Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 491 That Day Will Not Be Too Far Away

Lin Chaoyang naturally couldn't understand his French, but fortunately, Secretary Zhou from the embassy was there to translate.

After the impassioned award speech, Lin Chaoyang stood up calmly amid applause.

He looked calm and solemn, with a smile of joy from the heart on his face, and gave a brief acceptance speech.

Secretary Zhou translated his words and conveyed them to the guests and judges present, and the restaurant burst into applause again.

In a sense, everyone here today has witnessed history.

Lin Chaoyang is not only the first foreign winner of the Renaudot Prize in history, but also the youngest winner.

In everyone's opinion, this year's choice of the Renaudot Literature Prize undoubtedly requires great courage.

After giving his acceptance speech, it was time for Lin Chaoyang to take photos with the judges.

During this period, Clement Metayer also kindly handed him the French version of "The Truman Show" and asked him to take a photo with the work. Tomorrow this photo will be published in major newspapers in Paris.

In France, a large number of books are published from the end of August to the end of November every year.

Because during this period of time there are several literary awards events almost every day, no matter how big or small the influence of these awards is, when put together, they are enough to attract the attention of a large number of readers.

Through media coverage and word of mouth among readers, many books continue to accumulate popularity, and with the sign of "XX Literature Award Winner", their sales will increase exponentially.

Especially the Prix Goncourt, Prix Renaudot and Prix Femina, which are France's top literary awards.

Once the award is won, not only will the writer's fame soar and he or she receive a lot of royalties, but the publication of the work will also be equivalent to endorsement, which can be said to directly change the writer's living environment.

Many writers were poor and destitute before winning the award, but gained fame and fortune after winning the award. This situation occurs before and after the awards ceremony of several major French literary awards every year.

According to statistics from the French publishing industry, the average sales volume of Prix Goncourt winners reached 48 copies.

The sales of winning works of several other heavyweight literary awards, such as the Prix Renaudot and the Prix Femina, are slightly lower, but still very impressive.

"The Truman Show" was published in France in the second half of last year and sold nearly 7 copies in one year.

For Lin Chaoyang, a foreign writer, this is a pretty good sales volume for his first book published in France, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

After winning the Renaudot Prize, the sales of "The Truman Show" are about to experience a leap in growth. This is the charm of literary awards.

Whether it is the Prix Goncourt or the Prix Renaudot, the awarding procedure is very simple and consists of just two speeches after the award ceremony.

Today, two award winners were born in Tuong Restaurant. According to the historical status and influence of the award, Tahar Ben Jelloun, who won the Goncourt Prize, should have received more attention.

But who can blame Lin Chaoyang for not only being young, but also being the first foreign writer to win the Renaudot Prize?
Before and after the award ceremony, Lin Chaoyang received far more attention than Tahar Ben Jelloun.

This kind of attention was particularly evident during the media interview phase after the award ceremony. There were many more reporters surrounding Lin Chaoyang than around Tahar Ben Jelloun.

Among them are reporters from television media as well as newspaper reporters.

Such as France 3 TV, Literature magazine, Libération, etc.

Two heavyweight literary awards were presented on the same day, and their combined influence cannot be underestimated.

The interview with the newspaper reporter was relatively simple, and it was nothing more than asking how they felt about winning the award. The group interview was over in less than half an hour.

The TV interview was a bit more complicated, as a camera had to be set up, with the reporter on camera asking questions and Lin Chaoyang answering them methodically.

In addition to Lin Chaoyang, Zou Daishi also accepted an interview with the TV station, talking about how Lin Chaoyang's winning of the Renaudot Literature Prize was a fruitful result of cultural exchanges between China and France.

The interview will be broadcast on France 3's news programme tonight.

In addition, Lin Chaoyang also received an interview invitation from the French "Literary Magazine". The "Literary Magazine" was founded in 1966 and has played an important role in the French literary world for many years.

There are not many columns in "Literary Magazine", and the most popular one among readers is "Interview".

In each issue, they interview writers or poets, exploring the inner world of these creators and their unique understanding of the world in the form of questions and answers.

The interview required a quiet environment and was not conducted on the spot. Fremon, the editor and reporter of "Literary Magazine", made an appointment for tomorrow afternoon.

