Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 272 The literati are indeed shameless

The small island hidden in the sea fog is full of a mysterious atmosphere.

Yan Shouzhong, who tried his best to investigate the truth, felt that everyone on the island seemed to be hiding a secret. But when he took great pains to dig out the truth, the truth was so cruel.

It turned out that all this was his fantasy. His loved ones died because of his betrayal. Unable to bear the blow, he could only use fantasy to numb himself.

He imagined himself as a public security officer, imagining that some bad guys had carried out a huge conspiracy against him and his family, in order to numb the pain in his heart.

But when the truth is revealed, it's like the anesthetic effect wearing off, and the pain that comes again will only get more intense.

Therefore, at the end, Yan Shouzhong fell into fantasy again after a brief period of clarity, as he could not bear the weight of reality.

Zhang Manling feels sad and lamentable for Yan Shouzhong's experience. He is the culprit who caused the death of his relatives, so it is sad; he is also punishing himself in this way, proving that he still has a conscience, which is sigh-worthy.

That night, she finished reading the novel and lay on the bed. There were many images in her mind, all derived from the words, about Yan Shouzhong, about Shutter Island, about Zhang Peilan...

She couldn't sleep the whole time, and finally she picked up the copy of October again and decided to read the novel again.

After reading the novel for the second time, Zhang Manling had a new feeling about the novel.

She discovered that the place called Shutter Island was most likely a figment of Yan Shouzhong's imagination.

Because in the novel, there is no mention of the external environment outside the Shutter Island at all, and Yan Shouzhong also said in his brief moment of clarity at the end that he had actually been in a deep fantasy.

Zhang Manling carefully searched for the detailed description of Shutter Island in the novel and found some clues. All the specific details in it were described from Yan Shouzhong's subjective perspective, while his colleague Lei Jianming did not make any statement.

Then there is the "Prologue" at the beginning. Zhang Manling believes that this is the biggest evidence that "Shutter Island is Yan Shouzhong's imagination", because Lin Chaoyang did not make up a strange name, but used the name of "Xu Lingjun", a fictional character that is already familiar to the public.

People are fictional, so the diary in the "Prologue" is naturally fictional as well.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that this idea made sense. However, when she told this idea to her classmate Gao Xianjun, she was amazed by another unexpected idea of ​​Gao Xianjun.

"Is there a possibility that Yan Shouzhong was caught in a huge conspiracy? Yan Shouzhong is a mental patient, which is only what the author showed us at the end.

But if we ignore the ending, the things that Yan Shouzhong experienced earlier can be self-consistent.

Look at the ending. The novel only says that Yan Shouzhong woke up, remembered his true identity and past, and then fell into deeper imagination.

Isn't it possible that this lucidity itself is just an imagination to tame him? Can you refute this statement? "

Faced with Gao Xianjun's questioning, Zhang Manling remained silent and then fell into self-doubt.

According to the logic of the novel, the story that Yan Shouzhong's family was caught in a conspiracy was the most obvious part of the story, which was easily overturned in the second half.

But if we look at it from the perspective of Gao Xianjun, it is actually a way of thinking, because as long as we recognize that the protagonist is persecuted, no one can disprove this plot.

But in this way, the novel becomes a very ordinary detective story with a tragic ending, and its connotation and ideological level are undoubtedly greatly reduced.

Zhang Manling didn't think that Lin Chaoyang had thought it was so simple when he wrote this novel.

“Of course your idea has some truth to it, but I think it is more of a wishful thinking on the part of readers who do not want to see Yan Shouzhong’s heroic image crumble.

Since Chaoyang has written a variety of angles for us to discuss and speculate, he must not have had such a simple plot in mind," said Zhang Manling.

“What you said makes sense. I think this may be the reason why Lin Chaoyang left an open ending for the novel.

This way, our guesses all make sense.”

Zhang Manling's brows relaxed and she smiled, "That makes sense!"

She added: "Every reader has his or her own understanding after reading the novel, which may be the greatest success of this novel."

Gao Xianjun clapped his hands and praised, "You're right! I think it would be no problem to write a 18,000-word review."

The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously. Zhang Manling thought of her graduation thesis which she had not yet started.

It seems that it is not impossible to take "Shutter Island" as the research object. The rich ideas and various potential possibilities of this novel can fully support a thesis.

Thinking of this, Zhang Manling told Gao Xianjun her idea. Gao Xianjun groaned and said, "You should ask the teacher about this. I think it's a bit risky."

Zhang Manling has always been bold in thinking and acting. She ran directly to the Chinese Department office and found Hong Zicheng.

After hearing her idea, Hong Zicheng teased, "You are so brave! You choose "Shutter Island", a novel that was just published less than two weeks ago, as your research object. Aren't you afraid that the quality of your paper will be poor?"

Zhang Manling said confidently: "Although Shutter Island was published not long ago, its quality is unquestionable and is worthy of being passed down through the ages. If the quality of the final paper is not recognized by the school, it must be my problem, not the problem of the novel."

Hong Zicheng was Zhang Manling's thesis advisor. He got to know her very well during their four years in college. He knew that this female student had some talent and was very confident in what she believed in.

"Can I ask you why you have to choose this novel as a research subject?"

Zhang Manling pondered and said, “When I read novels before, I always liked to look at the plot conflicts, character development, and literary structure, and I also imitated what I thought was a good work.

