A Literary Life Starting from the First Year of High School

March 10th, Friday.

While Lin Shubai was sitting in the classroom for the fourth period, two places on the internet were becoming lively because of him.

One is the familiar Rongshuxia Forum, and the other is the official forum of Science Fiction World Magazine, "Sky City".

A post was pinned to the top by the moderator "Old Stories of Pen and Ink".

The title is:

"From 'A Young China' to 'On Hope': Two Worlds of Lin Shubai"

The poster's ID is "Discussing Books Over Wine," and they are a veteran member of the forum.

"Last December, Lin Shubai published 'On the Youth of China' in People's Literature, which sparked a heated discussion on the forum. I still remember the line 'When the youth are wise, the nation is wise; when the youth are strong, the nation is strong'—that overwhelming, irrepressible sense of national pride made me, a man in my forties, feel excited for days after reading it."

Yesterday, I read another of his new works, "Talking about Hope," which was published as the opening remarks of the inaugural issue of "Hope," a campus magazine he edits.

If "Ode to Young China" is a declaration issued to the entire nation, then "On Hope" is a lamp handed to every ordinary person. The former makes you want to stand up, the latter makes you want to keep going.

I read the two articles side by side and found a very interesting comparison:

The core of "A Young China's Manifesto" is "responsibility"—the image of the youth reflects the image of the nation. It refers to the group, the era, and "us".

The core of "Speaking of Hope" is "hope"—hope is the second soul of the disheartened. It points to the individual, to people in distress, to "I".

One is a grand narrative looking outward, the other is a philosophy of life looking inward. A sixteen-year-old boy can switch freely between the two perspectives, and write each one with great impact—this goes beyond the scope of "talent."

There is a passage like this in "Speaking of Hope":

"The sun rises in the east, its dawn blazing; shall I command the celestial wheel, unleashing its radiant light to illuminate the world? The river bursts forth from its hidden source, its raging waves roaring; shall I ride the wind, hoist my sails, and cleave through ten thousand miles of waves to traverse the five continents!"

The atmosphere of this passage is strikingly similar to the line "The rising sun shines brightly on the path of youth" from "A Young China's Manifesto." However, "A Young China's Manifesto" depicts the collective image of "Chinese youth," while "On Hope" portrays the second soul within each "disappointed person." Both passages employ powerful parallelism, one outward-looking, the other inward-looking.

I don't know if Lin Shubai did it intentionally or if it was natural, but for a sixteen-year-old author to have such self-awareness, I can only say—when talent reaches this level, explanation is meaningless; just appreciate it.

Less than half an hour after the post was published, there were more than forty replies.

Second floor, "Old Tales of Brush and Ink":

"Brother Zhujiu's comparison is very valuable. 'Ode to Young China' and 'On Hope' are actually two sides of the same coin—the former talks about 'what you should do,' while the latter talks about 'what you can believe.' Without 'belief,' 'should' cannot stand. Lin Shubai has completed the switch from 'shouting' to 'whispering' in these two articles, and he has done it very well."

Third floor, "Deep Sea Fish":

"I remember when 'Ode to Young China' was published last year, some people on the forum said, 'Lin Shubai will either become a great person or be praised to death.' Now it seems that he has not only not been praised to death, but is still moving forward. 'Speaking of Hope' is different from 'Ode to Young China,' but it is no less impressive. It is more gentle and closer to ordinary people."

Fourth floor: "My personal feeling is that after reading 'A Young China', I want to go out and make a difference; after reading 'Hope', I want to sit down and live a good life. These two feelings are not contradictory, and they are even prerequisites for each other. You can only make a difference if you live a good life first; you can only live a good life if you have hope in your heart."

Fifth floor, "Old-school literati":

"I don't deny Lin Shubai's talent. But I still have to say that the 'If the youth are strong, the nation is strong' style in 'A Discourse on Young China' is clearly influenced by the writing style of the late Qing and early Republican periods. For a sixteen-year-old to be able to master that style to such a degree shows that he has indeed read a lot of books, but I want to ask more: When will he be able to write something truly original, something that doesn't bear the shadow of his predecessors?"