The reason for tomorrow afternoon is that he has to sign a contract with Gallimard Publishing House tomorrow morning.

After winning the Renaudot Prize, Lin Chaoyang will surely become famous in the French literary world.

Not only did the pre-order sales of "The Truman Show" increase significantly, but other works by the winner Lin Chaoyang also became popular in the eyes of Gallimard Publishing House.

As early as the news of the shortlist came out, Gallimard Publishing House agreed with Lin Chaoyang that it would gradually introduce several of his novels.

With the support of the Renaudot Prize, the sales of these novels will surely be good.

During the interview, several people from publishers came up to Lin Chaoyang and started chatting with him, which aroused Clement Metayer's vigilance and hostility.

Lin Chaoyang spent the entire afternoon dealing with media interviews and interview invitations, and only had a little break in the evening.

Daishi Zou had left early in the afternoon, but he kept Secretary Zhou.

After returning to the Lenox Hotel and having a quick lunch, Lin Chaoyang said to reporter Nie from the New H Agency, "Reporter Nie, sorry to have kept you waiting."

Reporter Nie was smiling widely, without any sign of impatience.

"No way. You don't know, I felt an indescribable pride when I saw you being interviewed by the French media this afternoon.

Comrade Chaoyang, you are the first Chinese to win the Prix Renaudot! "

For modern Chinese people, the four words "win glory for the country" seem to be a mission and responsibility engraved in their bones.

We are eager to seek the recognition of the world. Sometimes this eagerness may seem clumsy, but it is also lovely because it represents a nation's striving for progress and self-pursuit.

Reporter Nie is in Europe and always reports important news happening on the European continent back to China, but he rarely has the opportunity to convey Chinese stories to the European continent.

Lin Chaoyang's award today undoubtedly greatly inspired his patriotism and national pride.

Even though five or six hours had passed since the award ceremony, he still could hardly suppress his excitement.

He chatted with Lin Chaoyang for more than three hours, and while they were chatting he did not forget to write furiously. His notebook was filled with more than a dozen pages of densely written content. These materials were enough for him to do a series of reports.

What is surprising is that during the interview, the phone in his room actually received several external calls transferred by the hotel, and they were all from publishing houses.

"It really deserves to be one of the top literary awards in France. The award was just announced today and so many publishers are flocking to your work!"

After Lin Chaoyang hung up the phone with another publishing house, reporter Nie couldn't help but sigh.

Although he was a journalist stationed in Europe, it was his first time to come into contact with literature-related awards and news reports, and also his first time to feel the influence of a major literary award in France.

"I really don't know how they found your contact information."

"There are so many people in Tuong Restaurant today. It's not difficult to find out my address and contact information in Paris if you are willing."

Lin Chaoyang responded with a smile and went on to answer reporter Nie's questions.

The interview ended at around ten o'clock in the evening, and Lin Chaoyang asked him if he wanted to go back to his residence.

Reporter Nie said, "I'm not going back. I'll just book a room in a hotel. I have to sort out these contents quickly and catch the flight back home tomorrow to bring this good news to the people of the country!"

When saying this, reporter Nie's face looked a little tired, but full of smiles.

Reporter Nie asked again: "Chaoyang, when will you return to China?"

"I have to wait three days."

Originally, Lin Chaoyang planned to return to Hong Kong after finishing his work in France, but Ambassador Zou specifically reminded him before he left that the embassy had arranged two exchange activities and asked Lin Chaoyang to stay and participate.

In addition, the Ministry of Culture and the Chinese Writers Association were also preparing commendation activities, so he had to return to Yanjing again.

The next morning, Lin Chaoyang got up and knocked on reporter Nie's door, only to find out that reporter Nie had left an hour ago. Lin Chaoyang had to go downstairs alone to have breakfast.

After breakfast, Lin Chaoyang just arrived at the hotel lobby and heard someone calling his name.

Lin Chaoyang turned around and saw a middle-aged man with a beard getting up from the sofa in the lobby.

"Mr. Bourne?"

The middle-aged man was none other than Julio Byrne, the editor whom Lin Chaoyang had met during the Cannes Film Festival last year. He was a senior editor at Grasset, a well-known French publishing house.

"Mr. Lin, long time no see!"

Julio Byrne hugged and greeted Lin Chaoyang warmly, looking like an old acquaintance.

