I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 441 I won’t admit defeat, and I hope you will too

The next morning.

In front of the School of Arts at the National University of Colombia.

“All kinds of excellent literary magazines from around the world are on sale at a discount! All are genuine, no deception!”

Several students from the Department of Literature dressed in Latin American attire were shouting at the other students passing by.

Behind them, cardboard boxes filled with various magazines were neatly arranged one after another. From the opened boxes, one could vaguely see the names of the magazines printed in a mixture of English and Colombian.

There was also a large red banner in front of them that read "Charity fundraising event for the 2 people who were forcibly disappeared."

Originally, this kind of street-side selling of goods was strictly prohibited at the National University of Colombia.

Although Colombia is still relatively poor now, many students studying at the National University of Colombia come from slums and are very short of money.

However, for the sake of the school's appearance and international influence, the school strictly prohibits students from engaging in any commercial activities on campus.

Setting up stalls on the street, which seriously affects the appearance of the school, is the first of the prohibited behaviors.

However, the only exception is the students in the Department of Literature at the Academy of Arts.

Because last year, the weekly magazine "A Century of Appreciation of Latin American Literature" initiated and founded by Professor Hernando became popular in Colombia after serializing "One Hundred Years of Solitude".

Originally, the school considered this magazine a money-losing product.

The school board was willing to support Hernando and his team in establishing the magazine because they believed that this "centennial plan" might help more students in the future.

Unexpectedly, among so many activities initiated by various colleges, the least favored "A Century of Appreciation of Latin American Literature" is the most competitive and has the best economic benefits!
Having tasted the sweetness, the school board immediately strongly supported Hernando and the Department of Literature and relaxed restrictions on students in the Department of Literature.

This is how the scene in front of the Art Academy came about.

Most of the students in the Faculty of Literature come from poor backgrounds, but they have excellent academic performance.

With a love for literature in their hearts, they gave up medical schools and other colleges where it was easy to find jobs and cross class boundaries, and plunged headfirst into the bottomless abyss of literature.

In order to repay their enthusiasm, Professor Hernando and other professors gave all the on-campus sales rights and profits of "A Century of Appreciation of Latin American Literature" to these students.

The students learned from the experience and while selling their own magazines, they also contacted many publishing houses and started selling other genuine literary magazines at the same time.

This can not only promote the business, but also make more money.

Over time, the sale has evolved into a charity event to raise funds for victims of various disasters.

The so-called "forced disappearance of 2 citizens" incident is a large-scale terrorist incident that has recently occurred and has been troubling Colombian officials and people from all walks of life.

"Enforced disappearance" refers to the secret detention of victims for weeks or months without being tried by any judicial or civil institution, placing them outside the protection of the law.

Some countries use it as a tool to deal with conflict and internal unrest, and one common method is called "short-term disappearance."

According to investigations by relevant official departments in Colombia, such forced disappearances have continued to occur in the country since the 40s. The reasons include forced recruitment by illegal armed groups, human trafficking (especially for the purpose of sexual exploitation), and falsified identities.

Among the missing are children, immigrants, women, social protest and social leaders, businessmen, etc.

People linked to land conflicts, in particular, are most vulnerable to enforced disappearance in Colombia.

Because the identities of the missing persons cover almost all social classes, the people are very panicked about this, fearing that they will be the next one.

Just recently, about 2 people disappeared in the suburbs of the capital Bogota!

This incident shocked people both at home and abroad, but the Colombian officials have been unable to find the missing citizens and have only used various official rhetoric to perfunctorily deal with the victims' families.

The students of the Faculty of Literature, who have a strong sense of justice, naturally would not sit idly by. They held various protests, strongly condemned the incident, and helped the families of the victims to defend their rights and raise funds.

The other students who used to interact with them were not impressed by this group of passionate young people, and had no interest in the literary magazines they sold every day.

But at this moment, seeing the scarlet letters on the big red banner, their empathy and fear were completely aroused.

Soon, hundreds of Columbia National University students gathered in front of the big red banner.

While they were donating money, they also followed the recommendations of students from the Faculty of Literature and took out one brand new literary magazine after another from the cardboard box.

