I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 267 In my eyes, there is no French or Japanese literary world, only a world literary world

The translator obviously knew that "The Dancing Girl of Izu" was the essence of the entire collection of short stories, so when translating this novel, he was more meticulous and serious than the previous ones.

Like most French natives, Modiano knew little about faraway Japan.

But through the translated "The Dancing Girl of Izu", a picture of the current situation of rural Japan seemed to appear before his eyes.

The shy dancing geisha, the porter who yelled at the top of his voice, the innkeeper who cursed and was unhappy all day long.
At the foot of the picturesque Amagi Mountain, people of all kinds are busy with their livelihoods. The sky is dim and there is rain on the edge of the clouds. A young man who is climbing the mountain alone with a schoolbag on his back encounters a shy dancer.
"It's so beautiful." Modiano deeply felt the implicit beauty of Japanese style from the sentences in the novel, and was also shocked by the backwardness and feudalism of rural Japan at that time.

It turns out that in the 90s in Japan, there was still a superstitious belief that "chopsticks used by women are not clean."

He finished reading the several thousand words of "The Dancing Girl of Izu" in one breath.

When he read that the protagonist "I" had no choice but to say goodbye to the dancer, and that one of them waved goodbye on the boat while the other stared at the dancer in a daze on the shore, his heart skipped a beat.

The French people admire romance and love in their bones. This short story with the theme of "unrequited love" immediately conquered Modiano, the president of Paris VII University.

After reading all six stories in this collection of short stories, he couldn't let it go for a long time. He just sat in a chair with the book in his hand, looking thoughtful and dazed.

"It seems that Mr. Modiano was also deeply moved." Combesco recalled the plot of "The Dancing Girl of Izu" and couldn't help but immerse himself in it.

It was not until another ten minutes had passed that Odemeson interrupted their contemplation and said, "Modiano, what do you think? Is reading this novel more worthwhile than anything else?"

"Teacher Odmeson, I, I can't describe in words how I feel at this moment." Modiano wanted to speak several times, but when thousands of words came to his lips, not a single word came out.

"I understand how you feel." Odemaison smiled and took the opportunity to pull out another copy of Paris Soirée. "But now is not a good time to exchange impressions. The author of this novel seems to be being treated unfairly."

"Unfair treatment? Are you saying that this young man named Kitagawa Hide is being targeted in his own country?"

Modiano took the newspaper and his blue eyes widened bigger than copper bells.

A writer who can write such a short story would be a national treasure in any country. How could he be treated unfairly?
Are the Japanese crazy?
He looked at the newspaper in confusion, and soon saw the news in the gap that Odmeson had specially outlined with a red pen.

"The nomination list for the Nobel Prize in Literature was blacklisted? Are they crazy?! Was there a better novel in Japan last year than "The Dancing Girl of Izu"? " Modiano's eyes widened even more.

"I don't think so," Combesco continued, and he simply repeated the truth of what he had heard from Gerard and Olivia.

According to the information they obtained through their channels, as well as the feedback from Japanese students studying in France, "The Dancing Girl of Izu" was undoubtedly the best-selling and most popular novel in Japan last year. If they had to compare it with several other works, the examples these students gave were all other books by Hide Kitagawa!

As for its literary quality, here are three French literary masters who all agree that "The Dancing Girl of Izu" is worthy of being placed in the history of world literature!
"So this... is actually true." Modiano felt like he had seen several bizarre things this morning that he hadn't encountered in decades.

Are the writers in the Japanese literary world really crazy?

Such a good short story was not recommended to the Swedish Academy. Is their literary aesthetic so low?
"So what is the purpose of the two teachers coming here?" Modiano sighed. "Although I also feel sorry for Mr. Beichuan, the nominations of the Nobel Prize winners in each country are the responsibility of the nominees of each country. We have no right to interfere."

"I know."

Odemaison nodded, glanced at the book "The Dancing Girl of Izu", and suddenly uttered a shocking statement that would be recorded in history:

"So I came to you, hoping that you can recommend it for the Nobel Prize in Literature in the name of the president of Paris VII University."

"???"

Modiano's brain suddenly shut down.

It seems like there is one more incredible thing happening.

Combesco also seconded the proposal, "I agree with Mr. O'Demaison. We have seven nominees in France. Mr. O'Demaison represents the French Academy, which cannot recommend overseas works. That quota must be reserved for domestic works.

But the university recommendations you have can be given to any work, and you have recommended other works in the past, right?"

"There is indeed such a precedent, but that person's nationality was also French." Modiano didn't know how to respond to Oddmesson's words.

