Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 476: Showing Skills in Dangerous Places

Lin Chaoyang's previous novel, "The Truman Show," was published in August last year. It was promoted with great fanfare and was reported in many local newspapers, magazines and even TV stations in China.

After the novel was published, like Lin Chaoyang's previous works, it was immediately warmly welcomed by readers.

But after a while, critics became less optimistic.

Some critics believe that the society portrayed by Lin Chaoyang in "The Truman Show" is out of touch with reality.

These people believe that once literature deviates from the path of realism, it will be like a soul separated from its body, with nowhere to rely on.

Readers can certainly gain temporary novelty and excitement in such a world, but it is difficult for them to find a deep connection with real life.

Such arguments were popular in the months after the release of "The Truman Show" and influenced the perceptions of a considerable number of readers towards the novel.

The mixed reputation of the film directly led to a significant decline in the sales of "The Truman Show" in the months after its hot sales period on the market.

By February last year, half a year after "The Truman Show" was released, the monthly sales of the novel had fallen below 2 copies. This situation is very rare in Lin Chaoyang's previous works.

In the eyes of many critics and readers who oppose and criticize "The Truman Show", the decline in sales of the novel is the best proof of their views.

Seeing such a result, everyone was delighted.

Although they have no way to suppress the voices supporting Lin Chaoyang and "The Truman Show" in public opinion, the reality has proved that their views are correct.

This makes them feel even more proud of "everyone else is drunk but I am the only one sober".

At the same time, he felt deep contempt for Lin Chaoyang's loyal supporters, thinking that they were just a group of followers who blindly worshipped his fame.

However, just when these people were feeling complacent, things took a turn for the worse.

In late May last year, domestic media suddenly reported that the film adaptation of "The Truman Show" won three awards at the just-concluded Cannes International Film Festival in France.

This news immediately caused quite a stir in the domestic cultural circle.

These days, each issue of "Popular Movies" sells millions of copies, and there are hundreds of millions of movie fans in the country.

Although you may not have attended the Cannes Film Festival, you may have some understanding of it. It is one of the three major film festivals in Europe and a famous film festival with international influence.

The movie adaptation of "The Truman Show" actually won three awards at the film festival?

Many people's first reaction to hearing the news was disbelief, thinking that the media had spread the news falsely. After all, Chinese-language films had never won a major award at any major European or American film festival before.

Why did the movie adaptation of "The Truman Show" win an award?

But soon, as more and more media reported the news, more information about the film's awards was uncovered.

"The Truman Show" did win awards at Cannes, including Best Actor, Best Screenplay and the Grand Jury Prize, setting a new record for Chinese-language films at European film festivals. The film also received the highest score in the program reviews when it was screened at Cannes.

Because the screening was so popular, the film festival organizing committee even had to arrange two additional screenings to satisfy the enthusiastic fans.

Major European and American film magazines reported and commented on the film, giving it extremely high praise.

As foreign news was carried back to China by domestic media, opponents of "The Truman Show" fell silent, while supporters celebrated!
The movies adapted from "The Truman Show" have won major awards abroad. What makes you say that the original novel is not good?

Those who say that the novel is not good should reflect on whether their reading tastes are too outdated and can no longer keep up with the times?
The movie won an award, the original novel received a reversal in word of mouth, and readers were celebrating.

The most direct reaction was that the sales of "The Truman Show" saw a sharp increase. In May, just a few days after the news was reported back to China, the sales volume stopped falling and stabilized, selling 5 copies.

In the following June, sales soared to 6 copies, and fell slightly in the following months, but the sales were only slightly lower than those in the first three months on the market.

When "The Truman Show" was released in China in October, a considerable number of viewers were converted into readers, and the sales of the original novel once again exceeded 10 copies that month.

At that time, Huacheng Publishing House had expected that the novel might exceed the 87 million sales mark between May and June of 5.

But now it seems that this goal will be achieved by March.

Such an amazing reversal once again proves Lin Chaoyang's strong and unparalleled appeal among domestic literature lovers.

Unlike "The Truman Show", whose reversal in reputation boosted novel sales, "Parasite" has won high praise from readers and critics from the very beginning.

Although the stories of these two novels are set in the capitalist society of Hong Kong, unlike the imaginary and absurd worldview of "The Truman Show", the creative style of "Parasite" is solid realism.

The first to cheer for Lin Chaoyang's choice to return to the path of realism were the domestic critics.

