Literary Master 1978

Lin Chaoyang's last novel, The Truman Show, was published in August last year. The publicity was very strong at the time, and many local newspapers, magazines and even TV stations in China reported on it.

After the novel was published, like Lin Chaoyang's previous works, it was immediately warmly sought after by readers.

But after a period of time, the voice of the critics became less optimistic.

Some critics believe that the society described by Lin Chaoyang in The Truman Show has been divorced from reality.

These people believe that once literature deviates from the path of realism, it is like a soul separated from its body, with nothing to rely on.

Readers can certainly get temporary novelty and excitement in such a world, but it is difficult to find a deep connection with real life.

Such arguments were popular in the months after The Truman Show was released, and affected the perception of a considerable number of readers on the novel.

The mixed reputation directly led to a significant decline in the sales of The Truman Show in the months after the hot sales period on the market.

By February last year, six months after The Truman Show was released, the monthly sales of the novel had fallen below 100,000 copies, which was very rare in Lin Chaoyang's previous works.

In the eyes of many critics and readers who opposed and criticized The Truman Show, the decline in sales of the novel was the best confirmation of their views.

Seeing such a result, this group of people were all excited.

Although they had no way to suppress the voices supporting Lin Chaoyang and The Truman Show in public opinion, the reality has proved that their views are correct.

This made them even more proud of "everyone is drunk but I am the only one awake."

At the same time, they had a deep contempt for those loyal supporters of Lin Chaoyang, thinking that they were just a group of blind followers who worshipped fame.

However, just when these people were complacent, things took a turn.

In late May last year, domestic media suddenly reported that the film adaptation of The Truman Show won three awards at the just-concluded Cannes International Film Festival in France.

This news immediately caused a lot of repercussions in the domestic cultural circle.

These days, "Popular Movies" sells millions of copies per issue, and there are hundreds of millions of movie lovers in China.

You may not have attended the Cannes Film Festival, but you know a little bit about it. It is one of the three major European film festivals and a famous film festival with international influence.

The adapted film of "The Truman Show" actually won three awards at the film festival?

Many people's first reaction to hearing this news was disbelief, thinking that the media had misreported the news. After all, Chinese-language films had never won awards at any heavyweight European and American film festivals before.

Why did the adapted film of "The Truman Show" win awards?

But soon, as more and more media reported this news, more information about the film's awards was turned out.

"The Truman Show" did win awards in Cannes, including Best Actor, Best Screenwriter and Jury Prize, setting the strongest record for Chinese-language films to compete in European film festivals, and the film also received the highest score in the program evaluation when it was screened in Cannes.

Because the screening was so popular, the organizing committee of the film festival even had to arrange two additional screenings of the film to satisfy the enthusiastic fans.

Major mainstream film magazines in Europe and America reported and commented on it, all giving it extremely high praise.

As foreign news was brought back to China by domestic media, opponents of "The Truman Show" fell silent, while supporters welcomed the carnival!

The movies adapted from "The Truman Show" have won major awards abroad. What makes you say that the original novel is not good?

Those who say that the novel is not good should reflect on whether their reading taste is too outdated and can no longer keep up with the times?

The movie won an award, the reputation of the original novel reversed, and readers welcomed the carnival.

The most direct reaction was that the sales of "The Truman Show" ushered in a sharp increase. In May, when the news was just reported back to China for a few days, sales stopped falling and stabilized, selling 130,000 copies.

In June, sales rose sharply to 510,000 copies, and there was a slight decline in the following months, but the sales were only slightly worse than the first three months on the market.

When "The Truman Show" was released in China in October, a considerable number of viewers were converted into readers, and the sales of the original novel once again exceeded the 500,000 mark that month.

At that time, Huacheng Publishing House originally expected that the novel might break the 5 million sales mark between May and June of 1987.

But now it seems that this goal will be achieved by March.

Such an amazing reversal once again proves Lin Chaoyang's strong and unparalleled appeal among domestic literature lovers.

