British writer

Over the past few days, the popularity of "Harry Potter" has been rising.

Lu Shi originally thought that merging the novel version and the children's literature version would cause dissatisfaction among some adult readers.

but it is not the truth,

The novel is even more popular among adult readers than among children.

This is completely opposite to the modern situation.

Lu Shi could only speculate that it was due to the current situation of literature in the early 20th century.

Have readers ever seen fantasy works set in modern times?

Of course, the "Mirror" newspaper office was once again under siege. Readers were crying for food and asked Lu Shi to increase the frequency of updates like he did with "The Little Prince".

One update a week is simply not enough!

It needs to be updated once a day.

Even two or three updates a day!

That formation was like a modern online reader urging for updates, looking like he was about to send a razor blade.

Of course, Lu Shi would not agree,

Even if there are seven "Harry Potter" movies, they still can't stand such high-intensity updates.

So he could only pretend not to know about those reminders.

Over time, readers gave up and just thought about it from time to time and complained:

"Someone who updates less is not worthy of being a serial writer!"

On the other hand, the French scholars have not left yet;

After fully studying the similarities and differences between "Harry Potter" and "The Little Prince", they came to London to gain serious experience.

This was a small closed-door discussion, and there were no students present.

Of course Lu Shi also wanted to participate.

Watching a group of literary giants and experts discuss the issue of "How should children's literature be created?" I felt an inexplicable sense of joy.

The scene was very lively,

"I think that in the creation of children's literature, we should try to set a sufficiently distinctive label for each profession."

"Isn't this wrong? Knights must be aboveboard? Businessmen must be treacherous and snobbish?"

“Kids don’t know much, so that’s how it should be!”

"Hmph! In my opinion, it's because the first language of "The Little Prince" with simple characters is French. You French guys say that, right? If "Harry Potter" was a French work, would you think it was good? Evil doesn’t have to be so clear-cut!”

"Impossible! @* # ￥%..."

"! @* # ￥%..."

…

The two sides started fighting again.

Lu Shi had a big head,

"Everyone, there is really no need..."

Before he finished speaking, he was glared hard by both parties.

"This is a discussion among readers! The original author should stop talking!"×N

The two groups of people spoke in unison.

Lu Shi was helpless,

"You also know that I am the original author? I really don't want to speak, but "Harry Potter" and "The Little Prince" are children's literature works published by me. I should have a say, right?"

Everyone was silent,

But they still looked a little dissatisfied when they looked at Lu Shi.

In fact, Lu Shi also understood the thoughts of both parties.

France hopes that "The Little Prince" will be "orthodox" in children's literature;

The British side is betting on "Harry Potter."

Everyone understands the reason for this.

Poincaré asked curiously: "Professor Lu, how many words are you going to write on Harry Potter?"

According to reality, there are seven novels in total.

The first six volumes take Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the main stage, describing Harry's six years of study, life and adventures before and after he was at school;

The seventh part tells the story of Harry's search for Horcruxes and the elimination of Voldemort during the Second Wizarding War.

The Chinese translations of all seven volumes total nearly 3 million words.

In English, it is much longer.

Therefore, it was impossible for Lu Shi to tell the truth.

He mused: "Let's write a dozen chapters of this book "Philosopher's Stone" first. If the response is good, we will consider a sequel."

Poincaré understood,

"The current response is good enough. It seems that there will be another trilogy. The "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, the innocence trilogy, the science fiction trilogy... You seem to particularly like trilogy."

Lu Shi: "..."

"There is no such thing as a trilogy of innocence. It's all made up by the outside world."

Many people at the scene chuckled.

Poincaré said: "Okay~ okay~ no matter what, "Harry Potter" is destined to be a long novel, right?"

Lu Shi nodded,

"certainly."

Poincaré nodded to Verne next to him.

The latter understood, took out his notes,

"This is an issue we have sorted out in recent days regarding the creation of children's literature. First of all, we believe that children's literature should not be written in long form. Even if we write it, we should try our best to be like "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Gulliver" Like "Travel Notes", we weaken the main line and make each chapter independent of each other."

The British scholars immediately burst into laughter.

"What nonsense is this?"

Verne said: "It is not without reason that the length should be kept as short as possible. Because people always change, become oily, become mercenary, become unromantic. Would children want the protagonist to become like that?"

There is actually some truth in saying this.

Generally speaking, fairy tales always end with "the prince and the princess lived happily together".

Because no one wants to see the trivial things about princes and princesses after they get married.

Written hard, it can easily become "bibo burning".

And in fact, the "Harry Potter" series does have certain divisions, and in the later period it no longer resembles children's literature.

But because there are seven books in total, the writing time is very long.

The book is growing, and so are the readers who follow it, so not being a "fairy tale" is not necessarily a bad thing.