Lin Chaoyang knew Julio Byrne's purpose without having to guess. After all, a lot of publishing houses had contacted him.

But before he could open his mouth to ask this question, another person appeared in the hotel lobby.

Clement Metayer originally came to pick up Lin Chaoyang to go to Gallimard Publishing House to sign a contract, but he didn't expect to meet Julio Byrne at the Lenox Hotel.

"Mr. Metzer, do you mind if I talk to Mr. Lin alone?"

Julio Byrne looked calm, even a little provocative.

Clement Metayer really wanted to say "I mind", but unfortunately he couldn't make the decision for Lin Chaoyang.

He gestured in a gentlemanly manner and went back to the car to wait for Lin Chaoyang.

Less than ten minutes later, Lin Chaoyang came out of the hotel and got into Clement Metayer's car.

A hint of relief flashed across Clement Mettier's eyes, but he was still more nervous. He pretended to start the car casually, and then asked:
"Lin, how was the talk with Mr. Bourne?"

Although he knew that since Lin Chaoyang had come out, it was very likely that he had not reached an agreement with Julio Byrne, he still couldn't help but confirm it.

"The discussion went well. Glaser Publishing House is very sincere."

Clement Mettier's heart tightened. "It seems that the conditions they offer are not bad."

Lin Chaoyang looked at him with interest, and Clement Metayer's eyes flickered.

"The conditions offered by Grasset Publishing House are good, but not enough to attract me. Your Gallimard Publishing House is still my first choice."

Hearing this, the nervous look on Clement Metayer's face disappeared and he laughed heartily.

"Lin, you made the right choice. Our Gallimard Publishing House is the most professional literary publishing house in France. You won't go wrong by choosing us!"

"of course."

Clement Metayer handed Lin Chaoyang several newspapers from the car, all of which were reports on yesterday's Renaudot Literary Prize.

While driving, Clement Metayer introduced these media outlets and the contents of their reports to Lin Chaoyang. The two chatted and laughed all the way until they arrived at Gallimard Publishing House on the Left Bank of Paris.

Compared with the obscurity when he came here more than a year ago, Lin Chaoyang has just won the Renaudot Literature Prize and is now in the limelight. The publishing house has specially prepared a small celebration ceremony for him.

"Congratulations, Lin! You have made history for the Prix Renaudot and for French literature. You are the first Chinese writer to win a major literary award in France!"

Ethan Rogers, editor-in-chief of Gallimard, expressed warm congratulations to Lin Chaoyang on behalf of the publishing house.

After Clement Metayer whispered a few words to him, he became even more enthusiastic.

After the celebration ceremony, he couldn't wait to pull Lin Chaoyang to sign the contract.

Then he said to Lin Chaoyang: "Lin, you should stay in Paris for a few more days."

"why?"

“I want to schedule an interview with you for The Paris Review.”

The Paris Review was founded in 1953 and was known early on for publishing high-quality fiction and poetry by new or relatively unknown writers.

In its first five years, The Paris Review published work by Jack Kerouac, Philip Larkin, Philip Roth, Samuel Beckett, Nadine Gordimer, and others.

Later, all of these people became important writers in the world, and The Paris Review quickly gained great reputation in the French and even international literary circles.

The Literary Magazine that invited Lin Chaoyang for an interview yesterday has a good reputation in France, but it pales in comparison to The Paris Review.

The influence of "Literary Magazine" is limited to France, while the influence of "Paris Review" is international, especially its "Writer Interview" series, which is the magazine's flagship column.

If someone were to recommend the most professional and prestigious literary magazine of our time, The Paris Review might not be the first, but it would definitely be on the list.

Many internationally renowned writers have praised it as one of the few truly important literary magazines of the 20th century, and many writers in Europe and the United States are proud to have their works published in or be interviewed by The Paris Review.

Lin Chaoyang guessed that this was probably Gallimard Publishing House's way of showing goodwill or sincerity to him after he rejected Grasset Publishing House's proposal.

In fact, this is also the reason why Lin Chaoyang rejected Grasset Publishing House and firmly chose Gallimard Publishing House.

The royalty terms offered by Grasset are indeed a little more favorable than those offered by Gallimard, but Gallimard has advantages that Grasset cannot match.