In this era when various literary trends are in vogue, the realistic path that the domestic literary front has adhered to for decades has been regarded by many young creators as an outdated and obsolete antique. The decline of realistic literature has become an indisputable fact in the Chinese literary world.

Last November, Huacheng published the first part of Shaanxi writer Lu Yao's novel Ordinary World in an issue.

It is said that this novel will be a trilogy with a total word count of over one million words.

The novel is set in China from the mid-70s to the mid-80s and centers on the two brothers Sun Shaoan and Sun Shaoping.

It depicts the images of ordinary people from all walks of life at that time, and profoundly shows the difficult and tortuous path that ordinary people of humble origins have taken in the course of history of the great era.

Many literature lovers can smell the strong flavor of realism in the novel just by reading the introduction.

However, even such a realistic work, which consumed Lu Yao's countless energy and hard work, did not receive much praise in the literary world after its publication.

After reading this novel, many people generally believe that the novel's writing style is too outdated, there are too many redundant words, and the plot is nothing new, making it a complete failure.

The first part of the novel was first published in Huacheng in November and then by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing House in December. Neither word of mouth nor sales were satisfactory, which was regarded by many as another proof of the decline of realistic literature.

The first part of "A World of Ordinary People" was published only one month after "Parasite", but the popularity and reviews it received were very different.

This immediately reversed the previous pessimistic tone and views in the literary world regarding the future development of realistic literature.

This strong contrast further highlights the uniqueness and excellence of "Parasite".

And there is another appealing aspect of "Parasite". This novel tells a story that takes place in a capitalist society.

The novel shows the tragic fate of Lao Jin's family, the sharp contradictions and conflicts among different classes in capitalist society, and the struggle and ugliness of human nature.

The author's criticism of capitalism is merciless and undisguised, which is in line with the trend of domestic literary criticism.

The competition for the presidency of the Lin Chaoyang (China) Literary Research Association was of course a joke. Everyone stayed at Lin Chaoyang's house until after dinner and left reluctantly.

Two days later, Li Shifei called Lin Chaoyang and said that there were some changes in the work seminar for "Parasite" and he wanted to discuss it with him.

As early as last year, when the manuscript of "Parasite" was handed over to Huacheng Publishing House, Li Shifei proposed to hold a work seminar in Beijing for the novel when it was published.

As a result, "Parasite" was published in early January, but because it was close to the New Year, Huacheng moved the date to after the New Year.

"What's changed?"

Li Shifei's tone was a little embarrassed. "Chaoyang, do you mind including "Ordinary World" in the discussion?"

"Ordinary World"?
"The topic of the seminar is..."

Li Shifei said: "Let's upgrade the theme to 'Realistic Literature', let's do this..."

Li Shifei explained the reason.

For this seminar on "Parasite", Huacheng wanted to set a higher standard, so they specifically found the two magazines "Wenyi Bao" and "Xiaoshuoping", hoping to jointly host it.

The reason why I temporarily joined "Ordinary World" was because the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing Company heard that they were going to hold a seminar and wanted to participate.

China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing House is the publishing unit of "Ordinary World", and this novel happened to be published in "Huacheng" magazine.

Therefore, the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing House proposed the idea of ​​co-organizing the seminar.

Originally, Huacheng had not planned to hold a symposium for "The Ordinary World" so early, after all, only one-third of the novel had been written.

But the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing Company came to us and made this request, and Huacheng couldn't refuse it.

"The Ordinary World" was first published in "Huacheng" magazine. The first part was published less than three months ago, and the second and third parts will be published in the future.

The reputation of the first novel was not ideal, which also had an impact on "Huacheng". If we can use the work seminar to create momentum for "Ordinary World" and reverse the reputation, it may not be a bad thing.

But this would be a bit unfair to Lin Chaoyang.

The symposium on the work of "Parasite" was planned a year ago, and all external contacts were claimed to be symposiums on the works of Lin Chaoyang.

Only in this way did it receive enthusiastic responses from Literary Gazette, Novel Review, and many critics and writers.

There is no such term as “riding on the popularity” now, but this is essentially what it means.

That's why Li Shifei called Lin Chaoyang specifically to discuss it, and his tone was very humble.

"It doesn't matter, let's do it together. It will be more lively if we do it together."

