Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 177 The Great Aaron Bushnell (Monthly Ticket Plus)
"Sister Jianmei, yes, I came here to buy books. Didn't you say that "Lai Zi's Summer" will arrive today?" Cha Haisheng smiled at Guo Jianmei.

Cha Haisheng's eyes glanced at Tao Yumo standing next to Guo Jianmei, and a trace of embarrassment flashed across his face. As the most beautiful girl in the Law Department of Yan University Class of 79, Tao Yumo could be said to be the recognized goddess of the Law Department.

"Xiaocha, you are late."

Tao Yumo smiled sweetly and spoke in a teasing tone.

Guo Jianmei urged, "Just now everyone was rushing to grab the books, go and have a look, I wonder if there are any left."

Hearing Guo Jianmei's urging, Cha Haisheng quickly walked to the new book shelf. There was a large empty space where the new books were originally placed. He looked for a long time, but there was no copy of "Lai Zi's Summer".

He ran to the counter and asked the salesperson, "Do you have any copies of Lai Zi's Summer?"

"No more. They're all sold out just now. If you want to buy some, you'll have to wait for half a month."

Upon hearing this, Cha Haisheng looked disappointed. He would have to wait another half a month if he was just a little late.

"You didn't even bother to come early to queue up when new books came out of the bookstore. No wonder you couldn't buy the books." Tao Yumo said sarcastically.

Cha Haisheng smiled helplessly, "They had to drag me in this morning..."

Before he finished his explanation, Tao Yumo handed over a book.

Its cover is blue and yellow. The blue represents the sky and the sea, and the yellow represents a large field of sunflowers. In a field full of sunflowers, two figures, one big and one small, are gazing at each other.

"Let me give you this one!" Tao Yumo said.

In front of the bookstore early in the morning, the sunlight shone on her, and Cha Haisheng seemed to see a fairy.

"Do you want it?" Tao Yumo waited for a long time, and seeing that Cha Haisheng didn't say anything, he asked impatiently.

Cha Haisheng finally reacted, "Yes, yes, yes!"

He quickly took out the money and handed it to Tao Yumo, then took the book from her hand.

Then he watched Tao Yumo reunite with a few female classmates and walk away, feeling lost.

"Hey, Yumo, did you see the way Xiaocha looked at you just now?"

On the way back to school, Guo Jianmei asked Tao Yumo.

"What a little brat!" Tao Yumo did not answer her question directly, but obviously understood what she was talking about.

Cha Haisheng was admitted to university at the age of 15. He was the youngest student in the Law Department of Yan University Class of 79. He is now a sophomore and only 16 years old. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a young genius. He has been valued by the school and teachers since he entered school, and has also been taken care of by his classmates in the department.

After all, among the three classes of college students in 77, 78, and 79, there were many freshmen in their twenties. When Cha Haisheng was born, some of his classmates might have been in elementary school or even middle school.

"He's just a little kid. Aren't you only three years older than him? A woman who is three years older than you is bound to have gold bricks." Guo Jianmei joked.

"Don't talk nonsense!" Tao Yumo glared at Guo Jianmei.

Seeing that she was a little angry, Guo Jianmei didn't dare to joke anymore.

"Sorry, I was wrong."

"Humph!"

After a few words of temper, Tao Yumo returned to her innocent nature and chatted and laughed with some classmates.

She followed a few classmates back to the girls' dormitory. Someone saw them coming back from outside and greeted them.

"What are you doing?"

"I went to the bookstore to buy books. Lai Zi's Summer has just been published and there are a lot of people rushing to buy it."

"Really? Do you have any books left? I want to buy one, too."

"What are you thinking about? The bookstore was sold out within ten minutes of opening. If you want to buy it, go to another bookstore and have a look."

Several classmates returned to the dormitory, and a girl exclaimed: "Yumo, your brother-in-law's book is really popular!"

Tao Yumo showed a proud look on his face, "That's for sure. His novel pioneered the concept of Chinese stream-of-consciousness literature."

Guo Jianmei said: "Your brother-in-law's novel has received high praise, but its sales volume cannot be compared with The Wreath Under the Mountain. The reading threshold of Lai Zi's Summer is relatively high."

