I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 10 Meeting with Belinsky
One ordinary afternoon, when Mikhail was curled up on his sofa, thinking about his next manuscript, the maid Nastasia suddenly knocked on Mikhail's door.

"Mikhail, a gentleman has come to see you. He seems to be in a hurry."

When Mikhail heard the voice of the old maid Nastasia, his face suddenly turned dark.

Although Nastasia claimed that her mouth was tighter than the door of a widow in some village, the news of Mikhail's article spread like wildfire, and in a short period of time, many people in the apartment seemed to know about it.

When they saw Mikhail, the expressions on their faces were quite interesting. Versilov, a small businessman doing some small business in St. Petersburg, expressed his opinion at the dinner table in the morning:
"Oh! College students! You know, young people nowadays love this kind of trendy stuff. What they write is completely incomprehensible! Just last time, in the pub at the end of the street, I stopped to listen to someone reading an article. Oh! I couldn't understand it at all!
I ended up concentrating on my glass!"

Tusenbach, a small landowner visiting his relatives in St. Petersburg, commented: "Haha, university students! You'd be better off planting two more acres of land if you had that much time. Seeds dropped into the ground often sprout, but ink spilled on paper is often a waste."

Smirnov, a 14th-rank civil servant in the unit, chose to encourage Mikhail:

"He's a down-and-out college student. I know him. I hope he writes some interesting stories, preferably a collection of jokes. He should read them to me beforehand. I love jokes."

Landlady Pavlovna said, "You'd better find a way to pay my rent instead of writing articles? Isn't that a game only for noble gentlemen? You're just a college student who knows only a few words, and you're dreaming of being like them?"

.........

Mikhail heard these discussions: “…”

The college students didn't mess with anyone...

Although Nastasya repeatedly assured herself that she had never mentioned this to anyone, it was obvious that news would not grow out of the ground on its own...

All I can say is that Mikhail learned a lesson.

As for the discussions of other people in the apartment, Mikhail didn't take it too seriously.

In today's Russia, the literacy rate is only a few percent, and the so-called literature and art, as they say, is mostly a game for aristocratic gentlemen.

Thinking about these things, Mikhail still opened the door, and then saw Nekrasov who seemed a little tired.

The other party didn't waste any words. He immediately shook Mikhail's hand and said excitedly:
"Mikhail, Vissarion Grigorievich wants to see you right now. He's waiting for you in a cafe. Do you have time?"

Belinsky?

After a moment of hesitation, Mikhail nodded with a little excitement and said, "I'm free. Let's go over now after I put on my coat."

"Okay, great!"

From the perspective of others, Nekrasov was much more excited than Mikhail.

Nekrasov's excitement, apart from being due to Mikhail, seemed to be largely due to his desire to bring Mikhail to a real acquaintance with Belinsky.

In short, introduce your idol to others.

Mikhail could understand it. He was quite familiar with this period of history and knew very well what kind of feelings many Russian intellectuals of this period had towards Belinsky.

After all, from another perspective, the status of intellectuals and people's admiration and respect for intellectuals in those days are naturally far greater than those in later generations.

The reason for this can be traced back to the influence of various movements such as the European Enlightenment and the prevalence of idealism, among other factors. The details are somewhat complicated, so I will leave them aside for now. In short, intellectuals believed that they could change the world through their ideas, and some even said that they were already working to turn their ideas into reality.

This can actually be seen from what Belinsky wrote in his own letter to Gogol in 1847:

"As far as I know, you don't really understand the Russian masses. The character of our Russian masses is determined by Russian society. It's just that this society contains and imprisons certain boiling forces that are about to explode.

However, these forces are suppressed, oppressed heavily, unable to breathe, unable to escape, and thus depression, resentment, dejection and indifference arise. Only in literature, under our Tartar censorship, is there any life and forward movement. This is why the writer's profession is dignified and why even a meager literary talent can achieve success.

That is why our writers, however poor their talents, who represent the so-called liberal trend, are widely admired by the public, because the public regards them as their only leaders, defenders, and saviors who can save them from the darkness of monarchy, orthodoxy, and national life style.

Of course, Belinsky later wrote this letter with the intention of satirizing Gogol, saying that he used his natural talent to be a running dog for the Tsar, but it also shows his understanding of the profession of writer, his affirmation of writers and his hope that real writers would do what they should do.

By the way, in 1849, Dostoevsky read this letter in public, intending to awaken the majority of writers and let them take a tough stance against politics!

Then he was sentenced to death...

Ahem, fortunately he didn’t die, otherwise Russian literature would have missed a peak.

At the same time, this passage in the letter also reveals Belinsky's truest thoughts: As a writer, if you don't criticize politics harshly, are you still a writer?!
Frankly speaking, from the perspective of Mikhail, a later generation, this understanding of the writer certainly has the connotation of intellectual pretentiousness.

I'm glad I didn't treat you to a copper-headed belt, but you still dare to criticize politics? And you still dare to say that you can lead the people out of the dark Russian society?
But in today's era, the nobles wish that their empire would remain unchanged forever, and the lower-class people cannot even read and write, and it is difficult for them to survive. Unless they are forced to revolt, who would dare to go against those nobles?

Even if an uprising occurs, if there is no organization, discipline, or ideology, it will ultimately be a cycle.

So if you and I don’t press the button, what will this country do?
Belinsky felt that intellectuals and writers should shoulder their responsibilities and criticize politics harshly!

Of course, reality is always extremely complex and cannot be solved by intellectuals and writers just typing away.

But this is ultimately a martyrdom effort.

In later generations, the worst that could happen is that their account would be blocked with just one click, which is almost nothing.

This has led to the prevalence of keyboard warriors. No matter whether you are a cow or a horse, a human or a ghost, whether you have knowledge or not, whether you have read books or not, and whether you have sufficient understanding of society. As long as he is not living well, as long as he is dissatisfied, he will just type a few words when he has nothing to do. It doesn't matter anyway.

There is no need to use logic when typing, and no need to care how complicated reality is. As long as he has the mood, he will type whatever he wants, as if the country, society and even gender relations will get better in an instant if he really does what he says.

Of course, the keyboard politics of today is indeed different from that of later generations to some extent.

In this day and age, keys are chosen only after careful and meticulous thinking and painstaking consideration.

At the same time, a large number of writers, intellectuals and passionate young people, in addition to daring to write, also really walked on the front line of the revolution, and quite a number of people were persecuted and exiled.

But their blood was buried early by the cold wind and heavy snow of Siberia, and no trace of it could be seen anymore.

The person Mikhail is about to meet is the initiator of this era of great political power:
Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky.

A man who turned Russia's literary world into a political world.

(End of this chapter)