Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 145: No One Can Match It

In the two years since the reform and opening up, opening one's eyes to the world has gradually become the mainstream of society, and Western culture has penetrated China in all aspects.

In the field of literature, various foreign thoughts and schools also have a large number of supporters in China.

Since last year, several magazines such as "Foreign Literature and Art" and "World Literature" that focus on introducing foreign literary works and trends to the Chinese people have all introduced a number of works of stream-of-consciousness literature, making this literary genre, which had previously been suppressed in the country, gain the attention and love of many literary lovers.

"Lai Zi's Summer" is a novel with distinct characteristics of stream-of-consciousness literature. For literary youth of this era, reading this kind of novel itself represents a kind of fashion and keeping up with the trend.

Moreover, over the past year, Lin Chaoyang has won a large number of loyal readers in China with the high quality of his works. The publication of his first novel also attracted the attention of these readers.

The author's own appeal, coupled with the fact that the content of the novel is in line with the public's pursuit of fashion, means that "Lai Zi's Summer" got off to a smooth start.

Contemporary was only launched last July, and the first issue sold out 7 copies. The second issue was printed in copies, but it still couldn’t keep up with demand.

The third issue was released in January this year, and sold 1 copies.

This number seems a bit thin when compared with old-fashioned magazines with a long history such as "Harvest" and "Yenching Literature and Art", but what cannot be ignored is that "Contemporary" is a literary magazine that is as new as it can be, and its start is perfect.

According to the normal upward trend, the sales volume of the fourth issue of Contemporary magazine (the second issue of 1980) in April should be between and copies.

Then it should not be difficult for it to achieve sales of over 40 to 50 copies per issue within one or two years.

It is also destined to rank among China's top literary journals in the near future.

But what no one expected was that just after the second issue was released in 1980, the sales of "Contemporary" began to show an astonishing upward curve.

This issue of Contemporary Magazine sold 100,000 copies within a week of its release, and within a month of its release, the sales volume reached 240,000 copies.

Following this trend, the final sales volume of this issue of Contemporary Magazine may exceed 300,000 copies.

This number is insignificant when compared with the sales of today's leading literary magazines, People's Literature and Harvest, but the scary thing about this number is its basis.

You should know that the sales volume of the first issue of "Contemporary" this year was only 130,000 copies. With just one issue, the sales volume of "Contemporary" has doubled. Such a huge increase, how can it not be shocking?
There is no doubt that the explosive growth in sales of this issue of "Contemporary" is naturally closely related to "Lai Zi's Summer".

The editorial department doesn't even need to conduct any investigation to find out. They just need to read the letters from readers to find out.

Since the publication of "Lai Zi's Summer", the number of letters from readers received by the editorial department of "Contemporary" has increased day by day. Sometimes, we even receive two or three hundred letters from readers in a day, and the vast majority of these letters mentioned the novel "Lai Zi's Summer".

In the early years, most domestic literature lovers had no idea about stream-of-consciousness literature. The audience for this literary genre in China has almost always been cultivated in recent years.

Moreover, because it has a certain reading threshold, the audience of stream-of-consciousness literature is relatively active. Whether in terms of writing letters to the editorial department or submitting articles to newspapers and periodicals, it is more active than the readers of some realistic works.

In just one month, the editorial department of Contemporary received more than 3,000 letters from readers, in which readers gave rave reviews to Lai Zi's Summer. Yao Shuzhi, the young editor in charge of these letters, was so busy opening the letters every day.

However, reading these letters from readers is not without benefits, as you can gain positive emotions from them.

Especially those praises and compliments for the works made Yao Shuzhi feel proud as an editor.

That afternoon, after finishing the manuscripts at hand, she started opening those letters from readers that she could never finish.

She opened a letter from Comrade Yang Yuntao of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative of Xixia County, HEN Province, which said:
“I am a literature lover. I only learned about stream-of-consciousness literature, an important genre of modern literature, two years ago, and I haven’t read many of its works.