"Student, please read carefully the latest serialized work, Kafka on the Shore, in the Latin American Literature Centennial Appreciation. I believe it will comfort your wounded heart."

The head of the literature club of the Faculty of Literature said this seriously to every student who bought "A Century of Appreciation of Latin American Literature" while selling books.

He was flattered that Teacher Hernando personally called him last night and asked him to promote "Kafka on the Shore" at today's charity fundraising event.

When he heard that this was the new work of Teacher Beichuan, he became even more motivated. He brought his friends from the literature club to set up a stall in front of the college early in the morning.

Unfortunately, he has been busy since morning till now and has not had time to read "Kafka on the Shore".

After another wave of classmates who came to buy books and raise funds left, he was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Senior, please take a rest. Leave the work here to me." A female club member walked over and said.

He took the cup of water handed to him, nodded with a smile, then sat down. He picked up an unsealed copy of "A Century of Appreciation of Latin American Literature" and impatiently turned to the page where "Kafka on the Shore" was serialized.

"I would like to use this book to commemorate all the fighters in countries around the world who continue to fight against fate - Kitagawa Hide."

At the beginning of the novel, he saw the message written in Colombian by Mr. Hide Kitagawa, which made his scalp tingle.

Hearing the title of the book, he thought it was a romantic novel that was quite literary and combined with the modernist literature of the master Franz Kafka.

After all, some of Kitagawa's best works, "Norwegian Wood", "Snow Country", "The Dancing Girl of Izu", and "Youth Trilogy" written when he just debuted are all such novels.

But when he saw this head, he immediately realized that this novel was different from the previous ones.

"Publicize it. Not only to redress a tarnished literary master, but also for us and for yourself."

He was very confused by what Professor Hernando said on the phone last night.

He doesn't understand how much a novel has to do with himself.

Watch now.
"There's actually a preface! It seems like it's been a long time since Mr. Kitagawa wrote a preface to a novel!"

He continued reading and was surprised to find that Kitagawa Hide had written a simple preface before the main text.

“This work is inspired by the ancient Greek myth Oedipus Rex.

After learning about this myth and all its adaptations in detail, I decided to start writing.

小说于1998年12月4日开篇，于12月8日早9点完结。

Before writing this novel, most of the protagonists I wrote about were men in their twenties and thirties.

They live in big cities like Tokyo, work in professional jobs or are simply unemployed, and tend to be depressed.

From a social perspective, these are by no means people who are highly regarded by society.

I want to describe the lifestyles, values, and people and things that people like them have personally experienced in their life journey.

That is, I want to describe their lives and the overall picture of the world as presented in their vision.

But in this work, I want to write about two teenagers.

The reason why I want to write such a protagonist is because I found that they have more "variability" than the above-mentioned protagonists.

Their souls are still in a soft state and not fixed in one direction.

Their bodies are still rapidly growing towards their peak, and their spirits are groping for freedom, confusion and hesitation in the boundless wilderness.

I wanted to depict this wavering and transforming soul in detail in my novel.

The most tense and least compromising period in a person's life is adolescence.

Although I am already twenty-six years old, I am gradually approaching the type of protagonist that I write most often.

But my heart is still growing wildly and firmly.

I am unwilling to surrender to this world, to fate, to the powerful.

To the Nobel Prize judges and everyone in the Arnault Club who have been slandering me, this book is a reflection of my mood and a reflection of my values.

I won't give up.

The same goes for readers who are willing to enjoy the novels I write.

I hope that you who are reading these words feel the same way. "

He held the "A Century of Appreciation of Latin American Literature" in his hands and almost cried out. The same emotions in his heart were being stimulated, awakened, and revived.

Yes.

The impulsiveness and unwillingness to admit defeat of youth were gradually exhausted over time.

As I grow older, I am indeed transitioning into the type of dejected protagonist most often described by Mr. Kitagawa.

but!

He was also unwilling to admit defeat.

Unwilling to bow to fate or power.

Grit your teeth and persevere, even if it means death, you must give it a try.

This is the sharpness that young people should have!

“Whether you are a teenager or not is not determined by your age, but by the breath in your heart!”

At this moment, he finally understood what Professor Hernando said.

For Teacher Beichuan, and for themselves.

