Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 271 Spoiler Death
Shutter Island is one of the representative works of American writer Dennis Lehane. Since his debut in 1994 with hard-boiled detective novels, Dennis Lehane has won many awards including the American Shamus Award, Anthony Best Writing Award, Berry Award, and Dalis Award.

His writing style is varied, and he is a rare all-round novelist in the American literary world. He is also recognized by the European and American literary circles as a master of stories who "does not play by the rules."

At the same time, his works are widely popular among readers and have been favored by many film and television companies, and have been adapted into movies many times.

The most well-known work of his to Chinese people is the 2010 film "Shutter Island" of the same name directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leo DiCaprio. The film perfectly restored the plot of the novel, received rave reviews after its release, and also gained countless loyal fans in China.

"Shutter Island" written by Lin Chaoyang is based on this. It tells the story of 66 mentally ill criminals being imprisoned on a mysterious island isolated from the world.

Amid heavy security, Zhang Peilan, a mentally ill female prisoner who killed her three children, mysteriously disappeared. The wife of Yan Shouzhong, the public security officer in charge of investigating the case, died in a bizarre fire, and the arsonist was also detained here.

Yan Shouzhong was ordered to investigate Zhang Peilan's disappearance, and at the same time took the opportunity to investigate the truth behind his wife's death.

However, Yan Shouzhong searched the entire island and accidentally discovered that there was an extra mysterious file No. 67 on the island. All the secrets on the island pointed to this extra person...

Lin Chaoyang made a detailed localization treatment to "Shutter Island". While pursuing the diversity of narrative techniques and the reversal of text structure, he also injected realistic elements and tragic core into the novel.

In his novel, Yan Shouzhong's wife Zhang Peilan suffered a severe blow and killed their three children with her own hands before committing suicide.

This blow came from Yan Shouzhong himself. They were a loving couple, but in the tide of humanity, his wife was criticized because of her family background.

Yan Shouzhong could not bear the threats from the outside world and drew a clear line with his wife, which became the last straw that broke the camel's back for Zhang Peilan and led to the final tragedy.

Overnight, his wife and children were all killed, his family was broken up, and Yan Shouzhong could not bear such a huge blow and developed mental problems. He was the real mental patient.

After Lin Chaoyang's localization, "Shutter Island" maintains the ghostly style of the original work, and a tense and eerie atmosphere permeates the entire book.

At the same time, it injects deeper motivations into the novel, which makes people feel a chill down their spines and their hearts restless for a long time, sighing at the fickleness and tragedy of human nature.

I hadn't even finished reading Gao Hongbo's October when it was taken over by Gao Hongshi, who didn't return it to me until two days later.

After these two days, many students in the class have finished reading the novel and are having a great time discussing the plot. Not only can he not participate in the topic, but he also has to endure the pain of having the novel spoiled, and he feels full of resentment.

He waited until the class was over and no one was discussing the plot of the novel, then he calmly started reading the novel.

The seventh session of the Institute of Literature is the editing class. The students are all young editors from major domestic newspapers and magazines. The class content is similar to that of the writers' class, except that there are more courses in literary theory.

In particular, the analysis of contemporary literature is often the focus of many teachers and is also the most lively topic discussed by students, because this is everyone's main profession, so they are naturally interested and motivated.

The person teaching the students today is Rong Shihui, the editor of Contemporary Magazine. He is a senior editor of Renwen Press. He edited and reviewed the popular works Song of Youth and Lin Hai Xue Yuan that were popular all over the country in the 1950s.

Rong Shihui has no rules when teaching. He just talks about whatever comes to his mind. Halfway through the class, a student mentioned the book "Shutter Island" which was published recently. Rong Shihui then enthusiastically started discussing it with the students and forgot about the lecture.

“I think the most successful aspect of Shutter Island is the creation of the overall suspenseful atmosphere of the novel. When I was reading the novel, I felt as if I was caught in a big net. I felt a breathless tension and was constantly suspicious of the things around me.”

"What you call 'success' refers to the reading experience. From an editor's perspective, I think the most successful aspect of Shutter Island is its narrative.

Lin Chaoyang successfully deceives the readers' eyes and focuses their attention with a non-linear narrative method, and keeps the readers' curiosity till the end with a big mystery.

When the answer is finally revealed, we as readers will have a sense of sudden enlightenment.”

“Narrative is a means and a method, but the real excellence of this novel lies in its structure.

The structural framework set in advance by the author determines the direction of the story and, to a large extent, the narrative angle and rhythm.

And I think the most successful point of Lin Chaoyang's narrative is that he created a kind of "narrative trick", or you can also say "narrative trap".

Our eyes can't help but follow the rhythm of his storytelling, but the actual story is completely different from what he showed us.

When we realized this problem, we didn’t feel any discomfort, but were instead moved by the sudden reversal and strong emotional confrontation. This is the most powerful part of this novel.”

The students are all editors of well-known publications with outstanding professional abilities. They can analyze novels with great knowledge and eloquence.

Gao Hongbo was originally immersed in the world of the novel, but was disturbed by the increasingly heated discussions. Listening to everyone constantly spoiling the plot of the novel, he felt a sense of loss of hope in life.