Unlike the reversal of word-of-mouth in "The Truman Show" that boosted the sales of novels, "Parasite" has won high praise from readers and critics from the beginning.

Although the stories of these two novels are set in the capitalist society of Hong Kong, unlike the imaginary and absurd worldview of "The Truman Show", the creative style of "Parasite" is real realism.

The first to cheer for Lin Chaoyang's choice to return to the path of realism were the domestic critics.

In this era when various literary trends are popular, the realistic path that the domestic literary front has adhered to for decades has been regarded as an old-fashioned and outdated antique by many young creators. The decline of realistic literature is an indisputable fact in the Chinese literary world.

Last November, Huacheng published the first part of Shaanxi writer Lu Yao's novel Ordinary World in one issue.

It is said that this novel will be a trilogy with a total word count of more than one million words.

The novel is set in China from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, with the two brothers Sun Shaoan and Sun Shaoping as the center.

It depicts the image of ordinary people from all walks of life at that time, and deeply shows the difficult and tortuous road that ordinary people of humble origins have taken in the course of history.

Many literary lovers can smell the strong flavor of realism in the article even if they don't read the novel.

But such a realistic work that Lu Yao spent countless energy and painstaking efforts did not receive much praise from the literary world after it was published.

After reading this novel, many people generally believe that the novel's creative techniques are too outdated, too much verbosity, and the plot is not original. It is a completely failed work.

The first part of the novel was published in Huacheng in November and then published by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing Company in December. Both word of mouth and sales were not satisfactory, which was regarded by many as another proof of the decline of realistic literature.

The first part of Ordinary World was published only one month after Parasite, but the reception and evaluation were very different.

It suddenly reversed the previous pessimistic views and opinions of the literary world on the future development of realistic literature.

This strong contrast further highlights the uniqueness and excellence of Parasite.

Moreover, Parasite has a little tricky point. This novel tells a story that takes place in capitalist society.

The tragic fate of Lao Jin's family, the sharp contradictions and confrontations between the various classes in capitalist society, and the struggle and ugliness of human nature are shown in the novel.

The author's criticism of capitalism is ruthless and undisguised between his brushstrokes, which is in line with the trend of domestic literary criticism.

The competition for the president of Lin Chaoyang (China) Literary Research Association is of course a joke. Everyone stayed at Lin Chaoyang's house until after dinner and left reluctantly.

Two days later, Li Shifei called Lin Chaoyang and said that there were some changes in the work seminar for "Parasite" and he wanted to discuss it with him.

As early as last year when the manuscript of "Parasite" was handed over to Huacheng Publishing House, Li Shifei proposed to hold a work seminar for this novel in Beijing when it was published.

As a result, "Parasite" was published in early January. Because the time was close to the end of the year, Huacheng moved the time to after the New Year.

"What's the change?"

Li Shifei's tone was a little embarrassed, "Chaoyang, do you mind adding "Ordinary World" to the seminar?"

"Ordinary World"?

"The theme of the seminar..."

Li Shifei said: "The theme will be upgraded to 'Realistic Literature', this matter..."

Li Shifei explained the reason.

This time, Huacheng wanted to set a higher standard for the seminar for "Parasite", so they specially found the two magazines "Wenyi Bao" and "Xiaoshupingping" in the hope of jointly hosting it.

The reason why I temporarily joined "Ordinary World" was because the China Federation of Literary and Art Publishing Company heard about the news that they were going to hold a seminar and wanted to participate.

China Federation of Literary and Art Publishing Company is the publisher of "Ordinary World", and this novel happened to be published in "Huacheng" magazine.

Therefore, China Federation of Literary and Art Publishing Company proposed the idea of ​​co-hosting a seminar.

Originally, Huacheng did not plan to hold a work seminar for "Ordinary World" so early, after all, the novel was only written one-third.

But China Federation of Literary and Art Publishing Company came and made this request, and Huacheng was not easy to refuse.

"Ordinary World" was first published in "Huacheng" magazine, and the first part was published less than three months ago. The second and third parts will continue to be published in the future.