Sixth floor: "Old-school writer, here you are again. What do you mean by 'not following in the footsteps of predecessors'? Which writer didn't start by imitating? Lin Shubai was able to digest the works of his predecessors at the age of sixteen and still write with his own style. Isn't that a skill?"

Ninth floor, "Bookworm A-Qiang":

"Does anyone know which magazine published this article, 'On Hope,'? I'd like to buy it. Also, I bought the issue of 'People's Literature' that contains 'On Young China' and have it in my collection."

Tenth floor, "Jasmine Tea":

"Going back upstairs, it's the inaugural issue of 'Hope,' the literary society's internal publication at Jing'an No.1 Middle School. You can't buy it outside."

Fourteenth floor, "Old Tales of Brush and Ink":

"I think that 'Ode to Young China' and 'On Hope' are essentially talking about the same thing—'belief'. The former believes that the country will become strong because of its youth, and the latter believes that individuals will stand up because of hope. The objects of belief are different, but the act of 'belief' is the same. Lin Shubai, no matter what he writes, always has a firm 'belief' underneath. This kind of temperament is rarely seen in contemporary literary writing. There are too many 'satire', 'deconstruction', and 'reflection' in contemporary writers, and too few 'I believe'."

As you scroll down the thread, the discussion becomes increasingly in-depth.

At noon, the moderator "Old Tales of Pen and Ink" posted a new thread with the title:

"Some additional points regarding Lin Shubai's 'On Hope' and 'A Discourse on Young China'"

"The discussion this morning was very lively, and I would like to add a few points."

First, some netizens asked whether "Speaking of Hope" is Lin Shubai's latest work. As far as I know, it is the opening statement of the inaugural issue of the campus magazine "Hope" which he edited, written at the beginning of this year. "Speaking of Young China" was published last December, only about two months apart.

Secondly, regarding the issue of "the shadow of predecessors" raised by old-school literati, my view is: Lin Shubai was indeed influenced by the literary style of the late Qing Dynasty, but that's not the problem. The problem is whether he made the things of his predecessors his own. I think he did. The phrases "When the youth are wise, the nation is wise" in "On Young China" and "Hope is the second soul of the disappointed" in "On Hope" may have the shadow of his predecessors in their sentence structure, but the core is Lin Shubai's own—a sixteen-year-old boy's understanding of "responsibility" and "hope".

Third, in my personal opinion, the most noteworthy aspect of Lin Shu-pai is not "what he can write," but "what he wants to write." From "The Most Precious Gift" to "Life on a String" to "Charlotte's Web" to "A Young China's Tale" and now "On Hope," he has been trying different themes, styles, and depths. He is not the kind of person who finds a safe zone and never leaves it. This alone deserves respect.

above. "

Meanwhile, another forum is also seeing a surge in popularity.

Science Fiction World Sky City Forum

Sky City is the official forum of Science Fiction World magazine. It was established in 2002, two years later than Rongshuxia, but its status among science fiction fans is unparalleled.

The forum is divided into very professional sections: "Fantasy Literature", "Hardcore Setting", "Science Fiction Film and Television", "Author Zone", "Submission Exchange", etc.

The active users range from teenagers to science fiction fans in their fifties and sixties, and the discussion atmosphere is quite hardcore—if you talk about "time travel," someone will bring up Hawking, Einstein, and the grandfather paradox; if you talk about "artificial intelligence," someone will analyze the flaws in Asimov's three laws.

The most famous section of Sky City is called "Galaxy Book Review," which is dedicated to discussing science fiction novels. The rules of this section are very strict: posts must exceed 500 characters, otherwise they will be deleted directly by the moderator. The moderator is said to be a programmer in his forties who goes online every day after get off work to review posts without fail. The review standards are so strict that they are outrageous. Some people say that he uses regular expressions to filter posts.

At 11:00 AM, a new post appeared in the Galaxy Book Review section.

The poster's ID is "Starry Sea Raft," registered three years ago. He is a college student and is somewhat famous on the forum. He specializes in writing reviews of short and medium-length science fiction stories. His writing style is sharp; he directly criticizes those he doesn't like, and writes three thousand words praising those he does.

The title is:

"A Train in the Milky Way—Reading Lin Shubai's 'Night on the Milky Way Railway'"

"I first learned about Lin Shubai's name from 'Story Club'. His 'Dinosaurs in the Afternoon' and 'Artificial Beauty' were published in 'Science Fiction World', but this 'Night on the Galactic Railroad' is different."