Based on Li Shifei's consistent understanding of Lin Chaoyang, he knew that Lin Chaoyang would most likely agree to this matter, but Lin Chaoyang's magnanimity and calmness still surprised him.

He has been an editor for more than 30 years and knows the characters of writers too well. When faced with such a thing, most writers would express their dissatisfaction even if they agree.

He did not hear any resentment or dissatisfaction in Lin Chaoyang's tone, but rather joy.

Such a pattern is truly admirable.

The two chatted about the details of the work seminar for a while, and Li Shifei said on the phone:
"Okay, then it's settled. See you in Yanjing next Wednesday!"

"it is good."

A week later, Lin Chaoyang was playing with Dongdong in the yard when Lu Yao suddenly showed up with luggage.

As soon as they met and exchanged a few words, Lu Yao shook Lin Chaoyang's hand tightly.

"Chaoyang, thank you!"

Lu Yao's "thank you" was full of sincerity.

"The Ordinary World" represents all his hard work. However, after the first part was published, it did not achieve the reputation he had hoped for, either among critics or readers.

Such a result was a big blow to Lu Yao.

"Why are you saying these things?" Lin Chao changed the subject and asked Lu Yao, "Have you arranged a place to live?"

"Huacheng helped arrange a guesthouse for me at Renwenshe, but I said no need, I'd just stay at your place." Lu Yao said with a smile.

"Welcome, welcome! Come on, I'll take you to the West Courtyard to make some arrangements."

As they talked, they went to the west courtyard and arranged a room for Lu Yao. Lu Yao put down his luggage and stood in the courtyard chatting with Lin Chaoyang.

The warm winter sun shines in the spacious courtyard, bringing warmth and peace. From the distant sky comes the clear and melodious sound of pigeon whistles unique to Yanjing City.

Lu Yao narrowed his eyes with a comfortable expression, "Your place is still the best, it's really a paradise on earth!"

"You are in a good mood. People feel refreshed when good things happen to them." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

Lu Yao couldn't help but smile, this was indeed a reason.

Since last year, he has suffered a wave of setbacks due to the twists and turns in the publication of his novel.

The poor reputation of the novel after its publication dealt him another heavy blow. Until recently, "Ordinary World" was going to hold a seminar in Yanjing, and it was co-organized by four companies. Finally, Lu Yao's mood, which had been gloomy for half a year, was illuminated by a ray of sunshine.

For many writers, having their works symposium or forum held in Yenching is a dream come true.

Firstly, Yanjing is the political, economic and cultural center of China, and it also has the most concentrated information resources and publishing channels in China.

Holding a work seminar in Beijing is the fastest and most effective way to spread information.

Secondly, Yenching is also a highland of Chinese culture. After all, it is the base camp of many national cultural institutions. It is home to many famous people and authorities. It can be said that it firmly controls the discourse power of the Chinese cultural circle.

Many writers from other places say that the dock of Yenching is large and the water is deep. If a literary work wants to gain national recognition, it must first be recognized by the Yenching cultural community.

This point is not only known to Lu Yao, but also understood by ordinary literature lovers.

The two stood in the yard and chatted, and Lin Chaoyang asked about the creative progress of "Ordinary World".

The first part of "The Ordinary World" was completed at the end of 1985, when Lu Yao had only completed the first draft of the novel.

After that, he spent several more months copying and revising the novel. It was not until the spring of 86 that he began to research publication matters, and that took several more months.

It was not until July last year that he began to prepare for the creation of the second part.

Before that, he went to Guangzhou for a few days to feel the changes at the forefront of reform and opening up, and to draw nourishment for the creation of the second part of "Ordinary World".

It was also there that Lu Yao planned the fate of Wang Manyin, the "second-rate" and "wandering ghost" in the novel, in the second part. He would go to Shanghai to sell fungus and to Guangzhou to resell cheap electronic watches...

After that, Lu Yao returned to Xi'an to continue experiencing life, including Northwestern Polytechnical University and the home of the provincial Party committee member... In the name of creation, Lu Yao was very much like the "wandering ghost" in his writing.

When everything was almost ready, Lu Yao finally packed his bags and headed for Wuqi County in Yan'an, northern Shaanxi.

Wuqi County is located in the northwest of Yan'an. It has inconvenient transportation and is remote and backward. Lu Yao lives in a dilapidated cave of the county's military department.

In that shabby cave, Lu Yao would often stay up all night because he was so engrossed in writing.