The reputation of the first novel was not ideal, which also affected "Huacheng". If the work seminar can be used to create momentum for "Ordinary World" and reverse the reputation, it may not be a bad thing.

But in this way, it is a bit unfair to Lin Chaoyang.

The work seminar of "Parasite" has been planned since the beginning of the year, and the external contacts are all claimed to be Lin Chaoyang's work seminar.

Only in this way did it receive enthusiastic responses from Literary Gazette, Novel Review, and many critics and writers.

There is no such term as "riding on the popularity" now, but this is essentially the case.

That is why Li Shifei specifically called Lin Chaoyang to discuss it, and his attitude was very humble.

"It doesn't matter, let's do it together, it will be more lively if we do it together."

Based on Li Shifei's consistent understanding of Lin Chaoyang, he knew that Lin Chaoyang would most likely agree to this matter, but Lin Chaoyang's generosity and calmness still surprised him.

He has been an editor for more than 30 years and knows the personalities of writers too well. When ordinary writers encounter such things, even if they agree, they will inevitably express some dissatisfaction.

From Lin Chaoyang's tone, he did not hear any resentment or dissatisfaction, but was happy.

Such a pattern is really admirable.

The two chatted about the details of the work seminar for a while, and Li Shifei said on the phone:

"Okay, then it's settled. Next Wednesday, next Wednesday, we'll meet in Yanjing!"

"Okay."

A week later, Lin Chaoyang was playing with Dongdong in the yard, and Lu Yao suddenly came to the door with luggage.

As soon as they met and exchanged a few words, Lu Yao firmly held Lin Chaoyang's hand.

"Chaoyang, thank you!"

Lu Yao's "thank you" was full of sincerity.

"The Ordinary World" is a book that he put all his efforts into. After the publication of the first volume, it did not achieve the reputation he had hoped for, either among critics or among readers.

This result was a big blow to Lu Yao.

"Why are you saying these things?" Lin Chao changed the topic and asked Lu Yao: "Have you arranged a place to live?"

""Flower City" helped arrange a guest house for the Humanities Club. I said no, just stay here." Lu Yao said with a smile.

"Welcome, welcome! Come on, I'll take you to the west courtyard to make arrangements first."

As they talked, the two went to the west courtyard and arranged a room for Lu Yao. Lu Yao put down his luggage and stood in the courtyard chatting with Lin Chaoyang.

The warm winter sun shines in the spacious courtyard, making it warm and peaceful. From the distant sky comes the unique sound of pigeon whistles in Yanjing City, which is clear and sweet.

Lu Yao squinted his eyes with a contented expression, "Your place is better, it's such a fairy-like day!"

"It's because you are in a good mood and feel refreshed during happy events." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

A smile appeared on Lu Yao's face unconsciously, and this was indeed the reason.

Since last year, he has suffered a wave of blows due to the twists and turns in the publication of his novel.

The novel's poor reputation after publication gave him another heavy blow.

Until recently, "The Ordinary World" was going to hold a production seminar in Yanjing, and it was co-organized by four companies. It finally gave Lu Yao a ray of sunshine that had been gloomy for more than half a year.

It is a dream for many writers to hold a seminar or symposium on their works in Yanjing.

Firstly, it is because Yanjing is the political, economic, and cultural center of China, and it also has the most intensive information resources and release channels in China.

Holding a work seminar in Beijing can disseminate information quickly and effectively.

Secondly, Yanjing is also the highland of Chinese culture. After all, it is the home base of many national-level cultural institutions. There are many famous people and authorities everywhere. It can be said that it firmly controls the right to speak in the Chinese cultural world.

Many foreign writers say that the docks in Yanjing are very large and the water is very deep. If a literary work wants to be recognized nationwide, it must first be recognized by the cultural circles in Yanjing.

Not only Lu Yao is well aware of this, but also ordinary literature lovers are well aware of the truth.

The two stood chatting in the courtyard, and Lin Chaoyang asked about the creation process of "The Ordinary World".

The first part of "The Ordinary World" was completed at the end of 1985. At that time, Lu Yao had only completed the first draft of the novel.