After so much practice, I think many works can be imitated. Such works are like a photo. If you paint based on it, as long as you put your heart into it, you can always draw a 30% likeness of it.

Recently, "There is a Beautiful Place" and "Clouds" were published consecutively, which caused some repercussions. I also felt a little complacent, thinking that my level could be on par with those well-known writers.

But after watching Shutter Island, I feel that I am so far behind. Such works are like the works of Van Gogh or Monet, which are difficult to imitate. "At this point, Zhang Manling's usually confident face showed a rare look of discouragement.

“A classic literary work is first and foremost good to read and enjoy, but more importantly, it must be of a quality that can withstand discussion and even scrutiny by hundreds of millions of readers. This is the reader’s perspective.

As a creator, what I saw in "Shutter Island" was a kind of conception and creative ability that is beyond my reach.

I thought I had achieved some success in my creative writing by breaking away from the limitations of focusing on words, paragraphs, and writing style.

But after reading Shutter Island, I finally understood what a good writer should do. I don’t know how to describe this feeling…”

When Zhang Manling talked about this, she was at a loss for an exact description to express her feelings.

Hong Zicheng could roughly understand her thoughts from her attitude and words. He had in-depth research on literary theory and found the crux of Zhang Manling's thinking in just a moment.

"Hemingway once expounded his views and practical methods of literary creation in his documentary work Death in the Afternoon. He believed that:

The reason why an iceberg looks majestic is that we can only see one-eighth of it that is above the water, while the remaining seven-eighths are hidden underwater, invisible but supporting the overall shape of the iceberg.

In literary creation, this principle means that the author only directly presents "one eighth" of the text, that is, the surface plot, dialogue and direct description.

The "seven-eighths" of the emotional depth, complex thoughts, background information, etc. behind the story are left to the readers to feel and speculate through the hints between the lines.

His view is of course just one person's opinion, but it is very insightful.

If a literary work wants to touch people's hearts, it should have many excellent elements, some of which can only be understood but not expressed in words.

But to sum up, there are still some patterns to follow.

Use simple and refined language, remove all redundancy and embellishment, and pursue the purity and power of language.

Deeper meanings are conveyed through indirect hints rather than direct statements, allowing readers to actively participate in constructing the complete meaning of the story during the reading process.

Although emotions and thoughts are not directly expressed on the surface of the text, they are deeply implied through the subtle handling of the plot, characters' actions and dialogues.

Even if the text is concise, vivid and clear images should be created so that readers can imagine rich scenes and characters through limited descriptions.

Readers are encouraged to use their own experiences and imagination to fill in what the author does not directly write, thereby establishing a deeper connection with the work..."

Zhang Manling listened to Hong Zicheng's words. It seemed that every sentence was no different from what she had heard in class before, but at this moment, she felt as if a world of enlightenment had suddenly dawned on her.

"Teacher Hong, what you said is very good. The summary of this 'iceberg' theory is exactly what I felt when I watched Shutter Island, as well as the rules you just mentioned.

I had never really thought about it before, but now I seem to understand it a little bit.”

Hong Zicheng raised his eyebrows. What a teacher hopes to see most is that students can gain some enlightenment through his teaching.

"The theory is easy to understand, but it is a long road to combine it with practice. Many people may never fully grasp it in their entire life. You are so young now, but you have already achieved good results. You have to keep up the good work in the future." Hong Zicheng encouraged.

Zhang Manling nodded and asked Hong Zicheng, "Teacher Hong, what do you think about the thesis..."

"I think it's worth writing. I've also been reading Shutter Island recently. This novel does contain a lot of indirect information and is rich in layers. Whether in terms of narrative or structure, there are many things to explore."

With Hong Zicheng's affirmation, Zhang Manling felt more confident and had higher expectations for her graduation thesis.

As the teacher and the student were talking, they began to discuss the topic of the thesis.

A few days later, Hong Zicheng met Lin Chaoyang in the cafeteria while having dinner and told him that Zhang Manling was planning to write her graduation thesis based on "Shutter Island".

"So far, people around me have given very high praise to your novel. You have written another well-received work!" Hong Zicheng said to Lin Chaoyang in a congratulatory tone.

Lin Chaoyang said politely, "Why doesn't Zhang Manling come and discuss writing a paper with me? I'm the author, so I can definitely provide her with some first-hand creative ideas."

Hong Zicheng looked at Lin Chaoyang with a strange expression when he heard this. "We are studying the work. What does it have to do with you as the author?"

This statement is a classic among classics, leaving Lin Chaoyang speechless.

I worked so hard to write this book, and you guys use it as your research result. It has nothing to do with me?

he~tui!

The writers are truly shameless. If you have the ability, just write it yourself!
When he returned home in the evening, Lin Chaoyang saw Liu Xinwu sitting on the sofa with a happy face. When he saw him come back, he immediately jumped up excitedly.

"Chaoyang, you have done a great service to our October!"

His words were incoherent, but Lin Chaoyang immediately understood why he was so excited.

"It seems the magazine is selling well?"

"More than good," Liu Xinwu said excitedly, his face flushed. "I only knew that you had a strong appeal among readers before, but I never thought it would be this strong."

He asked with a bit of boasting in his tone, "Guess how many magazines we sold this week?"

(End of this chapter)