At the same time, classmates who had similar emotions and were also infected by this preface were also reading "Kafka on the Shore" and sitting here in silence.

An indescribable atmosphere spread all around.

At this moment, at the gate of the Art Academy, I could hardly hear any sound at all.

The only sounds were the rustling of pages turning and heavy breathing.

At 12 o'clock in the evening on November 9th.

A luxurious villa in the Swedish capital.

"Swish, swish, swish."

The maid's hurried footsteps came from the first floor.

Tarina Frostenson, who had just finished a wild party, and her husband Jean-Claude Arnault were still sleeping.

The entire second floor was filled with an obscene smell, and the smell of hormones made the maid who ran up feel physically uncomfortable.

Looking at the mess on the second floor, she skillfully called for people to clean it up while continuing to walk towards the Arnault couple's bedroom.

Just now, she received good news and bad news.

"Boom boom boom——"

"Bastard! Who is it?" Arno, who was woken up from his sleep, shouted angrily to the outside with a dry voice.

Talina simply turned over, covered her head with the pillow, and prepared to continue sleeping.

They have been having so much fun these days.

But there is nothing we can do about it.

In order to deal with Kitagawa Hide, they contacted many celebrities and dignitaries, almost the entire Arnault Club came out in full force, and made several severe slanders in the Western literary world before finalizing the final result.

Of course, there is a price to pay for doing this.

Not to mention the money.

In order to obstruct Kitagawa Hide's inclusion in the list, they spent at least nearly $1 million.

It cost nearly 1 million to get the Nobel Prize Council, the jury, and the old men and women of the Swedish Academy to make the decision.

This is also one of the reasons why the Arnaults are determined to fight to the death with Kitagawa Hide.

They have made a lot of money over the years.

But at its peak, the revenue was less than $1 million a year!

Of course they cannot give up such huge sunk costs.

In addition, entertaining celebrities and taking them to Jeffrey Epstein's Little St. James Island (rumored to be II Island) are huge expenses.

Not only do I have to pay money but I also have to keep people company. The dissatisfaction and unhappiness in my emotions have reached the limit.

This day of indulgence completely exhausted their energy.

They are now preparing to sleep till dawn and then attend the Nobel Prize ceremony held at the Stockholm Concert Hall.

At the most authoritative and solemn moment, give Kitagawa Hide the final verdict.

Let him never stand up again.

The maid outside the door sensed her master's impatience. She glanced at the needles scattered all over the floor, hesitated, and said, "Sir, Madam, it's me."

"What's the matter?"

"Yes, that's right. There are two pieces of news from the club."

"Just tell me the good news." Arno was becoming more and more impatient.

The chemicals remaining in his body and blood made him very irritable.

But tomorrow was an important day and he had to abstain from sex.

This made him feel even worse.

"Yes." The maid glanced at the note in her hand. In fact, she thought the bad news was more important.

But thinking about my salary, my husband's temper, and since he said so
"Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, Mr. George Safiri, and a large number of celebrities and elites from all walks of life, as well as many former Nobel Prize winners, who had previously refused to attend the award ceremony, changed their minds and agreed to attend."

"???"

Arno's mind suddenly became much clearer.

Even Talina, who was even more confused beside him, turned her head and asked in a muffled voice, "What?"

The maid outside the door repeated it again.

These celebrities have suddenly changed their minds in recent days.

"I understand. Then you should quickly make a new invitation and mail it to them before tomorrow afternoon."

Arno's voice was intermittent.

He was very excited.

The physical discomfort and mental irritability were largely relieved.

Previously, because a large number of celebrities were unwilling to participate, and a group of judges led by Ma Yueran directly withdrew from the selection process, this year's Nobel Prize in Literature was extremely lacking in value.

Everyone knows what is going on, but no one points it out.

This made the Arnault couple, who had spent a lot of money, manpower and resources, very unhappy.

I always feel frustrated when I can't get a perfect victory.

This event is destined to be recorded in the history of world literature.

They want things to be the same as before.

Only in this way can they truly prove that they are right and they are the winners.

Originally, he was considering whether to invest more money to hire someone.

it's good now.

The last problem was also solved.

As for the bad news, how bad could it be?

Whatever he wants!

(End of this chapter)