"The high threshold means it has strong literary value, which is not a bad thing," said a classmate.

Many young literary people are proud of reading some seemingly profound and obscure foreign literary works, but they think that some literary works with strong storylines are too vulgar and lack style.

This is not only true in later generations, but also in the present.

"That's not right! The literary quality of a literary work is only one aspect. It also has to attract readers. If it only talks about literary quality but there is not even one reader, how can such a work be called a good work?"

Several girls debated for a long time about the reading threshold of "Lai Zi's Summer", and then a classmate who had just returned from outside knocked on the door and said that someone was outside looking for Guo Jianmei.

"Oh, this is going out to make love!"

Everyone teased Guo Jianmei, but she didn't answer them and walked out with a red face.

After she left, the atmosphere in the dormitory became quiet. Tao Yumo stayed here until almost noon, then rode his bike to the Overseas Chinese Apartment.

Have lunch and take a hot bath, it’s so nice.

During lunch, Tao Yumo told Lin Chaoyang about the scene of them queuing up to buy books at the bookstore in the morning.

"Brother-in-law, your book will surely be a big hit again!"

"How much it sells depends on the readers' approval."

"Your works have always been recognized by everyone. The Wreath Under the Mountain has sold more than three million copies."

Lin Chaoyang shook his head. "That's different. The story of The Wreath Under the Mountain is very strong, and it has the right timing, location, and people, which is why it has sold so many copies. Lai Zi's Summer is a stream of consciousness novel. Although it has received high praise from the literary world, it is definitely not as popular as The Wreath Under the Mountain in terms of readership."

"I also talked about this issue with my classmates in the dormitory this morning. The impact shouldn't be that big, right? I remember that issue of Contemporary sold more than 500,000 copies." "I was only talking relatively speaking."

Tao Yumo laughed, realizing that her brother-in-law was just talking about the comparison with "The Garland under the Mountain".

"Brother-in-law, what do you think about the reading threshold? Didn't you consider this issue when you wrote Lai Zi's Summer? My sister said that your new novel is also stream-of-consciousness literature?"

"Any literary work has a reading threshold, just at different levels. What we writers can do is to lower this threshold as much as possible while ensuring the artistic level of the novel.

When I was writing "Lai Zi's Summer", I did consider it, but I wrote it so quickly that I really didn't have time to think about it carefully.

The new novel only has some stream-of-consciousness techniques and elements, but strictly speaking, it cannot be considered a true stream-of-consciousness novel. "

After hearing what Lin Chaoyang said, Tao Yumo also became curious about his new novel, "If it's not considered a stream of consciousness novel? Then what kind of style is it?"

"Hmm..." Lin Chaoyang pondered.

There is a classic British science fiction TV series called "Doctor Who". One of the episodes is called "Meeting Van Gogh". The story tells that the protagonist Doctor Who discovered a strange monster image in Van Gogh's painting "The Cathedral at Auvers" at an art exhibition.

This phenomenon should not have occurred. In order to investigate this anomaly, the doctor and his assistant Amy decided to travel to 19th century France.

After traveling through time, the doctor met Van Gogh, who was exchanging paintings for wine in a tavern. At that time, he was at the lowest point in his life, suffering from mental illness. At the same time, his works were not recognized by society. Even the bartender and waiter in the tavern could ridicule and mock him.

And because a murder occurred in the town, everyone in the town believed that it was the madman Van Gogh who brought the misfortune.

The doctor discovered that the criminal who committed the murder in the small town was the monster he and Amy saw in the painting. In the small town, only Van Gogh, who had ordinary vision, could see this monster.

The doctor tried to eradicate the monster and nearly lost his life, but he also formed a friendship with Van Gogh.

After some twists and turns, the doctor and Van Gogh finally joined forces to get rid of the monster from outer space, but they found that it was an abandoned alien creature. He became ferocious due to his blindness and loneliness. The doctor understood his roar before he died.

"I'm scared!"

The monster attacks others crazily just because it has no companions on this strange planet, no one understands it, and no one can see it, just like Van Gogh at this moment.

In order to make Van Gogh feel the value and power of his existence, the doctor took him back to a modern museum where a retrospective of Van Gogh's works was on display.

