Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 215: Influence in Hong Kong
"Hey, Dening, how did you like Lin Chaoyang's novel?"

The next morning, Zhou Yanru asked Zhang Dening.

"finish watching."

"Have you finished reading? What do you think?"

Zhang Dening's expression was a little strange, "Very good."

"What does that expression of yours mean?"

"It's nothing, it's really good, but..." Zhang Dening hesitated to speak, not quite sure how to comment.

"You're still keeping me in suspense. Bring me the manuscript and I'll read it myself."

Zhang Dening handed the manuscript to Zhou Yanru.

Another day passed, and Zhou Yanru finally finished reading the manuscript. She was still immersed in the shock of the last scene of the novel. After a long while, she said, "This time... Chaoyang's style has changed a lot!"

"Yes, it's unexpected, and the style is completely different from his first two works." Zhang Dening sighed.

"What do you think?" Zhou Yanru asked her.

Zhang Dening asked thoughtfully, "Do you know about the previous rumor?"

Zhou Yanru nodded, knowing that she was talking about the rumor about the discord between Lin Chaoyang and Yan Film Studio. It was said that it was because of a Sino-Japanese co-production movie. Lin Chaoyang didn't like some of the content of the movie and had an unpleasant experience with the crew.

“That movie is said to be about the game of Go, and Chaoyang’s novel is also about the game of Go. The intentions are self-evident.

This time he abandoned the stream-of-consciousness writing style and completely returned to the narrative structure of traditional Chinese novels, which was determined by the story.

The protagonist Jiang Nansheng played chess with the Japanese three times, and the structure was progressive. The first time was for survival, the second time was to prove himself, and the third time was for national dignity and justice.

This linear structure may seem old-fashioned, but he handles it with ease, it is extremely solid, and the emotions are very rich, allowing the protagonist Jiang Nansheng to complete the transformation from a chess madman who doesn't care about the world to a chess master.

In terms of structure and plot alone, this novel is extremely brilliant.

Especially at the end of the novel, when the Japanese Go Association comes to Shanghai to entertain the troops and Jiang Nansheng challenges nine Japanese Go masters alone, it really makes people's emotions fluctuate and their hearts surge.

but……"

Zhang Dening hesitated and said, "This plot is a bit untrue. Not only has it never happened in history, it is also unrealistic even now. I guess some people will sneer at it."

Go originated in China and has a long history, but it is an indisputable fact that Go has been declining in China over the past century. In contrast, in neighboring Japan, the Go culture is strong and masters are constantly emerging.

China and Japan have been competing against each other over the past few decades in the game of Go, with China losing more than it wins. The vast majority of Chinese people are aware of the fact that Chinese Go players are now inferior to their Japanese counterparts.

Zhou Yanru asked Zhang Dening what she thought of the novel. The reason why her face looked strange was because of this. The novel is a good novel, but it contains a little too much fantasy. It is likely to be criticized after it is published.

"Didn't Wu Qingyuan defeat all opponents in Japan and be known as the Showa Go Master? Chaoyang should have drawn on his experience when writing the character Jiang Nansheng, right?"

"I don't know. I'll ask him later."

"I heard that Chaoyang is also very good at chess." Zhou Yanru asked.

"It is said to be."

"Since he is not a layman in Go, he must have written it this way on purpose."

Listening to Zhou Yanru's words, Zhang Dening's heart moved. She thought of Lin Chaoyang's sudden change in style and his previous conflict with Yanying Studio.

"What do you feel after reading his novel?" Zhou Yanru asked her.

Zhang Dening thought for a moment, "The reading experience is very smooth, and the emotions are progressive. In the end, I was so excited to see Jiang Nansheng challenge nine Japanese Go masters in a row. In the end, he fell under the guns of the Japanese, which was even more heartbreaking. I was moved by his use of Go to defend the country, and I felt sorry for the death of a generation of Go masters, but more of it was hatred for the Japanese."

