Literary Master 1983

Chapter 286 The Truth Behind Reaching the Pinnacle of "Western Literary World"
Carmen is a slightly overweight, round-faced middle-aged woman.

If Márquez hadn't introduced her, Yu Qie would probably have found it hard to believe that this woman, dressed in a polka-dot shirt and looking just like a housewife, was actually a giant in the international publishing world.

She is a partner of many masters and owns the copyrights to numerous Spanish classics.

These include Vargas Llosa, Allende, Javier, Carlos, Pablo...

These names are unfamiliar to Chinese people, yet they include as many as three Nobel laureates in literature, as well as many more "Nobel Prize-level" literary giants.

Carmen is the most important agent in the Spanish-speaking world, known as a "super agent," and her wealth goes without saying.

An American publishing businessman, envious of Carmen's vast roster of Spanish-language authors, once flew to Spain to negotiate with her. Carmen, of course, didn't want to sell the rights, and to discourage the man, she said:
"Do you know how expensive our (her Spanish-language authors' works) are?"

The American broker replied, "Money is not a problem. I have good connections in the American banking industry and can get a loan anytime."

Carmen laughed and said, "If that's the case, let me buy you with cash."

The fact that Márquez introduced this man to Yu Che shows that he was very satisfied with Yu Che and genuinely wanted him to make a name for himself internationally.

With Márquez acting as the middleman, the two parties met in an ordinary café in Bogotá, on a street that is a famous commercial street in Bogotá, where food and goods from all over the world are available.

As soon as Carmen saw Yu Qie, she said, "You are the winner of the Akutagawa Prize, a vibrant new literary star! After Márquez introduced you, I read some of your novels... They are indeed very well written, but I hope to see novels in other languages."

Márquez couldn't help but talk about the novel Yu Qie had previously discussed with him, *American Psycho*.

He waved his hands dramatically and said, “I am a man of profound thought, unlike those short dwarfs who are obsessed with the West. I do not praise them.”

Then, Carmen, the Spaniard, nodded and said, "Yes, a writer, when you write flattering words, you've already been excluded from the readership of this country. What a writer needs is intellectual conquest, a war of utter overwhelming power!"

Upon hearing Carmen's words, Márquez chimed in, "Yes, war, it's a war!"

That's why Latin Americans are so energetic!
Yu Qie had discussed his manuscript with many people, but this was the first time he had encountered such a lively atmosphere.

This time, he brought the first 100,000 words of his book, "American Psycho".

This novel is not long, estimated at around 400,000 words, which is a reasonable word count in the international publishing industry. The original novel of Forrest Gump is about 300,000 words, and American Psycho is only slightly longer than Forrest Gump.

Carmen was a little unhappy when she saw that the novel only had a beginning. Márquez noticed this and immediately hugged Carmen, rubbing his cheek against hers, saying, "When I wrote 'One Hundred Years of Solitude,' I only wrote half of it."

“You’re so good to him,” Carmen muttered.

"He deserves it, believe me," said Márquez.

Carmen then began reading the manuscript. As an experienced editor, she quickly realized the selling point of the manuscript—the protagonist, Bateman, was a "mentally ill person." Although he appeared to be a Wall Street elite, his mental world was teetering on the brink of collapse.

Bateman is mentally ill; he'll show it sooner or later.

The book uses some details to depict this: for example, Bateman desperately craves recognition and admiration from others, constantly using an exaggerated self-image to cover up his deep-seated low self-esteem. He is obsessed with having a prettier business card than others and with showing off at upscale restaurants and clubs. In order to maintain this respectable image, Bateman himself has exhausted all his efforts.

Therefore, when someone surpasses him, even though it is a trivial matter that would be insignificant to a normal person, Bateman cannot tolerate it and feels an urge to destroy everything.

Bateman was going to kill sooner or later; it was just a matter of how. Yu Qie's description of Bateman's inner thoughts is extremely detailed, like a progress bar constantly prompting the reader.

It can be said that the initial hooks were when Bateman would make his move and the bizarre and unpredictable nature of the American financial industry.