In the museum, Van Gogh heard an art critic's profound interpretation and high evaluation of his works with the most lavish words. He was deeply moved and burst into tears.

By sending Van Gogh back to his original time and space, Amy thought that Van Gogh would have a different ending, but in the end he still committed suicide at the age of thirty.

But the only difference from the original is that the monster on the window of the painting "Orville Church" is gone, and the series ends on a deep and sentimental note.

Lin Chaoyang is a loyal viewer of "Doctor Who" and was deeply moved when he saw this episode.

Especially at the end of the series, when Van Gogh stood in the Musee d'Orsay in France, looking around with tears in his eyes at the paintings he had worked so hard to create, that scene shocked Lin Chaoyang.

After the TV series was broadcast, this shot also became a famous scene on the short video platform in later generations.

The novel "Death of Van Gogh" is based on the story of "Meeting Van Gogh", but Lin Chaoyang also made some modifications to the story.

In his novels, there is no omnipotent character like Doctor Who. The protagonist of the novel becomes a young man who loves painting, but is a decadent young man whose paintings are not recognized due to his limited talent.

Aaron's most admired painter is Van Gogh. He often imagines himself as the talented Van Gogh who was not appreciated, and thus gradually becomes cynical.

At an art exhibition, he encountered a group of extreme environmentalists who set fire to the paintings. In order to save the paintings, Aaron rushed into the fire regardless of everything, but accidentally traveled to 19th century Europe.

Lin Chaoyang did not make too many changes to the story after the time travel, he just removed the science fiction elements in the TV series. The monsters in the TV series were just Van Gogh's inner demons in the novel, and Van Gogh finally defeated his inner demons with the help of Aaron.

Aaron thought he had changed Van Gogh's tragedy, but in the end he found out that it was just a dream he had while in a coma.

He was just burned while saving the painting, choked by the poisonous smoke and fell into a coma.

Aaron felt lost after waking up. In his dream, Aaron kept telling Van Gogh that he would become an unparalleled artist in the future and his works would be highly praised by the world, but Van Gogh refused to believe it. Aaron regretted not letting Van Gogh witness his brilliant achievements with his own eyes.

After being discharged from the hospital, Aaron went to the art gallery that had been set on fire, but was surprised to find that the scene before him seemed familiar.

The same art gallery, the same exhibition, the same audience, and the same him.

Looking at the masterpieces of Van Gogh still hanging there intact, Aaron looked around with tears streaming down his face.

At this moment, time and space intertwined, as if Van Gogh was present in person, witnessing with his own eyes how his works were admired and loved by the world.

At the end of the novel, the arsonists broke into the art gallery again as if they had rehearsed, and a raging fire quickly broke out inside.

Aaron faced the flames and leaped again.

The story of "Death of Vincent Van Gogh" is based on "Meeting Vincent Van Gogh", while also drawing on the narrative style and structure of "The Da Vinci Code". The plot is both a journey through time and space and a cycle of time and space.

The novel incorporates many elements such as stream of consciousness, science fiction, and suspense. In today's Chinese literary world, this writing style can no longer be described as novel, but it has completely broken the imagination of contemporary writers.

Lin Chaoyang thought for a long time, but still didn't know how to describe the style of "The Death of Van Gogh".

"You should wait until the novel is published and read it yourself," he said finally.

Tao Yumo was a little unhappy when she heard what he said, thinking he was keeping her in suspense.

After lunch, Tao Yumo was asked by her sister to wash the dishes.

At this time, Zhu Changsheng suddenly came and said to Lin Chaoyang excitedly as soon as he entered the room: "Chaoyang, "The Death of Van Gogh" has been confirmed to be published in the January issue. After the first issue is published, it has been printed now."

Zhu Changsheng came specially to tell Lin Chaoyang the good news. After all, it was he who had promised Lin Chaoyang so confidently that this novel would be published in Contemporary with high standards.

Now, he has kept his promise.

"Your editorial department is very efficient!" Lin Chaoyang said happily.

Zhu Changsheng took a sip of the tea handed to him by Tao Yushu and said, "You have no idea how much shock your novel caused in our editorial department!"

(End of this chapter)