Zhou Yanru nodded slightly and said, "I think this is his purpose."

She added: “Chao Yang’s first two novels both have strong stream-of-consciousness literary elements, and the literary world has given him very high praise, and these two novels can be regarded as classics.

But we have to admit that both "Lai Zi's Summer" and "The Death of Van Gogh" have a certain reading threshold and have inherent shortcomings in terms of circulation.

This time, Chaoyang focused on the story of the novel. I believe he is capable of balancing the story and literary qualities of the novel well, but it is obvious that he did not do so.

Instead, they chose to popularize the story. The disadvantage of doing so is that the literary quality of the novel is greatly weakened, but at the same time it also greatly increases the novel's readability and expands its audience..."

When Zhou Yanru said this, Zhang Dening took over her words, "So his purpose is to let more people read this novel!"

"That's right!" Zhou Yanru said firmly.

"But if that's the case, this novel probably won't be highly regarded in the literary world!" Zhang Dening showed a bit of worry on his face.

"I think Chaoyang should have made preparations for this." Zhou Yanru said.

Zhang Dening thought about it carefully and had to admit that what Zhou Yanru said made sense.

Given Lin Chaoyang's maturity in creation and his in-depth research in literary theory, it was impossible for him not to think of this, but he still did it.

While she was thinking, Zhou Yanru asked, "Do you think there is anything in the manuscript that needs to be revised?"

Zhang Dening shook his head.

"Then I'll show it to Lao Li."

Without the constraints of the manuscript, Lin Chaoyang has been living a relaxed and comfortable life these days.

On Monday morning, a special donation ceremony was held in the conference room of the Yanda Library. The donor was Mr. Rao Yutai, who had passed away 13 years ago. During the period of the Cultural Revolution, he suffered a lot of persecution and finally committed suicide. After many years, according to his last wish, his family donated his savings of more than 10,000 yuan and his collection of books to Yanda.

The old gentleman left behind a collection of 1162 books totaling 1480 volumes, all of which were donated to the Yenching University Library.

The donation ceremony was attended by the old gentleman's daughter and sister. Listening to them reading out the old gentleman's last wishes, the library colleagues present felt a sense of empathy and were full of respect and admiration for their predecessors.

The sad and somber donation ceremony had just ended, and the museum asked Lin Chaoyang and several other young and strong men to rearrange the conference room.

"We just had the donation ceremony, what are you doing now?"

"The conference room is pretty busy today!"

Several colleagues finished their work while complaining and left the meeting room. Lin Chaoyang returned to the library to continue slacking off. He was absorbed in reading a novel when Du Rong quickly ran up from downstairs.

"Chaoyang, the director asked you to go to the meeting room!" Du Rong said panting.

"What kind of work is there?"

"do not know."

"The museum really treats us young people like animals, ordering us around for everything."

Despite his complaints, Lin Chaoyang still came to the meeting room.

At this time, there were twenty or thirty students sitting in the conference room, including several familiar faces such as Chen Jiangong, Liu Zhida, Huang Ziping, etc., all of whom were students of the Chinese Department.

Curator Xie Daoyuan was sitting in a seat on the south side. He waved to Lin Chaoyang and he walked over.

Xie Daoyuan took Lin Chaoyang by the hand and introduced him to the students present: "This is Xu Lingjun, the author of the novel The Death of Van Gogh, and also an outstanding administrator of our Yanda Library. His real name is Lin Chaoyang."

Listening to Xie Daoyuan's introduction, the students below burst into applause, and many of them looked at Lin Chaoyang with admiration in their eyes.

"Director..." Before Lin Chaoyang could ask Xie Daoyuan what was going on, he heard him take the initiative to say, "Today, a delegation from the Chinese University of Hong Kong came to visit our Yanda University. Students from the Chinese Department were responsible for accompanying them. Just now, a student from the Chinese University talked about your novel. They were surprised to hear that you are an employee of our Yanda University."