My impression of stream-of-consciousness literature has always been long passages of inner monologues and associations, jumping timelines and obscure stories.

But after reading the novel "Lai Zi's Summer", my view on stream-of-consciousness literature changed.

I can see the strong and distinct stream-of-consciousness style in it, but in the handling of the plot, the author seems to have constructed his own unique style, so as not to confuse some readers who are not familiar with stream-of-consciousness literature.

For me personally, the work "Lai Zi's Summer" deeply moved me.

The author uses delicate brushstrokes to depict a non-blood-related father-son relationship, which is both interesting and contains insights into life and growth.

What is even more rare is that he has well integrated the style of stream-of-consciousness literature, blending the concept of "summer" into a slightly psychedelic feeling, and successfully rendering the overall atmosphere of the novel into a strong fairy-tale color.

After reading the novel, people still find it hard to get over the wonderful time that seemed so real and unreal for a long time. "

After reading the letter, Yao Shuzhi was in high spirits. What she liked most were letters that praised the author and the work. She could gain a lot of positive energy from them, and at the same time she didn't need to reply, which saved her time and effort.

I opened another letter, this time it was from a college student from Shandong Normal University.

“…I majored in Chinese, but I have never been interested in stream-of-consciousness literature. In my opinion, the works of this genre are obscure and difficult to understand, pretending to be profound, but in fact they are bullshit.

But in the novel "Lai Zi's Summer", I saw the charm unique to stream-of-consciousness literature.

The author uses highly personal writing to cover up, or balance, the huge gap between stream-of-consciousness literature and ordinary readers, making this seemingly lofty literary genre approachable.

At the same time, I would like to say that Lai Zi and Xiao Jun in the novel struggle to find hope and convey kindness in life, which makes the significance of this novel far beyond the concepts of literary genres and types.

"Lai Zi's Summer" is a deep dialogue about love, courage and growth. It goes beyond the meaning that can be covered by general stream-of-consciousness works. I think it should be classified as part of the larger category of children's literature. It is a work that is very rich in social concern and humanistic depth.

I believe that it will definitely have its own place in the history of contemporary literature and will be passed down for a long time.

I hope the novel will be published soon! "

After opening more than ten letters in a row, Yao Shuzhi was in a good mood. As it was almost time to get off work, she sorted out the letters and looked at Zhu Changsheng who was reviewing the manuscripts.

"Old Zhu, I've opened these letters from readers, and most of them expressed the hope that Lai Zi's Summer can be published as soon as possible. Shouldn't we hurry up as well?"

Zhu Changsheng looked up when he heard this, "It's only been a month, it's too early. Even though these readers who wrote to us are urging us to publish, the influence of a novel cannot be spread in just half a month. If it is published too early, the sales may not be good." Zhu Changsheng is an old editor and has much more experience in book publishing than Yao Shuzhi.

He is Lin Chaoyang's editor, and he is also proud of the success of Lai Zi's Summer. But it is too early to talk about publishing now.

"There's no rush for publishing. I think we can start the novel symposium first," Zhu Changsheng added.

It was almost time to get off work, so everyone put down their work and joined in the conversation between Zhu Changsheng and Yao Shuzhi.

These days, the atmosphere in the editorial office of Contemporary is full of joy.

This is closely related to the surge in sales of the publication. For a literary magazine that has just been around for less than a year, it is on the verge of reaching sales of 300,000 copies per issue. This is undoubtedly something for everyone to be proud of, and it also highlights the work achievements of the editorial staff over this period of time.

However, although everyone is happy, they also know the fundamental reason why this issue of "Contemporary" can achieve such explosive growth.

"Old Zhu, you must keep an eye on Lin Chaoyang! I heard that People's Literature and October are keeping a close eye on him.

He first published his works in "Yenching Literature and Art", but look at what's happening now. For several times in a row, "Yenching Literature and Art" has not accepted his novels.

He is now just a piece of Tang Monk meat!"

