A widower's entertainment

Chapter 408 [The Master of Tragedy] (Please Subscribe)
Lin Youcheng had promised Zhang Wei to write the novel manuscript for the story "Father and Son," and naturally he wouldn't keep delaying it, since he had just finished writing the script for the same story.

Therefore, Lin Youcheng did not keep urging Zhang Wei, and soon had Zhang Wei take the short story "Father and Son" to the People's Literature magazine.

Undoubtedly, just as Zhang Wei was moved by this story, the editors of the People's Literature magazine were also astonished by Lin Youcheng's story "Father and Son".

Because they really never expected that Lin Youcheng's "Father and Son" would be about such a father and son.

It truly touched all the editors in the editorial department, making them feel a deep sense of sorrow.

"Director Zhang, is this one of the stories Lin Youcheng sold to the United States?"

When Zhang Wei heard his colleague ask this question, he nodded and said, "Yes."

"I never expected Lin Youcheng to write such a father-son story. Sigh, the father in his story really doesn't deserve to be called a father, and doesn't deserve to have a child."

"His story is almost entirely depressing and tragic. It reflects the reality of an ordinary family's life, kinship, and family. It shows that once a person gets involved in gambling, their life is truly over. Trying to change things may only prolong their suffering, but it is impossible to solve their tragic fate."

"Speaking of which, in Yu Hua's novel 'To Live,' Fugui also squandered his family fortune through gambling."

"Although Lin Youcheng's short story 'Father and Son' is a work of fiction, it is extremely realistic. It really feels like a true story. If such a story really existed, I can't even imagine how desperate that child must have been, being instigated by his own father to steal, and then not being saved after being caught. It's really too depressing."

"Yes, the most heartbreaking part is that when his child was caught and beaten, he cowardly chose to run away, leaving his child to suffer all of this alone. It's truly hateful!"

……

Clearly, the editors also felt quite depressed and saddened by Lin Youcheng's story "Father and Son," especially the abrupt ending. It's hard to know what the fate of the child who was imprisoned in the detention center will be, but what is certain is that when he bit his father's ear, it was an absolute pain.

The editor sitting next to Zhang Wei couldn't help but sigh, "Lin Youcheng is really good at writing such tragic stories about human nature."

"Director Zhang, the movie script that Lin Youcheng sold to a foreign company, could that story also be a tragedy?"

Hearing this, Zhang Wei twitched the corner of his mouth and nodded, saying, "Yes, it's about a father who, due to his negligence, accidentally caused a fire in his house, killing his three children. He has been living in pain ever since and can't forgive himself."

The other editors in the editorial department fell silent upon hearing this. It really was another tragedy, and such a tragic one at that.

The editorial department of People's Literature magazine naturally could not reject Lin Youcheng's short story "Father and Son". After three rounds of review and proofreading, it published Lin Youcheng's short story "Father and Son" in the latest issue of People's Literature magazine.

It can be said that when Lin Youcheng's novel "Father and Son" appeared in the latest issue of "People's Literature" magazine, readers who love literature were all surprised, as they were quite unexpected that Lin Youcheng had published a new novel.

There's no other reason than that the person who published the new novel is—Lin Youcheng!

Of course, the attention of the literary circles in Beijing also turned to them, because some people had heard that Lin Youcheng's latest novel, "Father and Son," was a script that had been sold to a foreign film company. This naturally made the literary workers in Beijing even more curious, wanting to know what kind of stories Lin Youcheng had written and why they were being sought after by foreign film companies and bought at high prices.

While Lin Youcheng's reputation and status are part of this, people are also very eager to know what the story of the script is all about.

As a result, it can be said that as soon as they heard that the latest issue of People's Literature magazine contained Lin Youcheng's new novel, literary youths would rush to buy the magazine, and the sales of literary magazines remained hot in 1993.

There's no way around it; Lin Youcheng, the writer and screenwriter, is just too famous.

It's not just people in the literary circle; naturally, people in the film industry will also read Lin Youcheng's "Father and Son."

After reading it, Chen Aige was quite impressed and said to Lin Youcheng, "If Universal Pictures hadn't bought the script, I would have wanted to film your story."

"Youcheng, the human conflict in your story, especially the father's, is really too cruel."

Lin Youcheng couldn't help but laugh when he heard Chen Aige's words. He knew that what Chen Aige said was not just flattery.

After all, the script for "Father and Son" is indeed very good. However, a great director like Chen Aige would naturally not want anyone else to make a film about this story or to remake it, because there is no need, especially now that Chen Aige has won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

"I never expected that your 'Father and Son' would be such a father-son story." Like Chen Aige, countless readers were also surprised. They never expected Lin Youcheng to write about such a father and son, or rather, they never expected that there would be such a father who instigated his child to steal and watched his child being beaten while he ran away.

Such humanity is truly too repressive and too tragic!

Lin Youcheng's story "Father and Son" truly left readers dumbfounded and greatly shocked.

It's not a story of deep father-son affection at all, but rather the story of an unconventional father who seems utterly wicked: a gambling addict, violent, ruthless, and irresponsible, capable of betraying the woman who deeply loves him, and of course, capable of instigating his child to steal. He abandons his child when the child is most isolated and helpless after being beaten, and the child, lonely and yearning for love, faces the separation of his parents, repeated hurt from his father, and finally, abandonment by his father.

Such a story is truly too cruel and heartless!
Not only the literary circles in Beijing, but the entire literary world was surprised that writer Lin Youcheng would write such a passionate literary work as "Father and Son".