“No matter where their nationality is, as long as they are good books and authors worth recommending, we should fully assist them!”

Odemaison shook his head and said with a firm look in his eyes,

“In my eyes, there is no French literary world or Japanese literary world, there is only one world literary world.

This "The Dancing Girl of Izu" and this young man named Kitagawa Hide will surely be recorded in the history of human literature. This writer is now facing injustice. Do we have to stand by and watch like his countrymen?"

"Modiano, if you are unwilling to recommend it, I will continue to look for other nominees. If none of you are willing to recommend it, then I will give it the spot in the French Academy!"

Odemaison added.

Facing this stubborn old man, Modiano had no choice. He looked at Combesco, then nodded with a wry smile and said, "I understand, Mr. Odemaison. This novel and this writer are definitely qualified to be recommended, there is no doubt about that.

Since you said so, I will go to the presidents of other universities right away and finalize this matter today, is that okay?"

Audemaison has a very high status in the French literary world, equivalent to Ichiro Tanizaki in the Japanese literary world.

Since he had spoken, and since Kitagawa Hide's experience was indeed pathetic and the quality of the novel was incredibly high, Modiano quickly agreed.

Anyway, France has a total of five nominee quotas, which is much more than Japan, which only has one, so it shouldn't be a problem to allocate one.

"I'll go with you, let's go now!" Odmeson didn't want to drag it on any longer.

Ever since he had a few words with Kitagawa Hide at the last Goncourt Prize ceremony, he has paid special attention to and cared about this young man.

During the conversation, he was deeply moved by Kitagawa Hide's indifference and pure pursuit of literature.

Such young people, such writers, cannot be buried like this!
"Okay then, I'll ask someone to prepare the car right away." Modiano continued to smile bitterly. It seemed that the negotiation meeting for the merger project of the seven and five majors would have to be postponed again.

"Yes." Odemeisson looked at Combesco before he stood up. "By the way, go find Chanel's people to get Mr. Kitagawa's resume. If the second half of The Dancing Girl of Izu is released, remember to find someone to translate it immediately."

"Okay, Mr. Odmeson." Combesco nodded. He also wanted to see if the next six novels would have bigger surprises.

"Oh, and please ask for me. If there is no publishing house willing to publish his collection of novels, I can recommend the University of Paris Press to assist in publishing it." Odemaison added.

When Modiano heard about the University of Paris Press, he knew that this job would probably fall on him again and he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Just as Odmeson and others were running to contact the presidents of various well-known universities, the first-day data of the much-anticipated January 1997 issue of "Wenyi" was also released.

"38.8 copies? Is this data reliable?"

Ichiro Tanizaki, who has been busy cleaning up the scandal surrounding the nominees for the Nobel Prize in Literature, couldn't help but look up at Tsunekazu Takeda who was standing in front of him after hearing the data.

Because Kitagawa Hide refused to accept the Tanizaki Prize, the once great prize for pure literature fell into disrepair.

In order to protect this money tree, Ichiro Tanizaki warned Kitagawa Hide by making threats, and at the same time, he released a smoke bomb through Takeda Tsunekazu and others that "Ichiro Tanizaki might make a comeback this year", which gradually stabilized the reputation of Tanizaki Shang.

Takeda Tsunekazu and his son were also able to further bind themselves to Tanizaki Ichiro. Now Takeda Tsunekazu has completely given up the idea of ​​"replacing" Tanizaki Ichiro with Kitagawa Hide.

Compared to Mr. Tanizaki who was willing to help him at the last moment, this Kitagawa Hidema deserves to die!

He deserves not to be recommended to the Swedish Academy!
"Reliable! Even if there are discrepancies, they are within 1000 volumes." Takeda Tsunekazu answered decisively, "The data comes from Kawade Shobo, so there should be no problem."

"So." Ichiro Tanizaki fell into deep thought.

The record for the first print run of a pure literature magazine that he held at the time was broken by the 36.51 copies of "Wenyi" at the end of last year.

Shizuko Kawaide deliberately announced the data as 36.51 copies, 100 copies higher than his record. This is one of the reasons why Ichiro Tanizaki insisted on giving Kitagawa Hide and others a hard time.

If you don’t teach these young people a lesson, they really won’t know their own last names!

But now, the record has been improved again.

This time, Heide Shobo did not try to hide the truth or deliberately disgust people, but clearly stated that there were 38.8 copies.

If this momentum continues, this issue of "Wenyi" may actually break the historical monthly sales record of 580 million copies set by "Devil's Tattoo"!
This is the most valuable domestic historical record currently held by Ichiro Tanizaki!