Gallimard Publishing owns several influential literary magazines such as "Infinite" and "New France". It has been advocating for Lin Chaoyang a lot in the past. It can be said that it provided some help for Lin Chaoyang to win the Renaudot Prize.

Even The Paris Review, which Ethan Rogers just mentioned, has a good relationship with Gallimard.

Although The Paris Review is called "Paris", it was founded by a group of Americans.

After World War II, the "Beat Generation" was born in the United States.

These young people are rough, unrestrained and uninhibited in character. They live a simple and unkempt life.

He likes to wear strange clothes and hates work and study.

Refuse to assume any social obligations, enjoy wandering around the world, oppose all secular conventions and the rule of monopoly capital, and resist foreign aggression and racial apartheid.

Among them is a group of young people from wealthy families. They are all rich kids who graduated from prestigious universities such as Harvard and Yale, and have high literary literacy and artistic pursuits.

The rise of the Cold War led to the dominance of McKinseyism in American society, making this group of people incompatible with American social reality.

So this group of people got together, came to Paris, and founded The Paris Review.

In its early days, The Paris Review had a difficult time operating. They had no money to rent an office and could only borrow two empty rooms from Gallimard Publishing House.

As a result, Gallimard also forged a deep friendship with The Paris Review.

Even though the editorial office of The Paris Review moved back to the United States in the 1970s, the two sides have always maintained close contacts.

Lin Chaoyang had no reputation in the European and American literary circles, but now with the support of the Renaudot Prize, it is not a problem for him to be published in "Paris Review".

However, Ethan Rogers had to use some favors. After all, it was a spur-of-the-moment move and required the cooperation of The Paris Review.

This was Ethan Rogers' way of repaying Lin Chaoyang for his firm choice of Gallimard, which was a gesture of sincerity.

Being able to appear in the "Writer Interview" of "Paris Review" is also a recognition of Lin Chaoyang's influence in the international literary world.

After spending a morning at Gallimard Publishing House, Lin Chaoyang returned to the hotel after lunch to be interviewed by Literary Magazine.

The next day, the person who came to pick up Lin Chaoyang was Secretary Zhou from the embassy.

This morning, the embassy arranged an exchange activity for him at the Paris Teachers College, and in the afternoon he had a separate exchange with Chinese students studying in Paris.

In the evening, Ambassador Zou specially held a celebratory dinner for Lin Chaoyang at the embassy.

Then Lin Chaoyang traveled in Paris for another two days. During this time, many publishing houses from other European countries found him and he signed several publishing contracts.

In his spare time, he also attended a writers' gathering organized by Gallimard Publishing House. Having just won the Renaudot Literature Prize, he naturally became the focus of the gathering, attracting a lot of attention and discussion, and also got to know some local French writers.

On the sixth day after arriving in Paris, Lin Chaoyang waited for Plimpton, the editor of The Paris Review.

Princeton is a veteran of The Paris Review and the first editor of the "Writer Interviews" column. Over the years, he has interviewed hundreds of internationally renowned writers.

When seeing Lin Chaoyang, Princeton’s first reaction was “young”.

"I would like to ask you your age."

"I was born in 1958."

Princeton was amazed and said, "You are probably the youngest writer I have interviewed."

"Is this a compliment?" Lin Chaoyang asked jokingly.

"Of course!" Princeton said seriously, "Youth is a rare asset."

Princeton has extensive experience in interviewing and easily found topics to talk about with Lin Chaoyang.

Then the topic goes from shallow to deep, gradually transitioning from daily life to literary creation and ideological levels.

Midway through the interview, Princeton took out an English version of "The Truman Show".

“I’ve seen the movie adaptation of your novel, and it’s quite good.

The English version of the novel was only published in the last few days. I bought it just before I boarded the plane and haven’t finished reading it yet, but I boldly believe that it is indeed an outstanding work.

Where did the inspiration for this novel come from? Was it your dissatisfaction with the political system? Or was it a satire on social phenomena? "

"It was just a flash of inspiration while watching TV. In fact, this kind of inspiration is nothing special. Maybe everyone will have such a flash of thought, but I just caught it."

Princeton asked again: "I have interviewed many writers, and in the eyes of many people, literature is something very sacred and solemn. But through talking with you, it seems that such 'sacredness' does not exist in your concept."

