Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 159: The Whip from the Extraterritorial Demon (Fourth update, please give me a monthly ticket)
"Colleagues on the other side of the ocean have shown a disgusting trait - deliberately misinterpreting the work in order to coerce the author! This masterpiece, Gone Girl, is suffering from unprecedented public opinion violence in its author's home country." - The New York Review of Books

“…It is hard to imagine that Chinese literary criticism has fallen to such a low level. These people are destroying their country’s most promising young writers!” - Weevil (American professional literary magazine)

“To generalize Gone Girl as a work criticizing the Chinese system is a shameful conspiracy!” ——Threepence (American professional literary magazine)

"The Chinese book reviewers' misinterpretation of Gone Girl is a provocation to writers and literature lovers around the world, and an insult to all critics who work conscientiously and professionally." - The New Yorker

"Every sheet of paper on which these words are printed should repent to God - and the book reviewer who wrote them should be immediately thrown into the flames of Satan and burned to ashes!" - The Atlantic Monthly

"These stupid extensions of the themes of the novel "Gone Girl" have crossed the bottom line of the industry. This novel is undoubtedly a masterpiece, but it's a pity that some idiots want to destroy it and its author!" - "East Coast Observer"

"The U.S. House of Representatives should apologize for using such a dirty trick! Taxpayers' money should not be used to do such hellish things!" - The Herald

……

Carlson threw a newspaper hard on the table. He thought of countless possible ways for Zhang Chao to respond, including writing an article to clarify, writing an article to curse back, writing an article to beg for mercy...

However, little did he expect that he simply packed up dozens of newspapers published in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau that praised "Gone Girl", attached translations, and had Huang Jiefu mail them to American journalists, book reviewers and freelance writers who had previously praised "Gone Girl" in the media.

This immediately ignited the anger of the group of people - because this was simply a slap in the face!

What these journalists and book reviewers are least afraid of, and even love most, is - arguing!
Moreover, they were all smart people and were very familiar with this kind of operation in the cultural circle. They immediately understood what Zhang Chao had encountered.

The anger of being slapped in the face, the instinct to retort and the simple sense of justice made the American literary criticism community come out in full force and fire at full speed.

The one who constantly acted as a matchmaker and jumped up and down was the National Academy's close partner, Random House.

Originally, Gone Girl sold 1 copies one month after its release, and has gradually passed its peak. This year's sales should be around 40 million to 100 million copies.

Now it is simply a hype topic delivered to your door -

The promising young Chinese writers have sparked massive disagreements in the literary criticism circles of China and the United States.

Thanks to Random House's skillful management, this trend will take at least another month to subside.

In early February, the debate spread beyond China and the United States.

“Some people say that a literary work no longer belongs to the writer after it is created. However, it certainly does not belong to those shameless book reviewers!” - Pakistani playwright Yusman.

"It is a miracle that a Chinese writer like Zhang Chao created a pure American novel. However, some literary critics in his own country regarded it as a Chinese novel that alludes to domestic works. This is truly the biggest spectacle in the literary world this year!" - Japanese writer Yokogawa Yuki.

"We should cry for Gone Girl because it was shamelessly raped!" - Indian poet Munhaman.

"Murder! This is a naked murder! Murder of literature, murder of writers. If we don't stop them, the butcher's knife will one day fall on us!" - Polish writer Marek Smits.

These are all writers who were friends with Zhang Chao in IWP. Because of Zhang Chao, they first received attention from the world's largest book market - the United States.

Of course, deep down, they also disliked this kind of trick. Zhang Chao did not do nothing at Yanjing. He asked Huang Jiefu in the United States to collect the latest media comments every two days, and then asked Xu Ruiya to translate them and send them to domestic media such as "Reading Newspaper" and "Youth Daily" that had not participated in this matter before.

Because there was so much content, these newspapers had to start a series to report on it.

This time, the "Southern Country" department was in trouble. If it was Zhang Chao himself who was killed, it would be exactly what they wanted.

Because their articles were at least superficially full of praise, it was difficult for Zhang Chao to find a point of entry when he wanted to refute or criticize them - as the saying goes, don't hit a smiling person.

As a result, Zhang Chao was able to slap those foreign literary magazines and book reviewers in the face... This was completely beyond their experience.

And with the series of reprints in domestic journals such as "Reading Newspaper" and "Youth Daily", this debate has risen from a seemingly simple literary criticism to the level of collective disqualification of the entire Chinese literary world.

The key point is that even if they want to argue with us, they have to find connections to translate their articles first, and then publish them in American magazines and newspapers, right?
I called Mr. Carlson, but no one answered; I sent him an email, but he read it but didn't reply.

Just like that, Zhang Chao, without saying a word, led the world literary criticism community to attack several newspapers and a dozen critics for half a month.

Zou Guangming made another call and dragged Zhang Chao to the office of Luyuan, where the two vice chairmen, Tie Ning and Wang Meng, were still there.

Tie Ning had a helpless look on his face, while it was obvious at a glance that Wang Meng was trying not to laugh.

Tie Ning sighed and said gently, "You said you wouldn't use heavy hands..."

Zhang Chao muttered, "I haven't even written an article myself... Who knew they were so vulnerable?"

Wang Meng burst out laughing and said: "You young man have no moral principles. You didn't use heavy blows, but you used fatal blows..."

Zhang Chao said helplessly: "I didn't know their reaction would be so intense..."

Wang Meng explained: "This is because you don't understand the current situation in the American literary world. They have long been dissatisfied with the excessive interference of the U.S. National Academy of Literature in cultural exchanges. But after the plane crashed into the building, the overall social atmosphere was right-leaning, so they dared not speak out.

This time, your incident gave them an opportunity to criticize others. On the surface, they were criticizing those critics, but in fact, they were criticizing the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. So each one criticized them more harshly than the other..."

Zhang Chao: "..."

Tie Ning said: "These are just a passing fad, and they will probably die down in another month - provided you don't make any more moves.

I heard that Carlson has been fired by IWP. I don’t know if IWP can be held again next year... But the main reason I came to you today is not for this matter. "

Zhang Chao asked curiously, "What's the matter?"

Tie Ning said, "You can't hang around 'outside' all the time. Choose one between the Writers Association and the Federation of Literary and Art Circles."

Zhang Chao's face suddenly turned bitter, and he said, "Can we not choose any one?"

(End of this chapter)