I think this price is acceptable. After all, I can't compare to you; your scripts are all sold to American companies."

Clearly, Yu Hua also knew just how outrageous the novel copyrights and script royalties Lin Youcheng had sold to the American company were. He couldn't possibly be envious; he wouldn't even dare to dream of it. You know, he was completely stunned when he first learned about the million-dollar novel copyright fees.

We've gotten used to things like this with Lin Youcheng by now, after all, he is Lin Youcheng, and his works are quite popular in the United States.

Seeing Yu Hua's response, Lin Youcheng didn't say anything more. He also knew that Yu Hua would never lack money in the future, as he could live off the book "To Live" and live quite well. However, even so, Lin Youcheng still reminded Yu Hua, "Since you and Cheng Hong have settled down in Beijing, you should buy a house as soon as possible. House prices in Beijing will only get more expensive in the future."

Yu Hua nodded. He also knew that he needed to buy a house as soon as possible, because he couldn't keep renting in Beijing forever.

“I’m also writing screenplays now, and I’m thinking of buying a house in Beijing as soon as possible.”

Although Yu Hua also writes his own novels, he is well aware that film and television literature is also very profitable. In fact, he has been approached to write film and television scripts, and he naturally does not refuse. There is no other way. To be honest, at this time, apart from Jia Pingwa's somewhat brilliant "Ruined Capital" which easily sold more than 100,000 copies, pure literature is becoming increasingly difficult to sell. Of course, this does not include Lin Youcheng, a special People's Literature writer.

Some literary works, like "The Untouchable Lover," are not considered pure literature by literary critics. However, it's clear that Lin Youcheng's books have a considerable market, otherwise domestic publishers wouldn't be vying to collaborate with him.

In addition, the market for pure literature is not very good. Literary leaders in the literary circle have realized a very serious problem: with the advent of the market economy, it is not possible to make a living solely by submitting manuscripts. This is why writers like Su Tong have begun to venture into film and television, becoming screenwriters and planners, and embracing the film and television industry.

It can be said that the face of literature at this time became extremely ambiguous. Under the market economy, pure literature had to make certain compromises and join forces with popular and mainstream culture while ensuring its own purity and seriousness.

Lin Youcheng was well aware that the "commodification of literature" had become the fuse for the "great debate on humanistic spirit," especially the direct criticism of another writer, Wang Shuo. It can be said that the debate started from Wang Shuo's original literary circle and spread outwards. It seems that this month, the Youth Daily opened a column titled "What Has Wang Shuo Brought Us?" to discuss the "Wang Shuo phenomenon." Later, the Guangming Daily published "What Can We Read from Wang Shuo's Novels?" which said: If literature is completely based on a commodity concept, it will inevitably damage the characteristics and spirit of art... Turning literature into a tool for "amusing and entertaining" and "making people laugh and laugh" will lead to a rejection of profundity and meaning and a pandering to popular taste. Although Wang Shuo later published "A Notice of Leaving the Literary Circle" in the Xinmin Evening News, thus creating a feud with the academic school, in reality, "Ruins on the Wilderness - The Crisis of Literature and Humanistic Spirit" was not because of Wang Shuo. It was more of a reflection by intellectuals under the impact of various new ideas after the opening of the market economy, covering the entire literary and artistic circles and lasting for several years.

Lin Youcheng was well aware that this was the real beginning of the bloody storm in the cultural circle in 1993. Lin Youcheng did not think he could avoid this discussion and impact. After all, he was in the literary circle. He did not think he would be attacked. Given his current status in the literary world and his previous works, he felt that he could withstand the impact.

However, compared to the impact on the literary world, poetry suffered even more.

Lin Youcheng suddenly thought that Cha Haisheng was still writing poetry, but his poetry was no longer as popular as it had been in the 1980s. Moreover, 1993 had arrived, and while the poet Cha Haisheng was still alive, he wondered if the other genius poet would meet his tragic end that year, making the entire poetry world even quieter, or rather, completely silent.

That was a real bloodbath!

(End of this chapter)