Sometimes when he missed mealtime, he would simply eat dry steamed buns to fill his stomach.

In his words, the more difficult the creative conditions, the more inspiration he gained.

But after writing for a few months, Lu Yao's health started to show signs of trouble again because of his reversed day and night schedule, eating one meal and skipping another, and smoking heavily.

My appetite has decreased, my physical strength has declined, and sometimes I am so tired that I can’t even lift my head.

Due to smoking too much, he had a dull pain in his chest and his right eye was inflamed and it showed no signs of improvement, but these still could not stop him from creating.

Lu Yao recounted his experiences over the past six months in a disjointed manner, and Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but admire his selfless passion for creation.

Lin Chaoyang knew that he would definitely not be able to do it.

The two chatted until midnight that day.

The next morning, Lin Chaoyang drove Lu Yao to the People's Literature Publishing House.

After intense preparations, the work seminar was scheduled to be held in the conference room of the People's Literature Publishing House at No. 1666 Chaonei Street.

When Lin Chaoyang and Lu Yao arrived at the Renwenshe meeting room, most of the critics who were invited to attend the seminar had already arrived.

For many unknown writers or lesser-known magazines and publishing houses, the most difficult people to invite to hold seminars on their works are critics.

But today's work seminar is different. First, it is led by Huacheng Publishing House, and then responded by "Wenyi Bao", "Novel Review" and China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing Company.

The most important thing is that the seminar was titled "Parasite", Lin Chaoyang's new work.

Many critics with less fame even flock to attend seminars of this scale.

Because of the high standards and publishing channels, the speeches made by these critics at the conference can easily be published in authoritative literary magazines or review magazines, which brings fame to these critics.

This can also be considered a kind of ecology in the literary world.

For today's work seminar, Huacheng Publishing House took great pains and joined forces with several units. Both the specifications and scale of the seminar have become a peak in the seminars held by their publishing house in recent years.

The critics attending the seminar included critics from the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Literature, local critics from Yenching University, and critics from Shaanxi literary circles who came to Beijing, totaling nearly 40 people.

Among them, people like Bao Chang, Xie Yongwang, Zhu Zhai, He Xilai, He Zhenbang, Lei Da, Cai Kui, Bai Ye, Zhu Hui, Wang Furen, Meng Wanfu and others can be said to be the most authoritative and outstanding literary critics in China today.

The fact that Huacheng Publishing House was able to bring together so many well-known critics, in addition to its own fame, is largely due to Lin Chaoyang's fame.

Even the strong support from the Writers Association and the Literary Gazette was closely related to Lin Chaoyang.

As soon as Lin Chaoyang entered the conference room, he became the focus of everyone's attention and he couldn't help but greet the critics present.

"Teacher Wang, long time no see!"

Lin Chaoyang greeted Wang Furen in a familiar manner. Seeing that people around him were curious, Lin Chaoyang took the initiative to say, "My wife is Mr. Wang's student."

The people around him looked surprised, and Wang Furen showed some joy in his eyes when he heard this.

Lin Chaoyang is famous today, and his words have invisibly elevated Wang Furen's status, placing him in the position of a teacher, and suddenly making him stand out among the many critics today.

His face was flushed as he chatted with Lin Chaoyang about family matters for a while, then he sat down with a smile on his face.

Then Lin Chaoyang exchanged a few words with Xie Yongwang from the Literary Association. He is the director of the Creative Research Office of the Literary Association. Nearly one-third of the people who came today responded to their call.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the meeting named "1987 Chinese Realistic Novel Seminar" officially began.

The meeting was chaired by Li Shifei, editor-in-chief of Huacheng Publishing House, and Wang Yu, editor-in-chief of "Novel Review".

At the beginning of the speech, the two of them expressed their admiration for today's conference lineup, and said frankly that the strength of today's seminar lineup is rare in the domestic literary world in recent years.

When it was the critics' turn to speak, everyone was very enthusiastic and immediately focused the discussion on the novel "Parasite".

Everyone chatted eloquently for more than an hour, but no one discussed "Ordinary World". This situation made Lu Yao look a little embarrassed.

Although Lu Yao had been fully prepared for today's seminar due to the bumpy publishing experience and the response after the publication in the previous six months, he still felt a little sad when faced with the embarrassing situation of no one paying attention to his paper.

Seeing this, Wang Yu, who was presiding over the meeting, took the initiative to turn the topic to "Ordinary World".