Carmen skimmed through the manuscript, quickly finished reading it, then put it down and reached out her hand to Yu Qie.

“You are indeed a capable writer, and I see hope in you. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Carmen Balces, and thank God, my trip today has not been in vain.”

Márquez was even happier than Yu Qie: "You really think this book is very well written?"

Carmen nodded.

Marquez was relieved, but immediately began to complain: "No, there are also bad aspects."

"What's wrong?" Yu Qie asked.

After the original book was published, it topped the US bestseller list and became an instant hit. It shouldn't have any fatal flaws. Yu Qie also did some proofreading and incorporated some of the more exciting parts of the film and television adaptations into the novel.

It should have been even more spectacular.

Márquez actually said, "You wrote him too well."

"Who?"

"Bateman!"

“Bateman is a serial killer, Gabo (a term of endearment in Spanish).”

Marquez said, "Although you have only written the beginning, I already know in my mind that you are going to use this to criticize capitalist society, and that it is this society that oppresses Bateman."

"But I don't believe there are such naive and kind murderers. I believe some people are born with evil blood flowing through their veins. Bateman is such an American butcher. There are many such people in America!"

Ok!

Yu Qie shook his head helplessly.

Carmen suddenly looked regretful: "But this book has no value in being published."

Yu Qie was taken aback, and Marquez was also dumbfounded, asking, "Why?"

Carmen said, "I heard that you are a top student in the economics department of a top university. Many people from your school go on exchange programs to American universities. These people have a higher status than ordinary traders on Wall Street... Perhaps because of this identity, you know a lot about the ills of American society, especially Wall Street."

“That’s your talent,” Carmen praised. “Kawabata Yasunari didn’t really love any woman, but he was very good at creating women worthy of love, and then having those women die.” Then she changed the subject: “But, young man, we’re talking about the commercial value of a book here, and as things stand, the commercial value of this book is difficult to develop…”

Carmen discussed why "American Psycho" failed to make an impact in the United States.

In general, the reasons are as follows:

First, Yu Qie is not an influential international writer in the United States, therefore, his "Virgo" work is difficult to be viewed fairly.

This kind of thing also happened to Lu Xun in Japan. Lu Xun's first attempt to enter Japan was a huge failure... Shen Congwen, who sparked a craze for Eastern literature in Europe, also gained fame thanks to a group of French book fans who relentlessly praised his novels for decades.

Yu Qie's book is well-planned and explores a wide range of topics, clearly indicating that he is not the kind of person who wants to spend decades cultivating his reputation.

Nie Hualing couldn't write impactful English novels, so she married a white professor and used so-called international writing exchanges to make a name for herself, taking a shortcut to success.

Yu Qie, however, wanted to use brute force to overcome all techniques.

Secondly, Yu Qie is a Chinese person who is not widely known.

It goes without saying that at that time, the United States considered its city upon a hill to be a chosen place, and people from other regions to be inferior to them. If there was any place in the world better than the United States, it could only be Alaska, which borders Canada, or Hawaii, which is far away in the Pacific Ocean.

The "America First" mentality is ingrained in the very bones of Americans today.

In this context, a critical work written by a Chinese person can only be exported and then re-imported domestically, and cannot attract attention in the United States. Americans have an inherent and strong aversion to such things.

Yu Qie was stunned by Carmen's words: Does bringing out a book mean Americans have to kneel down and sing praises?
Why are the prerequisites so complicated?

Yu Qie couldn't help but ask, "You think this novel is good, but it can't have an impact. Can I understand that?"

Carmen nodded emphatically.

She then discussed how the Latin American literary boom in the Western world came about: "Márquez, Vargas Llosa... they first wrote about the intense pain of their own people, exhuming those wounds in a bloody manner for the international community to see, attracting their attention, and then began to gain some fame... they began to appear in the eyes of mainstream society as conscientious international writers."

After Márquez became a sensation in the Western world, his novels once occupied four of the top ten literary classics in the United States. "His books sold like hotcakes," and Westerners regarded Márquez as the master of Latin American literature.

