Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 153 Stephen King: This novel makes me feel creepy

Around 2000 was the peak period for Chinese crime dramas, with many real major criminal cases being brought to the screen.

For example, there is the TV series "The End of the Road" which depicts the gangster Bai Baoshan, and "121 Major Case" which depicts the gangster Dong Lei, and there is even a TV series simply called "China's Major Case Documentary".

The biggest feature of these TV series is that they are real and professional. Some even let the criminal police officers who are handling the case appear in their true colors. The shooting style is also extremely wild, and many shots can stop children from crying at night.

But the ratings are indeed high!
This filming technique, however, exposed many professional criminal investigation and interrogation methods, because some of the police officers involved in the filming had no idea that this was a TV series that would be broadcast, and thought it was an internal teaching film for public security reference only.

Ordinary people just find it novel, but it actually strengthens the criminals' anti-detection awareness.

Therefore, after 2004, a "Notice on Strengthening the Review and Broadcast Management of Dramas Involving Crimes" was issued, which not only tightened the review standards, but also kicked dramas involving crimes out of the prime time.

The latter is more fatal than the former. After all, no matter how strict the review is, as long as it is not a one-size-fits-all approach, everyone can find ways to maneuver and exploit loopholes. But not allowing prime time is too fatal, which is equivalent to directly cutting off investment in related dramas.

The situation with TV series is the same, and movies are not much better. I haven't seen any high-grossing criminal investigation films in recent years.

After understanding the whole story, Zhang Chao felt very helpless.

Yu Dong looked regretful, and finally said: "There is another turning point - that is, your novel can sell well and attract a certain amount of social attention. It's not that this kind of film and television drama is not allowed to be made, but each one must become a model. It must show the glorious image of positive characters, but there must not be any negative controversy.

To be honest, it’s very difficult!”

Zhang Chao nodded to show his understanding. As the helmsman of Berna Films, Yu Dong is responsible for every investment of the company. After all, under the "Notice", the fate of this drama is really unpredictable.

However, Zhang Chao was not discouraged. Since he could not proceed simultaneously, he would just finish writing the novel first.

Another half month passed in a flash, and it was the last day of 2005. Zhang Chao spent the New Year's Eve last year with Song Jia. The two went to a weird bar and said some weird things...

This year Song Jia is still filming in Northeast China, and Zhang Chao also has his own schedule - heading to Shanghai.

The global launch ceremony of the domestic Chinese version of "Gone Girl" will be held at the exhibition center in Shanghai, and he, the author, will definitely attend.

In addition to Shanghai, the launch ceremony will also be held simultaneously in New York, where Random House will invite a heavyweight guest to represent Zhang Chao.

由于时差关系，为了能同步进行，所以沪上把首发仪式放在了2006年1月1日的中午12点，恰好是纽约时间的1月1日的0时。

Holding such a grand launch ceremony for a novel is unprecedented anywhere. Who made Zhang Chao become a highly regarded figure in the American cultural circle in just three months?

The Changjiang Publishing House naturally tried its best to hype up the popularity of this book. Random House was a little nervous at first, but after three rounds of internal previews, Gone Girl conquered every senior editor, well-known writer and book reviewer.

At 1 noon on January 1, Zhang Chao stood in the center of the main stage of the Friendship Hall of the Shanghai Exhibition Center and personally unveiled the curtain of this new work.

In New York, the novel was launched by Stephen King, the undisputed king of horror and thriller novels!
As the red curtain slowly fell to the ground, a giant book model of "Gone Girl" appeared in front of reporters from both countries.

The main theme of the novel cover is two pairs of eyes, belonging to the male and female protagonists respectively. The male's eyes are full of anxiety, helplessness, doubt, and even despair. All kinds of complex emotions are intertwined in them, full of a sense of story.

The woman's eyes were firm, cruel, resolute, and seemed to carry a hint of ridicule and disdain.

Zhang Chao picked up the microphone and said, "This is a novel that is completely different from any of my previous works. It was created quite by chance..."