Compared to the enthusiasm when discussing "Parasite", people's reaction to "Ordinary World" was much colder.

Only a few critics such as Lei Da, Bai Hua and Zhu Zhai took the initiative to speak out and comment, but these people's comments made Lu Yao not optimistic at all.

Except for Zhu Zhai and Cai Kui who made positive comments on "Ordinary World", the rest of the comments were not friendly.

You have to know that this is at a seminar, and Chinese people have always been particular about harmony.

In many seminars, even if critics have complaints about a work, they will still be cautious when speaking publicly and will try to get the point across by making some panacea-level comments.

However, when it came to Lu Yao and "Ordinary World", these critics did not do so.

Of course, they didn't mean to embarrass Lu Yao, but they were simply disappointed.

In the words of Lei Da, "He couldn't believe that the first work of this kind, "Ordinary World", was written by the author of "Life".

Anyone could hear the anger in his words, and it was not difficult to see the high hopes these critics had for Lu Yao.

If no one had discussed it before, Lu Yao would have just been feeling sad.

Now, Lu Yao’s mood was the same as that of Master Lin in the “Wind and Snow Mountain Temple”, full of anger and despair.

He understood that these critics were only targeting the novel itself, and they might even be offering constructive criticism out of a protective attitude.

But "The Ordinary World" is a work he created with all his heart and soul, and the feelings he placed on this novel even surpass those he had for his children.

To him, these criticisms were like daggers stabbing him one by one, making him feel heartbroken.

Lu Yao tried his best to suppress his resentment and desire to speak out, because he knew that no matter how much he said now, it would not be possible to change the opinions of these critics.

The novel has only been written for the first part and has not yet been fully developed, let alone a huge climax.

Just wait and see!

Lu Yao's face was grim and he held his breath in his heart. I will prove it!

At the seminar, Lu Yao and Lin Chaoyang sat together.

Seeing that he looked unhappy, Lin Chaoyang knew that no writer would feel good facing this situation, so he asked Lu Yao in a low voice.

"Are you okay?"

Lu Yao kept silent and just shook his head, but there was pain in his eyes.

Seeing this, Lin Chaoyang sighed inwardly, and after the previous critic finished speaking, he signaled to Li Shifei that he wanted to speak.

"Comrade Chaoyang, the author, wants to speak. We welcome him!"

Li Shifei took the lead in applauding, and applause broke out in the conference room.

Lin Chaoyang cleared his throat and said, "Old Li said I was the author. That's both right and wrong. When we talked about Parasite, I was the author. But when we talked about Ordinary World, I was on the same side as all of you here."

After he finished speaking, there was a burst of lighthearted laughter at the scene, and everyone understood the purpose of Lin Chaoyang's speech.

“What the comrades just said is very pertinent, and I would like to share my thoughts as well.

I have read the first part of "An Ordinary World". From my perspective as a writer, I think the level of writing of the novel is quite good.

Many comrades say that the writing style of this novel is somewhat outdated and old-fashioned, and have pointed out many shortcomings, but does the novel have any advantages?
A high degree of historical restoration, a detailed presentation of society and life, the author's profound insight, representative characters, and delicate and moving emotional descriptions...

I think everyone should be able to see these advantages, but I find that everyone seems to only focus on the shortcomings, but always gloss over the advantages of this novel.

Of course I understand that this is a matter of professional perspective, but what I want to say is that when evaluating a work, we must not simply look at the undesirable side.

I think everyone should know about the controversy caused by the publication of "The Truman Show" two years ago. Since this year, the reputation of the novel seems to have improved a lot.

I don’t want to brag here, I just want to ask everyone to be patient with works like "Ordinary World".

I think we should wait a few more years before making the final evaluation of this work.

Wait until Lu Yao has truly finished writing this work, and when it is presented to the world in its complete form, then give it your most sincere and fair evaluation."

Lin Chaoyang spoke in a sincere and earnest tone. His words made many critics present think deeply, and the conference room fell silent for a while.

Lu Yao looked at him with an excited face. His eyes showed both the emotion of receiving help in times of trouble and the sympathy for a close friend.

"Chaoyang!"

Lu Yao couldn't hold back his excitement and tightly grasped Lin Chaoyang's hand.

If there is a BGM at this moment, it must be "Show your skills in times of crisis~Show your skills~".

(End of this chapter)