Verne spread his hands,

"If I write an immortal work, I won't drag it out to be long. Let it end perfectly, wouldn't it? So I have to control the length as much as possible! Is this true for novels targeted at adults, let alone children's literature? "

George Bernard Shaw couldn't help complaining: "Jules, have you not done enough to continue writing because of the royalties?"

Verne touched his nose awkwardly,

"No? Those are all things I wanted to write."

Everyone in the UK: (ˉ▽￣~) Tsk~~

They didn't even bother to pay attention to him.

Bernard Shaw said: "I can give you another example. The Sherlock Holmes series is also top-notch. Didn't they also write a sequel?"

Proust immediately interjected,

"Is the Sherlock Holmes series still top-notch now? It is precisely because of "The Hound of Baskervilles" and "The Return" that it was defeated by Lu's novels and fell off the altar."

Bernard Shaw was speechless for a while.

Cursing secretly in my heart,

It’s not good for me to give anyone an example, but I would rather give an example to Doyle! ?

Isn’t this asking for trouble! ?

He could only say: "It seems that none of us can convince anyone. Let's put this aside for now."

Since neither party benefited, Verne decided to continue the conversation and said: "I think children's literature should also tell a simple truth as much as possible, about love, or courage, or the harmony between man and nature..."

Bernard Shaw said: "That's not the case with The Little Prince either!"

Verne glared,

"Why not? The description of love in it is not thorough?"

The British scholars were stunned.

Then bursts of laughter.

Bernard Shaw said: "The little prince, the rose, and the fox play a love triangle. That's called love, right? You are indeed a romantic Frenchman~"

His yin and yang aura is quite lethal,

The laughter became even louder.

Verne's face was dark,

"That's not simple love! Hehe hehe... It seems that we are going to argue again!"

As soon as this statement came out, the two sides began to fight each other.

French said: "The Little Prince is the real children's literature!"

The British side said: "Isn't it Harry Potter? It's obviously the same author! Could it be that you look down on Professor Lu?"

French said: "We love Professor Lu!"

The British side said: "Then our love will only be more than yours!"

…

Lu Shi was shocked when he heard this.

Why are the two sides like the last exchange meeting?

Too outrageous!

He was preparing to comfort,

At this time, the door of the conference room was pushed open, and Charles Prestwich Scott, the editor-in-chief of the Manchester Guardian, leaned out and waved to Lu Shi.

Lu Shi looked around and found that the British and French were having a lively quarrel. He was not needed at all, so he went out.

Scott handed over a magazine,

"Lu, look at it!"

It's Seaside Magazine.

Miraculously, it actually says on the cover:

"Holmes, reborn! The great detective's comeback!"

Lu Shi:? ? ?

What's going on with this weird Japanese style?

He asked curiously: "Is this a related story written by Mr. Doyle's son?"

I ask this because Doyle's son did write some,

"The Mysterious Case of the Abbas Ruby\

,""The Deptford Horror"

"The Strange Case of Two Women\

,"…

These cases were mentioned in the canon of Sherlock Holmes stories, but were not made public.

Because the novel is written in the first person of Watson, there are often words such as "obligation of confidentiality", so it is easier for second-time creators to expand.

For example, "The Strange Case of Two Women\

,"It is mentioned in "The Hound of the Baskervilles\

,"Described by Watson as "a case involving a respectable English nobleman".

Scott shook his head,

"No, it's Dr. Doyle's work."

Lu Shi was a little confused.

According to history, after "The Return", Conan Doyle also wrote short story collections "The Last Regards" and "New Detectives", as well as "The Uncanny Valley\

,"However, now the world line has changed,

Because of the blow from "Roger Mystery", Doyle has announced that he has stopped writing.

Lu Shi turned to that page,

The first thing that catches the eye is the preface.

——

For reasons well known to all, I once decided to stop writing Sherlock Holmes stories.

Even if readers call again and again,

Even though No. 221 Baker Street still receives many letters "personally received by Mr. Holmes" from all over the world,

Even if people occasionally chant "Sherlock Holmes, come back to life\

,"…

I am already afraid of picking up a pen!

However, I learned a lot while reading Lu's works,

My desire for expression is back!

I will do my best,

let,

Sherlock Holmes,

again,

great!

——

Lu Shi was even more confused.

"It's because of me?"

Scott chuckled and said: "I closed the book because of you, and I came back because of you. I can only say, Sir Lu, you have an unusual charm for men~"

Lu Shi coughed slightly,

"Don't dare to say such nonsense."

As he spoke, he continued to flip through the pages and read the text of the novel.

The novel is called "The Case of Colonel Warburton's Madness" and was mentioned in the main Sherlock Holmes series, "The Case of the Engineer's Thumb".

But surprisingly, this time the case no longer feels like a detective adventure.

The homepage of the novel is the first to give a map!

Lu Shi was surprised,

"Is it true reasoning?"

Scott was curious,

"What is 'original character'?"