Compared to Zhang Chao's bland description of his work, Stephen King in New York gave a very high evaluation of Gone Girl: "Last month, when Madeline handed me this novel and asked me to write a recommendation for it, I was only going to flip through three pages, then make up a cliché and swindle $5000 from her..."

The New York reporters all laughed. Stephen King continued: "But after I finished the first three pages, I couldn't help but read three more pages. Then another three pages... In the end, I finished reading this masterpiece in two days.

"The Vanishing Lover" shows the wonderful talent of Zhang Chao, a Chinese writer, who takes readers deep into a suffocating emotional world of a marriage on the rocks. Its darkness even makes me feel creepy.

In this novel, Zhang Chao reveals the truth while deliberately laying out a series of mazes, describing those shuddering secrets one by one - even between the closest lovers, these secrets will still break out of the ground and thrive..."

The reporters were a little bit incredulous - how terrible could a novel that made Stephen King shudder be?

Stephen King concluded: "Love has sharp teeth that bite people, and the wounds it leaves will never heal!"

This sentence was also written by Stephen King on the waistband of "Gone Girl".

Soon, newspapers and magazines such as The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, and Time published favorable comments on the book from intellectual elites:

“A stunning and well-crafted book that covers themes such as ‘life, love, loss, and guilt’, and is also an outstanding and fascinating work of literature.”

"How could things go so wrong? The answer is in this Chinese writer's new book. What happens when two people get married but one of them has no idea who the person next to her is? Gone Girl gives you some clues."

"This novel tells a story of a marriage that is both hilarious and terrifying, and will make you think about the person you sleep with."

“Sophisticated readers will enjoy the game of wits in Gone Girl. A marriage in peril becomes a thriller in Zhang Chao’s suspenseful novel.”

“I have never read such a brilliant and chilling depiction of psychopathology in Gone Girl. A wonderfully mysterious and frightening story, in which the happy, seemingly normal surface is inextricably intertwined with the dark side that may be hidden behind it.”

……

Zhang Chao did not expect that Random House would invite Stephen King, and he did not expect that the American book review community would give unanimous praise to this novel.

The high quality of the novel itself, the recommendations from the book review community, and the curiosity of American readers who had been in suspense for three months, "Gone Girl" swept the American book market like a storm.

The agreement signed by Zhang Chao was for 2 copies, and Random House increased the number to 5 copies after the trial reading session, but they were almost sold out by readers on January 1st.

Random House was almost overwhelmed by the orders from bookstores all over the country, and Madeline had to temporarily coordinate with the printing factory to postpone the scheduling of unpopular works in order to ensure that "Gone Girl" could be delivered in time.

Domestically, since publishing houses attach great importance to the status of Zhang Chao's "money printing machine", there is sufficient stock and there is no large-scale shortage for the time being.

However, the sudden popularity of this book in the United States unexpectedly made Zhang Chao famous again in China.

Just one week after the launch ceremony, "Gone Girl" was quickly cleared out from the shelves of bookstores everywhere, and the speed of restocking could not keep up with the sales speed.

Pirated copies of this book can even be sold at the price of the genuine copy, and the genuine copy can be sold at double the price. There are book vendors at the door of the bookstore.

To be responsible, this is because the domestic public opinion and the general public's perception during this period were still somewhat "worshipping foreign things and fawning on foreigners", so many people firmly believed in things like German parts wrapped in butter paper, Japanese craftsmen who drank toilet water, and the American spirit of causing a city to lose power to save a cat.

Many people used to have no interest in literature or novels, but Americans love to read a Chinese-written American story - you have to buy it and read it! Otherwise, when friends talk about it, they won't know how to connect with it.

Kadokawa Shoten was even more anxious. Kadokawa Koyomi almost whipped the editor who was in charge of the translation. The editor could only cry and call the translator:
"Lin Shaohua-san, please translate Vanishing Lover as soon as possible!"

(End of this chapter)