As everyone was chatting, someone brought up the question of the title of the novel, and suggested that given the style of the novel, it would be more appropriately called "Ghost Island."

“No, no. Ghost Island sounds like a third-rate novel written by a Westerner hundreds of years ago. I think it should be called Never Forget.

In the novel, Zhang Peilan died with her eyes wide open, and Yan Shouzhong's life was more miserable than his death, so the title "Never Close Your Eyes" is very fitting."

"Come on, please. Why don't you call it 'Never Close Your Eyes'? The island is a very important image in the novel. How could you possibly abandon something so important?"

Everyone was arguing and expressing their opinions. At this time, Rong Shihui on the podium knocked on the table. Hearing the sound, everyone quieted down and turned their eyes to the podium.

"Regarding the title of the novel, I see that everyone is discussing it very enthusiastically. Let me give you some ideas."

As he spoke, he wrote the word "confinement" on the blackboard with chalk, then turned around and asked, "Who can tell me what these two words mean in Chinese?"

After hearing his question, one of the students immediately said, "Solitary confinement means being locked up in a certain place as a punishment for committing a crime. This should be a term that only appeared in modern times, right?" Rong Shihui shook his head slightly, "Except for a small number of imported words, most of the words we use now can be found in ancient documents."

"In the "Book of Song, Biography of Barbarians, the Kingdom of Heluoduo in the Southwestern Barbarians", it is mentioned: I hope the holy king will protect us from afar, and allow us to go back and forth in trade without being restricted.

The "confinement" here means a restricted state, which is basically consistent with our usage of "confinement" in modern times.

Of course, what we now understand as ‘confinement’ has become a more specific punishment measure due to the punishment regulations of the military, prisons and other units.”

At this point, Rong Shihui paused, pointed at the blackboard, and continued:

“But your explanation is correct, especially in the context of the novel Shutter Island, it can be said to be very appropriate.

'Confinement' corresponds to 'making a mistake', and Yan Shouzhong is the person who made the mistake.

His wife and children died because of his betrayal. For him, being trapped on this island is his punishment. "

Rong Shihui's words were like a ray of light in the darkness, which enlightened everyone present.

"Yes, this is a wonderful way of saying it. This is definitely the author's intention when he came up with the word 'confinement'. Otherwise, who would use such a rare word?"

"I think this 'confinement' has another meaning. I understand. I think I understand." Gao Hongshi suddenly shouted.

"What have you figured out?" someone asked.

“This isolated island has symbolic meaning, and it may very well symbolize Yan Shouzhong’s own mental illness.

It may not exist at all, but just another fantasy of Yan Shouzhong. He is just punishing himself with such imagination.

Look at the ending..."

Gao Hongshi looked around and found the "October" that Gao Hongbo had placed on the table. He grabbed it and turned to a page of the magazine.

"Look at the ending. After a brief moment of clarity, Yan Shouzhong fell into fantasy again. According to this description, everything seems to be a huge conspiracy.

Why did Lin Chaoyang write so openly? I think he probably left us some room for imagination. "

She became more and more excited as she spoke, as if she remembered something, and quickly turned to the "Prologue" chapter on the first page of the novel.

"It matches. Look at the 'Prologue'. The narrator he used is Xu Lingjun.

Is there a person named 'Xu Lingjun' in real life?
No!
The novel was invented by Lin Chaoyang, and 'Shutter Island' was also imagined by Yan Shouzhong. It must be like this."

As the students listened to Gao Hongshi's explanation, they felt as if they had just woken up from a dream and a mystery had been solved. The more they thought about it, the more they felt that what she said made sense.

At the same time, I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe towards Lin Chaoyang, the author of the novel.

A writer who can use words to construct a mysterious and ghostly world can be called excellent.

But Lin Chaoyang not only completed such a construction, but also gave this ghost world a powerful underlying logic.

This logic carries the novel's spirit of realism, as well as its superior literary and thoughtful qualities, instantly elevating "Shutter Island," a novel that appears to tell a suspense story, to the height of art.

"It's raised! It's raised too high!" someone murmured to himself.

Gao Hong clapped his hands ten times and exclaimed: "This is what we call the sublimation of the theme! It's amazing!"

This sentence attracted everyone's approval, and they were completely conquered by the ideas and meanings implied in this novel.

At this moment, they felt as if they were sitting on a ship, looking at the icebergs in the distance. The icebergs were above the sea and looked ordinary.

But only experienced captains know what kind of huge ice peak is hidden beneath the deep blue sea.

It stands tall and majestic, and although hidden beneath the waves, it exudes a majestic aura that is no less than the towering mountains on land.

The sunlight occasionally penetrates the water and shines on its crystal clear body, refracting dreamy light and shadow, as if it is a giant from another world.

Classic literary works have the charm of being always new and have endless meanings to explore. After today's discussion in class, everyone truly discovered the power of the novel "Shutter Island".

In addition to the awe of the author Lin Chaoyang, everyone also felt a sense of awe for the novel itself.

Everyone told each other that they seemed to have witnessed the birth of a classic literary work!

In an unnoticed corner, no one cared that Gao Hongbo, who was so spoiled that he doubted his life, was exuding infinite resentment.

Spoiler Death!

(End of this chapter)