Liu Yin, the senior editor of the editorial department, gave Zhu Changsheng some instructions.

Since winning the National Excellent Short Story Award in March, Lin Chaoyang has been receiving considerable attention in the domestic literary community.

A few days ago, "The World's Number One Restaurant" was performed at the Capital Theatre and became famous in Beijing overnight. It also made the screenwriter Lin Chaoyang famous in the Yanjing literary and art circles.

Zhu Changsheng also knew how much attention Lin Chaoyang was getting now. He sighed and said, "Which publication wouldn't want to snatch up a writer like this?"

Liu Yin said with emotion: "His level of excellence in both novels and plays always reminds me of Lao She."

"Pah, pah, pah!" Zhu Changsheng spat a few times and said to Liu Yin, "Lao She's talent is undeniable, but I can't end up like him."

Liu Yin said nonchalantly: "What era is this? You are just being superstitious."

Colleagues chatted and laughed, and when it was time to get off work, everyone packed up and left.

Liu Yin returned home on her bicycle, and her husband Yan Gang also returned home. Both of them are editors. Yan Gang works at the Literary Gazette, and he is also a critic.

They live in a tube-shaped building with two rooms, one for the child and one for the couple. The couple's room is both a bedroom and a study. In order to save space, the dining table serves as a desk.

After dinner, Yan Gang spread out paper and pen on the dining table.

Liu Yin asked, "Who are you going to write for again?"

"Lai Zi's Summer." Yan Gang replied.

"Lai Zi's Summer" was published in "Contemporary", and Liu Yin was the editor of "Contemporary". When she heard what her husband said, she immediately became interested.

"Writing a review for Lin Chaoyang again. You really like him."

As early as last year, Yan Gang wrote a review article for "The Shepherd".

At that time, "The Shepherd" did not have as much influence as it does now, and Lin Chaoyang was not as famous as he is now.

Normally, the couple would chat about novels at home, but they rarely communicated about the works they had reviewed and commented on, mainly because they were afraid of interfering with each other.

"Look at what you said. If someone doesn't know, they would think I'm having an affair outside." Yan Gang said jokingly.

He dusted off the manuscript paper and continued, "I was busy with work a while ago, and today I finally finished reading his new novel. I really want to write something. Oh, by the way, you also read this novel when you were reviewing it, right?"

Liu Yin nodded, "I have read it. That time when Lin Chaoyang came to our editorial office, he said that it took him more than half a month to finish writing it. We were all shocked when we heard it at that time. It took more than half a month to write a novel of 200,000 words. This novel..."

Liu Yin paused here, meaning that the quality of the novel must be hard to describe in a few words.

"It took more than half a month to write this?"

Yan Gang was surprised when he heard this. He asked in disbelief, "He wrote a 200,000-word novel in just half a month? And it's so good?"

"Our reaction at that time was similar to yours now. But he must have been telling the truth. He was writing the script for The World's No. 1 Restaurant last winter.

Looking back, it took less than two months to finish "Lai Zi's Summer". If you calculate the time, even if it is a bit exaggerated, it will definitely not exceed one and a half months."

After Liu Yin finished speaking, Yan Gang said in amazement: "His efficiency is a bit scary!"

“Two hundred thousand words in more than half a month, an average of ten thousand words a day, the speed is actually not bad, the most important thing is the quality of the novel.

You know, there haven’t been any good stream-of-consciousness novels in China. As editors, we haven’t read many. I’ve only read the works of Woolf and Faulkner.

To be specific, everyone is similar. Generally speaking, our domestic literary circles pay relatively little attention to stream-of-consciousness literature.

We were really shocked when we watched "Lai Zi's Summer"!
You can tell between the lines that Lin Chaoyang is not like many young writers nowadays who almost copy famous foreign writers. He is definitely not a simple imitator, but has his own unique thinking and creative experience.

I even feel that in the field of stream-of-consciousness literature, there is no one better in China than him!"

(End of this chapter)