Literary Master 1978

After New Year's Day, major universities in Yanjing entered the examination season.

In order to prepare for the exam recently, Tao Yushu returned home and studied hard. He often studied until around ten or eleven o'clock in the evening, and then had breakfast at around six o'clock the next morning and went to school in high spirits.

Compared with someone like her, who was born with the gene of a top student and the attributes of a king, Lin Chaoyang was a lot of trouble.

But no matter how hard he tried, he still had to become nervous as the end of the term approached.

After all, he is now a correspondence student in the Library Department of Yanda University. He usually skips classes and fishes, but if he fails in the exam, it will be unjustifiable.

During this time, the students of Yan University were also busy preparing for the final exams, and the noise on the campus fell silent.

There are more people in the library than usual, but the more students than usual are all self-study students. The workload of Lin Chaoyang and others at the library desk is the same as before, without much increase.

That day, while he was reading textbooks in his arms, Master Xie from the communication room came to the library desk and said he had a phone call for him.

Lin Chaoyang received a call from Li Shuguang and listened to him talking on the phone for a while, with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I really haven't considered the issue of pen names before. If your publishing house thinks it's better to use the pen name 'Xu Lingjun', then use Xu Lingjun."

Li Shuguang was very happy to receive Lin Chaoyang's permission, and talked on the phone about the strong response the manuscript of "The Death of Van Gogh" had aroused in the humanities agency.

Li Shuguang talked non-stop on the phone for several minutes, until he was finally chased away by a colleague next to him who was anxious to use the phone.

Lin Chaoyang hung up the phone with a smile. In fact, what Li Shuguang said on the phone had been revealed to him by Zhu Changsheng two days ago.

All in all, "The Death of Van Gogh" can be regarded as Lin Chaoyang's second novel. He spent several months writing this novel and was very confident in the quality of the novel.

But the feedback from the editors of the Humanities Society was somewhat beyond his expectation. After all, the editors of the Humanities Society are the most knowledgeable and well-informed editors in the Chinese literary industry.

To be able to receive unanimous praise from this group of people is enough to prove the excellence of "The Death of Van Gogh".

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Van Gogh's fame in China was far less than that of later generations. It was in 1983 that he truly became known to the Chinese public.

Because in this year, Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House introduced a masterpiece by the famous American biographer Irving Stone - "Longing for Life".

"Longing for Life" is a biography of Van Gogh written by Irving Stone, and it is also his most classic masterpiece as a biography writer.

In the spring of 1927, when Irving Stone was still a college student, he came across Van Gogh's paintings by chance in Paris. This was nearly thirty years after Van Gogh's death.

At this time, Van Gogh was already somewhat famous, and his paintings were loved by many collectors. However, his artistic achievements were not recognized by the mainstream. Irving Stone was moved by the huge vitality shown in Van Gogh's paintings. , deeply shocked by his paintings.

So he had the idea of ​​​​creating a biography of Van Gogh, but after his work was created, it was rejected by almost all publishing houses.

At that time, Van Gogh was still an unknown painter, and no publishing house would establish a monument or biography for an unknown painter. Publishers have to make money. How can readers of such an unknown painter's biography pay for it?

Until 1934, the British Durang Green Press agreed to publish this work, but only 5,000 copies were printed.

After the publication of "Longing for Life", it quickly aroused repercussions among readers. Sales increased day by day, and the publisher had to print more copies many times.

Over the years since then, "Longing for Life" has been introduced and published by publishing houses in many countries, translated into 80 languages, and sold more than 20 million copies.

In 1983, "Longing for Life" was translated into Chinese and introduced to the country. It became the bedside reading of countless literary youths at that time, touching countless readers and influencing many people.

The quality of the work "Longing for Life" itself is of course outstanding, but the most fundamental reason why this work is loved by countless readers around the world and has an important influence is Van Gogh himself.

A painter with outstanding talent and talent, he was difficult and unknown during his lifetime, but his reputation grew after his death.

His natural talent, his suffering experience, and his inability to be understood by the world are the fundamental reasons for the strong resonance among readers.

If in later generations, a Chinese writer wrote such a novel with a foreign protagonist, he would be a little acclimatized.

However, the popularity of "Longing for Life" in China after its introduction shows that what is really important for an excellent literary work is to be able to resonate with readers.

Coincidentally, "The Death of Van Gogh" is also such a work.

And at this time, it has almost become a social consensus that foreign monks can chant sutras. One of the most obvious examples is-

Many contemporary foreign writers' works have become popular in China after being introduced, but many domestic contemporary writers' works are not well received by readers.

This is of course related to the hiatus in literary talents and the stagnation of literary development in the past ten years, but a reality that we have to face is that many people have begun to develop the inertia of thinking that worships foreign things.

This is of course not a personal problem of any one person, but a sudden and collective change in the entire social atmosphere.

This social atmosphere and shift in public opinion cannot be commented on from a simple perspective, but it has indeed had a profound impact on the cultural world.

The story of "The Death of Van Gogh" is based on the life of Van Gogh, a great Western painter. To some extent, this work may be more popular with many readers at this stage.

After answering the phone, Lin Chaoyang returned to the library and saw Li Tuo standing there.

"Why are you here?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

"I'm looking for you."

"What's the matter?"

"Yeah." Li Tuo pulled Lin Chaoyang aside and said, "Are you interested in joining our Yanjing Literary Association?"

Lin Chaoyang asked in surprise, "Why do you suddenly want me to join your association?"