Most importantly, Lin Youcheng's previous film, "The Hunt," was already filled with human despair, making people shudder and feel extremely depressed and cold. Now, Lin Youcheng's new film, "Father and Son," is equally cruel, making people feel endless sadness.

This really makes readers feel that Lin Youcheng, the former master of love, seems to have now become a master of tragedy.

Of course, most of the love novels that Lin Youcheng wrote at the beginning were tragedies. It's just that readers didn't expect that Lin Youcheng would write such sad literary works about family affection. This is really too unexpected.

It can be said that in a short time, the unconventional father-son story of Lin Youcheng's latest novel "Father and Son" spread throughout the literary circle, and literary critics also discussed Lin Youcheng's novel. Of course, this is also because Lin Youcheng is a writer who has received much attention, and his published works will naturally be scrutinized by critics. Especially since "Father and Son" is such a wonderful novel, it is natural that literary critics will write articles to comment on Lin Youcheng's realistic novel.

Indeed, "Father and Son" is a true realist novel.

Lin Youcheng's tragedy "Father and Son" is now being reprinted by a considerable number of literary journals. Even without Lin Youcheng's fame and influence, "Father and Son" is a unique work; otherwise, literary critics would not have published so many commentaries.

As Zhang Hui, a critic, commented in *Literary Review*, she made no secret of her appreciation and praise for Lin Youcheng's realistic novel *Father and Son*. The review stated: "*Father and Son* is a rather unconventional story, but surprisingly, this unconventional story easily evokes a certain resonance in readers. In general, stories about mother-son love and father-daughter affection are commonplace in literary creation; they are often categorized within the themes of truth, goodness, and beauty, and are known to people through a reasoned and emotional approach. However, when returning to the father-son relationship model, the story often appears in a strange guise. Understanding, communication, and the beautiful emotions of mutual support between people are often set aside, while opposition, conflict, and even violence are highlighted in stark black and white."

"In this sense, although the story of *Father and Son* is rather unconventional, the overall narrative style is still familiar to most, bearing the unique imprint of a long-standing patriarchal culture. However, this is not the most important aspect of Lin Youcheng's *Father and Son*. What is most special is that Lin Youcheng's *Father and Son* does not intend to tell a metaphorical story that can be interpreted on a cultural level through the confrontation between father and son. Instead, *Father and Son* tries to exclude meaningful details, presenting only the crude, grassroots lifestyle. Precisely because of this, in Lin Youcheng's writing, this story seems to be able to happen in every corner of the world, reaching the dark corners that no intellectual's humanitarian compassion can reach. The father is indeed crude." Speaking with a thick village accent, he was quite different from the typical image of a father, but he wasn't despised or subjected to moral condemnation. In Lin Youcheng's writing, the father continues to act with self-righteousness, yet his actions reveal a stark reality of hardship and inner weakness. His harm to women and children evokes a sense of exasperation and helplessness, a kind of rationality and legitimacy unique to the lives of ordinary people at the bottom of society. Even his encouragement of his children to steal becomes more real, but also more heartbreaking. However, what's most distressing is that this father chooses to run away when his children are caught and beaten. This father is undoubtedly a failure, but it is precisely this that makes Lin Youcheng's character all the more real…

"Lin Youcheng's 'Father and Son' is like a realistic novel, depicting ruthless betrayal, a violent temper, and helplessness in the face of life. What is heartbreaking is the child's sensible eyes and the hysterical cry at the end, 'Why did you make me steal?'"

……

Such commentary articles will undoubtedly resonate with many readers, reflecting their own thoughts, but readers' thoughts go beyond that.

Many literary journals have reprinted and published related commentary articles, and the discussion has become increasingly heated.

Yu Hua had naturally read Lin Youcheng's latest novel, "Father and Son," as soon as it was published. Lin Youcheng's novel "To Live" was published in the magazine "Harvest" and had previously sparked considerable discussion. Yu Hua was grateful to Lin Youcheng, since Lin Youcheng had communicated with him and suggested that he write in the first person, which enabled him to write that story. Many readers thought that he had written a tragedy very well in "To Live."

However, in Yu Hua's view, Lin Youcheng's tragedy is what is truly as wonderful as ever.

Yu Hua sighed and said, "Youcheng, this novel of his is a new realist novel. Of course, he himself may not call it new realist literature, but only people's literature. I feel very sad. When reading this novel, I always feel that there would be such a father who would do such a thing. Of course, it is also because his writing is realistic and delicate, which makes the story full of real details and makes my heart ache for that child."

Cheng Hong looked at Yu Hua and said, "It's like this. The story is actually very simple. It's about a little boy's bitter childhood and his down-on-his-luck father. But the humanity in the novel is really too oppressive, especially for that child, it's too cruel."

Besides that, Yu Hua felt more admiration, saying, "No wonder the script for 'Father and Son' was bought by a foreign company. The story is really realistic and true, just like something that would actually happen. The father makes his son steal in order to survive. The whole story is very delicate, and the whole story gives people a sense of sadness between the lines, with suppressed emotions that have nowhere to be vented."

"As expected, Youcheng is still good at writing tragedies, especially realistic tragedies like this."

Yu Hua nodded and said, "Speaking of which, when I first read Lin Youcheng's first novel, 'Under the Hawthorn Tree,' I realized that tragic works are more powerful and resonate more deeply with people."

Cheng Hong also agreed, saying, "He is really good at writing these kinds of stories." She herself had read Lin Youcheng's works.

In fact, just as Cheng Hong and Yu Hua discussed, Lin Youcheng, the author, is considered by many readers in literary circles to be exceptionally skilled at writing tragic stories—truly—

A master of tragedy.

(End of this chapter)