This is not hard science fiction; it can't even be considered science fiction in the strict sense. It's more like a lyrical essay wrapped in a science fiction shell. The story is simple: a boy boards a train traveling through the galaxy on the night of the Galactic Festival.

The power of this piece lies not in its setting, but in its emotions—the sadness of "some people accompany you for a while, and then disappear forever," the helplessness of "you are sitting on a train heading into the distance, but you know that person will never come back." It is written with restraint and precision.

I'm not saying this novel is without flaws. Its pacing is a bit slow, and some scene descriptions are overly sentimental. It might seem out of place in the hardcore section of Science Fiction World, but I'd still recommend it to anyone who enjoys "gentle science fiction."

Finally, let me say this: Lin Shubai can write fairy tales that make kids cry, forewords that make adults cry, and science fiction that left me, a junior in college, speechless. He truly can write anything.

The post was quickly followed by replies.

Second floor: "It's rare for Xinghai Fucha to write such a gentle review. I've read this one and I agree with your judgment—it's not hardcore, but it's good. And its 'goodness' has nothing to do with the setting, but with the emotions. By the way, of the two stories Lin Shubai published in Science Fiction World, I personally prefer 'Artificial Beauty,' the dark humor at the end is very well done."

Fourth floor, ID "Quantum Cat":

"There are two kinds of good science fiction: one makes you think, 'Wow, this concept is amazing,' and the other makes you feel 'it leaves a lasting impression.' This story belongs to the second kind. When my protagonist's friend read the part about the disappearance, a thought suddenly popped into his head: Did this person never exist? Was he just a figment of the protagonist's imagination?"

Fifth floor, ID "Floating Raft in the Sea of ​​Stars" (replying to the fourth floor):

"Quantum Cat, your interpretation is interesting. He did only interact with the protagonist from beginning to end. The other passengers didn't talk to him, and his disappearance was too sudden—he didn't get off the train, he 'disappeared.' I also tend to think that he is some kind of projection of the main clause."

7th floor, ID "Red Mars":

"After all that talk, hasn't anyone noticed a detail? The protagonist never knows where he's going. He's just sitting on that train, and wherever the train goes, that's where he goes. Isn't that just like each of us?"

Eighth Floor: "I accept the interpretation of 'Red Mars.' 'Not knowing where you're going, but still on the train'—that truly applies to each of us."

At 3 PM, the number of online users in the Galaxy Book Review section exceeded 500, a rare figure for the Sky City Forum on a non-activity day. The moderator temporarily pinned the "Floating Raft in the Starry Sea" post and added a moderator's recommendation:

"This post has a high level of discussion and is recommended for reading. Also, you can search for 'Lin Shubai' on the forum to view related discussions of Lin Shubai's previous works published in Science Fiction World, such as 'Dinosaurs in the Afternoon,' 'Artificial Beauty,' 'Communication of Love,' and 'A Long Life.'"

At 6 p.m., the popularity of both forums reached its peak simultaneously.

In the "Book Review" section of the Banyan Tree forum, the discussion thread about "On Hope" has exceeded four hundred replies. Some people analyze the structure of the article sentence by sentence, some discuss the logical connection between the metaphor of "second soul" and "the youth are strong" in "A Discourse on Young China," and some share the moments in their lives when their "second soul" was awakened. The moderator "Old Stories of Pen and Ink" added a sentence to the pinned post:

"Index of Lin Shubai's published works: The Most Precious Gift, Lunch, Spring Blossom Noodle Shop, Life on a String, Charlotte's Web, The Little Prince, A Young China, Dinosaurs in the Afternoon, Artificial Beauty, Night on the Galactic Railroad, and Speaking of Hope. New readers are advised to read them in order to see a clear growth trajectory."

In the Galaxy Book Review section of Sky City, the number of posts about "Night on the Galactic Railroad" has exceeded three hundred. Some people have drawn fan art of the protagonist sitting on the train and posted it on the forum. Some people have used astronomy software to simulate the starry sky of the Galactic Festival. Someone even wrote a short side story - the protagonist boarded that train once again.