After the National Excellent Short Story Award Ceremony at the beginning of the year, Zhang Guangnian, the head of the Literary Association, specially invited Lin Chaoyang to join the Literary Association, but he declined.

When the seminar of "The Wreath under the Mountain" was held in the middle of the year, Zhang Guangnian brought up the old matter again and even made a big promise to Lin Chaoyang, saying that as long as he joined the Literary Association, he would find a way to make him an editorial board member of "People's Literature".

But Lin Chaoyang still rejected Zhang Guangnian's proposal. The reason for his refusal was actually very simple, that is, he didn't want to waste time and energy.

It was well known that the Literary Association would hold a meeting. If he really attended, it would be fine if he didn't go once or twice, but if he did it too many times, some people would definitely have opinions.

The Literary Association is not a paradise on earth. On the contrary, it has more factions and disputes than many units.

Lin Chaoyang didn't seek an official position or make friends with wise men, so why bother to join in the fun?

Moreover, it is easy to be burdened by human relationships after joining the Literary Association, and have to attend some activities such as symposiums and seminars.

He didn't even want to attend seminars on his own works, let alone those of others?

If it was a literary meeting to travel around, he wouldn't mind. No one has invited him to this kind of event so far.

"It's not that the leader of the association heard that I have a good relationship with you. The leader just took office this year and wanted to strengthen the power of our association."

Buzz buzz buzz During this period, the National Literary Association stopped working, and the literary associations in various places also stopped working one after another, and did not resume until 1978.

The Yanjing Literary Association held its first conference this year, formulated the association's charter, and elected the first board of directors and leader. This time the leader is the poet Honghuang.

Although the Yanjing Literary Association and the National Literary Association are superiors and subordinates, they still do their own things when inviting members to join the association.

Lin Chaoyang shook his head and said, "Zhang Guangnian approached me twice before and asked me to join the National Literary Association, but I didn't agree."

Hearing this, Li Tuo understood what Lin Chaoyang meant, "Okay, then my mission is accomplished."

Li Tuo understood Lin Chaoyang's character. This time he came just to deal with the leader's arrangement. He had to do it. With Lin Chaoyang's reply, he could go back and report.

Then the two chatted about creation. Hearing that Lin Chaoyang's new novel was about to be published in "Contemporary", Li Tuo teased: "You are very efficient. In less than a year, you have another novel."

"Hey, have you heard about it?" Li Tuo asked Lin Chaoyang again.

"What did you hear about?"

"Director Xie was criticized recently for "Legend of Tianyun Mountain..."

"Legend of Tianyun Mountain" is a movie that Xie Jin has been working on since last year. The movie is adapted from Lu Yanzhou's novel of the same name. Long before the filming, the script was criticized for involving anti-Y issues.

Xie Jin finished the film under great pressure, and a few days ago he took the film to participate in the film seminar held by "Film Review" and "Popular Film".

At the meeting, two movies were screened, one was "Legend of Tianyun Mountain" shot by Xie Jin, and the other was "The Sun and Man" by Peng Ning. This movie also has another name "Bitter Love".

After the screening, the two movies received some praise, but more criticism, and the directors of the two movies and the studios behind them also suffered a lot of pressure.

According to the normal trajectory, the fate of the last two works is very different.

The criticism of "The Sun and the Man" in the literary and art circles has intensified. In the end, this movie had to be shelved and became a movie that the Chinese people of this era knew but had not seen, while "The Legend of Tianyun Mountain" successfully passed the review after being criticized.

Li Tuo didn't know what the future of "The Legend of Tianyun Mountain" and Xie Jin would be. He only knew that Xie Jin had been criticized recently.

As a person who came from the era of buzz buzz buzz, it is inevitable to worry that this wave of criticism will affect Xie Jin's filming. After all, Lin Chaoyang's "The Shepherd" has been confirmed to be filmed by Xie Jin.

Lin Chaoyang is naturally grateful for Li Tuo's worries and concerns.

"Director Xie is also the pillar of our country's film industry. If he is criticized, the world will really change." Lin Chaoyang said easily.

Li Tuo thought about it, and it was the same truth. If Xie Jin was really criticized, it would not be just a matter of worrying about Xie Jin, and the cultural community would probably usher in a situation where everyone was in danger again.

"You are so open-minded!"

After talking about this, Li Tuo said in a nostalgic tone: "I haven't eaten your cooking for a long time!"

"If you want to eat, go to my place. But let's make an agreement in advance that we will prepare the food ourselves. Our family is short of meat and grain coupons now."

After hearing Lin Chaoyang say this, Li Tuo asked the reason, and then he learned that Lin Chaoyang's parents came to Yanjing, and then mentioned buying a house for his parents in Yanjing.

Li Tuo was amazed and said, "If I had your writing efficiency, I wouldn't have to live in a tube building this year!"

An Overseas Chinese Apartment and a courtyard house in Xicheng District. Lin Chaoyang earned two houses in less than three years of writing. Although houses are not valuable these days, ordinary people's wages are still low!

Compared with the average housing area of ​​4 or 5 square meters per capita in Yanjing, Lin Chaoyang's housing conditions can be called luxurious, which makes Li Tuo jealous and full of admiration for Lin Chaoyang's vigorous creative energy and superb efficiency.

After seeing Li Tuo off, it was almost time to get off work.

Lin Chaoyang rode his bicycle back to the Overseas Chinese Apartment. As soon as he entered the door, he found that a familiar guest had come to his house.