Márquez was very humble; he honestly believed that "I am not the best of them all."

Márquez was telling the truth; he can't be called the best. The reason he's considered the best is because he experienced a huge publicity wave.

As mentioned earlier, Márquez is wanted by the Chilean government for writing Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

This novel was written many years after One Hundred Years of Solitude, before he won the Nobel Prize. There are countless "Nobel Prize-level" writers like him, and most people are stuck in this queue for their entire lives until they die.

The book shocked the literary world upon its publication and played a crucial role in his winning the Nobel Prize the following year.

In 1951, one of Márquez's brothers was murdered. Márquez then used his talent as an investigative journalist to investigate the incident for thirty years, slowly piecing together the truth of what happened.

Ultimately, he blamed the Chilean military government, arguing that its long-term manipulation of the people prevented them from receiving a proper education, leading to this tragedy.

He titled the novel "Chronicle of a Death Foretold," and wrote, "People came to the square and took their positions as if on a day of a parade... Everyone knew that someone was going to kill him... But in the end, he died on the spot in full view of everyone."

In the 1980s, a similar situation arose. Chile previously had a democratically elected government, but this government was left-wing and did not cooperate with the United States. As a result, the United States found a way to overthrow it and put a compliant military government in power.

This is absolutely turning back the clock.

The United States then openly and covertly supported the military government, which committed numerous atrocities. Some Western journalists uncovered evidence of American support, and this incident caused a sensation in the United States because it so blatantly violated basic human values!

In order to win votes, the US Congress began to pay close attention to the inside story of this matter. After the US ambassador was stationed in Chile for several years, he publicly said on national television, "You don't want to go there, it's too dark there." Subsequently, reporters followed up, and newspapers and magazines reported on it extensively, which eventually turned into a major international event.

At this very moment, Márquez wrote *Chronicle of a Death Foretold*, a novel that inadvertently became a whistleblower, exposing the crimes of the Chilean military government and catering to the media's demands. Upon publication, the novel caused a huge sensation in Spanish-speaking countries: Argentina, Spain, Colombia, Mexico, Latino communities in the United States, and so on, selling millions of copies within two weeks.

At this time, he had stopped writing for five years in protest against the Chilean military government (he may have actually been busy with his mistress). Unexpectedly, what he wrote next was such a masterpiece.

This marked Márquez's transformation from a "Nobel Prize-level" author to a "Nobel Prize-winning" author, completing the final step before reaching the top.

Yu Qie then understood what Carmen meant:

You either need to become famous in America as a serious writer from a foreign country, or you need to pander to others and make a name for yourself by satirizing your own country.

Either slowly accumulate good karma, and time will gradually allow you to do so.

Carmen's words even made Yu Qie understand why so many directors and writers who have gone abroad are desperately creating works about trauma. While there are indeed traumas to write about, surely it's not something one should dedicate their entire life to!
The reason is that this is their designated role in the Western world; they can only play this role. If they try to explore other avenues, such as writing about the Vietnam War or how Native Americans were scalped, they will face collective rejection.

Because they are neither one of our own people nor internationally renowned literary giants, they are not qualified to write these things.

This meeting at the coffee shop had a significant impact on Yu Qie.

He was successful in the Chinese-speaking world, and then in Japan where the culture is similar, but now he is being turned away in North America.

He could never possibly write those novels, but wasn't there any other way?
Yu Qie racked his brains, setting aside the book "American Psycho" and frantically searching for inspiration in his mind. There's always a way; there's always another path to take.

During this time, Márquez continued to invite Yu Qie to local literary salons, but Yu Qie gradually declined each time.

Márquez was puzzled: "You should be seeking pleasure and finding inspiration in indulgence. Aren't you satisfied with the mixed-race people here? There are quite a few people of Japanese descent in Brazil. How about I invite some over? Vargas Llosa has a daughter..."

“Gabo, I feel very anxious.”

"What are you anxious about? You're so young. When I was your age, I was just a small-time reporter, while you're already a big shot in your area."

(End of this chapter)