If even this is broken by Kitagawa Hide, and he has won the Goncourt Prize, and if we compare the number of popular books and data, I may not be able to surpass him.
By then, the only chip that could allow him to firmly sit on the throne of "number one in the world" in the Japanese literary world was the nomination for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The feeling of having his records broken again and again and having his trump cards offset one by one made Ichiro Tanizaki very anxious.

Now over 70 years old, he only needed to quietly wait for the day of death so that his name could be forever engraved as the "number one in the world" in the Japanese literary world.

At that time, no matter how great the achievements of the latecomer Kitagawa Hide were, he, as a living person, would not be able to defeat himself, as a dead person.

"Guan Gong vs. Qin Qiong" is the favorite drama of countless people. Why do so many people like to make such an empty comparison?

It is because this is something that can never be achieved and will never be concluded. It is a competition in which each fan has his or her own reasons and no conclusion can be reached in a lifetime!

If Kitagawa Hide can still take away the title of "the best in the world" after his death, then he must win the Nobel Prize in Literature!
is it possible?

This is impossible!

To this day, the Japanese literary world has not produced a single Nobel Prize winner in literature.

Even the only person nominated was Ichiro Tanizaki.

Ichiro Tanizaki has been nominated, compared, and competed for this highest award, so he is well aware of the value of this award.

He also knows better than any other writer in the Japanese literary world the serious prejudice against Japanese literature overseas.

To be honest, it is a miracle that Hide Kitagawa won the Prix Goncourt!
Fortunately, there is zero publicity for overseas awards in China, and except for the Nobel Prize in Literature, no one knows anything about it.

I guess those readers now think that Kitagawa Hide's Goncourt Prize and Momota Naoki's O. Henry Short Story Prize are awards of the same level.
Anyway, it would be good if we just block Kitagawa Hide's way this time.

As long as I am alive, I will be one of the nominees for the Nobel Prize in Japanese literature, and the place of recommender will be firmly in my hands.

He will not give the spot to Kitagawa Hide!
"Want to be recommended to the Swedish Academy? Wait until I'm buried!"

Ichiro Tanizaki snorted in his heart. After confirming the first-day data of the new issue of "Wenyi", he became more determined to block Kitagawa Hide.

Not only do we have to block him, but we also have to take advantage of his remaining strength to completely pin him down as the eternal No. 2!

"After this month, I will prepare and try to write some essays and prose to be published in New Trend in February."

Ichiro Tanizaki took a deep breath and said to Tsunekazu Takeda,

"Tell the people at Shinchosha to rest assured that the readers and market that we have lost recently will be regained next month. Don't worry."

"Yes! I understand! I will go to the Shinchosha headquarters and tell them right away!" Before this, Tsunekazu Takeda was not sure whether Mr. Tanizaki would make a comeback.

When these older generation writers get older, everything they say becomes ambiguous. To put it nicely, they are unfathomable; to put it bluntly, they are riddlers.

He hates the Riddler!

Because whether Mr. Tanizaki returns to work or not will seriously affect the future of Tanizaki's money tree.

But he didn't dare to ask any further questions.

it's good now.

Finally got the confirmation!
It seems that February is the date of Kitagawa Hide's death!

In the past two years, Kitagawa Hide has been doing too well in the literary world. Anyone who opposes him has had the grass two meters high on his grave. Moreover, every book he writes becomes a hit, which is simply incredible.

When he was at the peak of his career, first he was not recommended for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and then an ultimate boss appeared and pinned him to the ground. He must have started to doubt his life!

Thinking of this, Takeda Tsunekazu immediately said goodbye to Tanizaki Ichiro and walked out quickly.

The worries that had arisen due to the horrific data on the first day of the latest issue of "Wenyi" were instantly swept away.

He couldn't wait to see the discouraged and frustrated expressions of Kitagawa Hide and Kawaide Shizuko!

Kitagawa Hide, who was at home recalling "Remembrance of Things Past" and thinking about what kind of Japanese literature could win international awards, did not know about these things.

When he falls into the flow state, he will concentrate on writing, and it is common for him to forget to eat and sleep and to turn day and night upside down.

As for awards, sales, first print day and so on.

Indeed, I was very happy when I heard the news.

But after a few seconds of happiness, he would calm down again.

No matter how amazing it is, it is only the result of the last second.

No reader will think you are great because of your past achievements.

They only see your present.

Only by maintaining extremely high writing efficiency and quality at all times can you always have a place in their hearts.

If you only live in the past and memories, sooner or later you will be pulled down from the altar!

(End of this chapter)