"That's right." Lin Chaoyang answered bluntly.

"So, what do you think literature means to you?"

When asking this question, Princeton's expression showed a bit of seriousness.

Lin Chaoyang's eyes also became serious. "Literature? Maybe it's a kind of sustenance."

"Sustenance?"

"What the heart thinks, what God wants, our spirit must always have an outlet, but it is not that important."

"Why? Why doesn't it matter?"

Princeton frowned, he did not agree with Lin Chaoyang's point of view.

Among the writers he has interviewed, the vast majority have made statements such as "literature is supreme" or "literature is more important than my life."

Princeton also took it for granted that literature should be so noble.

"Will people die if they don't eat?" Lin Chaoyang did not answer his question, but asked a question in return.

"meeting."

"Will a person die if he doesn't breathe?"

"meeting."

“Will people die without literature?”

Princeton was silent.

After a moment, he retorted: "But our souls will wither."

"Soul? A noble term. If the soul can wither, then it is no more noble than our body."

Lin Chaoyang refuted Princeton with rigorous logic, but after thinking about it, he still said unwillingly:

"Don't you think you are undermining the sublimity of literature?"

“Are people noble?”

Princeton hesitated, he sensed the trap in Lin Chaoyang's words.

Before he could speak, Lin Chaoyang said, "It is impossible for a person to pull out his hair and leave the earth, just like it is impossible for a person to create something more noble than himself."

Lin Chaoyang's eyes seemed to have traveled through time and space, and he said in a low voice, "We are not noble, we just exist, and we will eventually die."

After hearing these words, Princeton's eyes instantly focused, as if attracted by an invisible light.

His brows were slightly furrowed, forming a shallow groove, and he fell into deep thought.

After a moment, he looked up at Lin Chaoyang.

The young Chinese writer just sat there quietly, it seemed that even his breathing was extremely subtle, his eyes were calm and gentle, like a deep ocean, making people unable to resist the urge to indulge in it.

Princeton was trying hard to digest the shock and impact that had just been brought to his heart, and he shook his head unconsciously.

He was not opposing Lin Chaoyang, but trying to find a point of convergence from Lin Chaoyang's words and integrate this new understanding of life into his existing cognitive system.

"What an interesting point of view. Very impressive." Princeton's voice was a little dry. He added: "It seems that you are a pessimist."

Lin Chaoyang smiled easily.

"Some joking people have summarized the characteristics of literature from different countries. Would you like to hear it?"

"Appreciate further details."

"English literature is like a knight charging bravely, and he said I died for glory.

American literature is like a fearless gladiator who says, "I will die free."

French literature is like a love-crazy prodigal son. He said, "I died for love."

Russian literature is like an old man who has seen through life and says he will die.

Japanese literature is like a pretentious literary youth who said, "I want to die."

There is nothing much to say about Chinese literature, he just says live!"

Lin Chaoyang's tone is humorous, which makes people laugh.

Although Princeton knows that Lin Chaoyang's summary is a joke, it also quite approves of this broad summary.

Just as he was smiling and looking relaxed, Lin Chaoyang looked at him and said seriously:
"To live requires more courage than to die."

At that moment, Princeton's body shook violently, as if struck by an electric current.

He gently stroked his fingers, and a complex emotion suddenly surged in his eyes, including shock, realization, and an indescribable feeling of being moved.

He couldn't help but look at Lin Chaoyang again. This young Chinese writer in front of him always shocked people's hearts inadvertently.

Princeton said sincerely: "Lin, you are the most special writer I have ever met in my interview career!"

Lin Chaoyang smiled mischievously, "This should be a compliment."

Princeton also smiled knowingly, his eyes full of appreciation and even admiration.

More than a month later, when the latest issue of The Paris Review was released in the United States, people saw Princeton’s evaluation of Lin Chaoyang:

The most eye-catching thing about him is his young face, but when you start communicating with him, you will be deeply moved by the wisdom hidden behind this young face.

His words are like the gurgling of water, gentle yet powerful, and every word contains profound philosophy.

Perhaps he himself did not realize that, although he did not think that literature was such a noble thing, in him, I saw the most dazzling light of literature.

He is destined to become the best writer of this era, and it may be too early to describe him as "great".

But I believe that day will not be too far away!
(End of this chapter)