Lu Shi explained: "To put it simply, original reasoning works strive to present the conspiracies and storylines in the most realistic way in front of readers, so as to show the authenticity, rigor and ingenuity of the novel's conspiracies."

Scott pondered for a moment and thought of "A Brief Discussion of Narrative Conspiracy and Mystery Works" written by Lu Shi before.

He asked: "Like you said, 'What the reader sees is what the detective saw at the scene'?"

Lu Shi nodded,

"You found the essence."

Of course, even for literal reasoning, a map is not necessary.

However, the reality of the storyline requires narrative writing skills such as writing and plot, characters, environment, and expression techniques, while the authenticity and rigor of the plot must sometimes rely on the presentation of pictures.

If a map is given and the reader still cannot figure out the trick, the ingenuity increases.

Scott smiled:

"Fairness, between reader and detective."

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"It's more than that. Don't forget the tool attribute of the map. Sometimes, the trick is difficult to describe in words, and drawing a picture can reduce the ambiguity."

There are many such works,

"After School" by Keigo Higashino,

"Three Coffins" by John Dickson Carr,

There's even "The Amakusa Treasure Legend Murder Case" from Kindaichi's manga;

…

A map can save a lot of space.

Lu Shi continued reading,

The unfolding of the novel is very traditional;

In an old abandoned military camp, a male body was suddenly discovered one day.

Since then, no one has come near the military camp.

From time to time, will-o'-the-wisps and strange sounds kept coming from the empty house, almost like a supernatural event.

This lasted for eleven years,

Several veterans decided to return to the military camp to reminisce about the glorious past.

As a result, and inexplicably, Colonel Warburton went crazy!

…

Lu Shi read the beginning at a glance.

Scott asked: "How was it?"

Lu Shi said: "I think this should be a real mystery novel. Rather than the previous detective adventure novel."

Scott nodded,

"I feel the same way. In fact, I had read this short story before I came to you. After reading it, I was amazed by Dr. Doyle's imagination."

Lu Shi said "hmm" lightly.

"Indeed, it is difficult for ordinary people to guess the method of committing a crime."

As Scott eyed the landing curiously,

"Lu, you just said 'ordinary people', which means you can figure it out?"

Of course Lu Shi could figure it out.

After all, he is a translator who has traveled through time and space, and has worked in countless mystery works before.

Whether it's gorgeous or complex, I've read it all.

He asked: "Should a water glass be used as a tool for the murder? The murderer cleverly applied poison and asked Colonel Warburton to drink it himself."

Scott:? ? ?

He looked shocked and said, "How do you know?"

Lu Shi pointed to the original text,

"Here, Colonel Warburton opens the door with his left hand... and here, he wears a watch on his right hand... These all indicate that he is left-handed. When left-handers use things with handles, they use them in different directions than right-handers."

Left-handers are an overused material in modern criminal investigation dramas.

People who are interested in related works can generally see it.

Scott asked again: "Then do you know the motive?"

Lu Shi shook his head,

"I've only read the beginning, so of course I have no way of knowing. However, judging from the time of the story, Colonel Warburton retired during the Battle of Ladysmith. In that battle...did he abandon his men during the retreat? "

Scott:! ! !

"It's not abandonment, but manslaughter. It's not far from your guess."

Lu Shi smiled and said,

"Look, I can't always tell it right."

He turned to the last few pages,

As expected, Colonel Warburton was indeed poisoned.

The murderer originally wanted to kill him, but because the poison was smeared on the edge of the cup, the amount of poison was insufficient and only caused temporary hysteria.

From this point of view, Doyle is indeed very "scientific".

At least there won’t be another civil society plot in “The Spotted Belt Case” where the snake is placed in an airtight safe.

Lu Shi continued to turn back,

Acknowledgments follow,

——

Thanks to Herbert Greenhoff Smith, editor of the Seaside Magazine, for taking a chance on me;

Thanks to my wife for always giving me encouragement and courage;

Finally, thank you again Lu,

He is a great writer,

I drew a lot of nutrients from his works, which made me gradually stronger and more capable.

let,

Sherlock Holmes,

again,

great!

——

Lu Shi wanted to laugh.

I never expected that Conan Doyle and his Sherlock Holmes series would take an unimagined path.

Moreover, judging from the finished manuscript, "The Madness of Colonel Warburton" is not a failure.

Although it can't compare with "Roger Mystery" and "No Survivor", it is at least much more exciting than "New Detective" that will appear later.

If you keep writing like this, Holmes may become great again.

This is a good thing!

Lu Shi pondered,

"How about I write a book review?"

Scott said: "You're not going to mess with Dr. Doyle like in "The Little Dancing Man", are you?"

If we really do it, Doyle's heart will be broken again.

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"Am I that kind of person?"

Scott glanced at him and didn't answer.

But that look clearly said:

"yes!"