I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 14: I Bleed for Russia! (Please read it again on Tuesday!)

Mikhail was a little uncomfortable at first with Nekrasov's somewhat fanatical attitude towards him, but after thinking carefully about the prevailing trend of the period, he could more or less understand it.

After all, strictly speaking, the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century can be said to be the world of Romanticism. So what are the more prominent characteristics of Romanticism?

That is the pursuit of the sublime and transcendent and the worship of genius and heroic individuals.

To discuss this, we need to go back a bit in history. For a long time, Russian culture was deeply influenced by French culture. A typical example is the Russian upper class. They had to speak authentic French. What? Can't speak French? Then they must be a country bumpkin or a stinking outsider, begging for food in our St. Petersburg aristocracy!

Therefore, in many Russian literary works, such as Tolstoy's "War and Peace", you will find that the aristocratic characters in it will occasionally say a French word.

But after Napoleon's invasion, the Russian nobles saw the world and began to re-evaluate France. At the same time, under the intentional or unintentional shift of the Tsar and the upper aristocratic circles, Russia gradually shifted its cultural center to Britain.

So who was the defining figure of Britain during that period? Naturally, it was the well-known poet, revolutionary, and London gunner George Gordon Byron.

Byron's character and the "Byronic heroes" he created, who were rebellious, lonely, passionate and melancholic, had a profound impact on the young people of Russia at the time and, in a sense, contributed to the Decembrist uprising in Russia.

It naturally had a great influence on Russian literature. For example, Pushkin, the great Russian writer, had a French flavor in everything he wrote before Russia's cultural worship shifted to Britain. Later, when it shifted to Britain, the poems Pushkin wrote during this period were almost replicas of Byron's "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" and "Oriental Epics".

At the same time, the prisoner Pushkin also successfully became the old Petersburg artillery king. Well, another piece of evidence that the prisoner resembled Pushkin appeared...
Ahem, just kidding. Fortunately, Pushkin finally found his own way, which led to the subsequent Russian literature.

Before Pushkin, Russian literature was basically a pseudo-concept, and most of its works were imitations of Western Europe, completely under the shadow of Western Europe.

In short, the literary circles of this period always particularly admired geniuses and heroic individuals.

It's not just literature. Many young people who have received higher education later often find themselves in this situation: Who in Russia today doesn't think of themselves as Napoleon?
Let’s get back to the topic for now. After reaching a verbal agreement on cooperation, the two of them also discussed the specific details.

Of course, it was mostly Nekrasov who was talking and Mikhail who was listening. After all, professional matters should be left to professionals. Mikhail knew nothing about being a publisher and probably didn't have the energy to do it for the time being.

So basically, you just need to understand what you are going to do next and sign a simple contract.

As for the contract, Mikhail went through it carefully and found that there was indeed no problem, and the profit sharing was indeed generous. In simple terms, it was 15% of the profits from the collection.

Of course, in addition to the issues of providing content and reviewing, Mikhail also has to invest a small amount of money.

Mikhail could accept this, otherwise he would feel guilty about taking this share.

As for where the money would come from, on the one hand it would be Mikhail's next royalties, and on the other hand, Mikhail was already considering whether to ask his classmate Dmitriy for money.

Well, let Demi suffer a little more, and I will take the blame!
After discussing these things, Mikhail was exhausted for a while. Meeting with a figure like Belinsky, Mikhail's brain could be said to have been running at high speed. Suddenly, when he relaxed, he really felt a headache and dizziness.

So Mikhail forced himself to walk back to his apartment. Not long after he lay down on the sofa, he fell asleep in this cramped environment.

At the same time, in the distant Chernigov Province, Mikhail's letter finally reached his current family after several days of journey.

At this moment, a young woman with a frown on her face was staring seriously at the letter in her hands. She looked like she was in the prime of her life. Even though she was a little thinner and her hair was a little dry and gray, she still left a beautiful impression. As she read the specific contents of the letter, the girl's frown suddenly relaxed, and her face suddenly brightened. However, as she continued to read, her expression suddenly became a little disbelief and uncertainty.

Just then, Mikhail and the girl's mother, Pulkhelya, hurried over and asked nervously, "Dunya! What did Misha write in the letter? Will this good news make him feel better? How is his situation now? Oh my God, I have to send him the money quickly."

Pulhelia was an old woman who looked particularly haggard. Time and life had left too many traces on her face, but when she talked about Mikhail's reply, her face still burst into a special glow.

Despite all the jokes above, being a university student in Russia today, especially as a university student close to a commoner, is this a joke?

During this period, children of the nobility had absolute priority in education. They could be interviewed and admitted to aristocratic middle schools through preparatory schools without competition. However, children of commoners often had to pass several major hurdles. During the preparatory education stage, they had to learn Latin, Greek, philosophy, mathematics, natural sciences, etc., and only those with excellent grades were eligible to apply for university.

As for a school like St. Petersburg University, which is full of authentic aristocratic lords, the difficulty is beyond imagination. In addition to various languages, the entrance subjects often involve history, geography, a foreign language, and sometimes even chemistry and physics.

There is no doubt that this is a barrier set up specifically for the children of ordinary people.

But this is normal. Even in later generations, there are a lot of invisible barriers such as educational resources, private schools, school district housing, various competitions, various special recruitment channels, etc., not to mention now. We are authentic St. Petersburg masters, so what's wrong with having some privileges?
Looking back to those days, our ancestors all followed Peter the Great into the pass, endured all the hardships, and shed all the blood and sweat!

In short, under these circumstances, there is no doubt that Mikhail was a genius from a young age. He could speak at the age of two, recite at the age of three, speak fluently at the age of five, learned Latin and Greek at the age of ten, and at the age of thirteen...

Of course, this is also the path that most famous intellectuals have taken these days.

What about Belinsky, Herzen, Chernyshevsky?
To put it bluntly, without a certain level of intelligence, you cannot be an intellectual or a politician.

These days, online politics is not just a game. There are really large numbers of intellectuals who are guided by certain ideas and then take action.

So much so that later on, there was such a brutal act as the assassination of Alexander II, which anyone who heard about it would be in awe.
To get back to the point, under the above conditions, Pulkheria, who had watched Mikhail grow up, was naturally deeply proud of her son, but she also often felt guilty that the poor family environment restricted the natural talent of her dear Misha.

If it weren't for this, nothing would be happening now.
Thanks to the operation brother, and also thank you very much for the recommendation of Xiaoshiguang. It was really a surprise. I was still wondering why the collection suddenly increased so much this morning. I thought I took off, but I didn’t expect that it was thanks to the east wind of the big brother that I took off (dog head)

I hope I can take off on my own next time hhh.

Thank you all for your support, thank you very much.

I would also like to thank the big brother “npc1801” for the reward, love you.

This book was originally planned to be very long, because the 19th century was really full of stars. In addition to the well-known masters in Russia, the living masters in Europe were simply as brilliant as stars.

What about Alexandre Dumas, Alexandre Dumas, Hugo, Balzac, Flaubert, Maupassant, Dickens, Zola, Hardy, Mark Twain, Whitman, Heine, Ibsen
This book is generally a literary work, but it can also be considered a historical text. It intersperses some interesting things and talks about the differences between more than a hundred years ago and today.

After reading a lot of information, I found that that era is very similar to today's era, and young people in different eras also have the same confusion.

It’s such a long journey, and I hope everyone will support me and read more. At least, don’t forget this book on Tuesday (crying)
Thank you all again.

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(End of this chapter)