Lin Chaoyang was a little surprised when he heard this. Nowadays, there is not much civil exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. He didn't expect that the students of Hong Kong Chinese University knew him.

"Come on, come on, sit next to me and chat with your classmates."

Xie Daoyuan pulled Lin Chaoyang to sit down, and the students looked at him with curious eyes.

"Everyone can speak freely about anything you want to discuss," Xie Daoyuan said.

Most of the people sitting in the conference room were students, with only a few middle-aged and elderly people, who were probably the leading scholars and teachers of the delegations.

After Xie Daoyuan finished speaking, Lin Chaoyang said with a smile: "I really didn't expect that there are people in Xiangjiang who know me."

At this time, a 70-year-old man sitting among the students said, "Hong Kong has a copy of Suye Literature, which has become extremely popular in the past two years and is very popular among students. Some time ago, an article was published there that highly praised the Death of Van Gogh written by you, Mr. Lin, and it aroused the interest of many students."

So that's how it is. Li Hanxiang had brought him back a copy of "Suye Literature" before. This magazine actually has such a great influence.

"It's a pity that Mr. Lin's novels have not been published in Hong Kong. We have only heard of his name for a long time but have not read them yet."

Xie Daoyuan smiled and interrupted, "I think it would be better to do this. Your school is going to donate books to our Yanda University during this visit, so we will also give you a gift in return. How about Comrade Chaoyang's novel as a return gift?"

The old man clapped his hands and said, "That's a good idea!"

The students also clapped happily. The students who came to visit from the Chinese University of Hong Kong this time were all students from the Faculty of Arts. "Suye Literature" is a magazine co-founded by Xixi and several other popular writers and poets in Hong Kong, and it has a great influence among college students.

The praise of "The Death of Van Gogh" by "Suye Literature" made these students very interested in Lin Chaoyang and his novels. When they heard that Yanjing University wanted to give them Lin Chaoyang's novels in return, they were naturally happy.

"It would be even better if it could be published in Hong Kong!" someone among the students suddenly shouted.

The old man joked, "Publishing houses in Hong Kong are obsessed with money and only publish articles that can make money."

The students burst into laughter.

After a few jokes, the two sides became closer and the topic became more in-depth. A student asked Lin Chaoyang: "Mr. Lin, the so-called scar literature and reflective literature have been popular in the mainland literary world in recent years. I heard that you have also written such works. I wonder what you think of this style of work?"

“During that period of time, we took some detours, and many people suffered injustice and pain. This is the fundamental reason for the emergence of scar literature or reflective literature.

This type of work has been very popular in recent years. In addition to the excellence of some of the works themselves, the more important reason is that the content and emotions of the works resonate with readers.

But emotional resonance is not sustainable. What this generation can relate to may not be felt by the next generation.

The popularity of literary works follows the same rules as all other arts: most works are only popular for a short time, and only a small number of them can be passed down and become classics.

"Mr. Lin, I have only read the article about the novel "The Death of Van Gogh", but what I am very interested in about this novel is why you, as a Chinese writer, chose to write the story of a foreign painter?"

“The inspiration for writing this novel came from a meal with a friend, during which we talked about young people’s pursuit of avant-garde art.

In my opinion, many people in China today do not focus on "art" but on "avant-garde" in their pursuit of so-called avant-garde art, which inevitably gives rise to the suspicion of sensationalism.

When writing The Death of Van Gogh, I created two characters who were willing to sacrifice themselves for art, one was the historical Van Gogh, and the other was the fictional Aaron. This was a helpless response to reality. "

After listening to Lin Chaoyang's answer, the students became more interested in the novel "The Death of Van Gogh".

The exchange lasted for nearly half an hour, and a donation ceremony was held at the end. Students donated 2000 books to the Yanda Library on behalf of Hong Kong Chinese University.

After the ceremony, some colleagues from the library walked into the conference room carrying piles of books.

Xie Daoyuan smiled and said, "Our return gift has arrived!"

(End of this chapter)