After that, he spent several months to complete the copying and revision of the novel. It was not until the spring of 1986 that he began to study the publication, and then he worked on it for several months.

It was not until July last year that he began to prepare for the second part.

Before that, he went to Guangzhou for a few days to experience the cutting-edge changes in reform and opening up, and to draw nutrients for the creation of the second part of "The Ordinary World".

It was also there that Lu Yao planned the fate of Wang Manyin, the "second-rate man" and "wandering ghost" in the novel, in the second part. He would go to Shanghai to sell fungus, and to Guangzhou to resell cheap electronic watches...

After that, Lu Yao returned to Xi'an to continue experiencing life, the home of Northwestern Polytechnical University and the Provincial Party Committee SJ... In the name of creation, Lu Yao resembled the "wandering ghost" in the novel.

When the preparations were almost complete, Lu Yao finally packed up his bags and arrived at Wuqi County in the Yan'an region of northern Shaanxi.

Wuqi County is located in the northwest of Yan'an, with inconvenient transportation, remoteness and backwardness. Lu Yao lives in a dilapidated cave dwelling in the lower part of the county.

In that dilapidated cave dwelling, Lu Yao would often stay up all night because he was so obsessed with writing.

Sometimes when he missed his meal, he would simply eat steamed buns to satisfy his hunger.

In his words, the more difficult the conditions for creation, the more inspired he is to create.

But after writing for several months, due to the reverse day and night, hungry and full meals, and smoking again and again, Lu Yao's body turned on the yellow light again.

My appetite decreases, my physical strength decreases, and sometimes I am so tired that I can’t even lift my head.

Because he smoked too much, his chest ached, and his right eye was inflamed, which never got better, but these still didn't stop him from creating.

Lu Yao talked about his experiences in the past half year intermittently, and Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but admire his selfless enthusiasm for creation.

Lin Chaoyang knew that he would definitely not be able to do it on his own.

The two of them chatted until midnight that day.

Early the next morning, Lin Chaoyang drove Lu Yao to People's Literature Publishing House.

After some intense preparations, the venue for the works seminar was arranged to be held in the conference room of the People's Literature Publishing House at No. 1666 Chaonei Street.

When Lin Chaoyang and Lu Yao arrived at the Humanities Society conference room, most of the critics invited to attend the seminar had already arrived.

For many unknown writers or less famous magazines and publishing houses, the most difficult person to invite is the critic when holding seminars on their works.

But today’s work seminar is different. First, Huacheng Publishing House takes the lead, and secondly, Literary News, Novel Review and China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing Company respond.

The most important thing is that the title of the seminar is Lin Chaoyang's new work "Parasite".

Many less famous critics even flock to seminars of this size.

Because of the high standards and the publication channels, the speeches of these critics attending the conference can easily be published in authoritative literary magazines or review magazines, which brings fame to these critics.

This can also be regarded as a kind of ecology in the literary world.

For today's work seminar, Huacheng Publishing House took great pains and united several units. Whether it is the specifications or the scale, it has become a peak of the seminars held by their publishing house in recent years.

The critics attending the seminar include the China Literary Association, the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, local critics from Yenching, and critics from the Shaanxi literary circle who went to Beijing, with a total of nearly 40 people.

Among them, Bao Chang, Xie Yongwang, Zhu Zhai, He Xilai, He Zhenbang, Lei Da, Cai Kui, Bai Ye, Zhu Hui, Wang Furen, Meng Wanfu and others can be said to be the most authoritative and outstanding group of literary critics in China today.

In addition to its own fame, Huacheng Publishing House can bring together so many well-known critics, largely due to Lin Chaoyang's fame.

Even the strong support of the Literary Association and the "Literary Gazette" is inseparable from Lin Chaoyang.

After Lin Chaoyang entered the conference room, he became the focus of everyone's attention, and he couldn't help but greet the critics present.

"Teacher Wang, long time no see!"

Lin Chaoyang greeted Wang Furen familiarly. Seeing the curiosity of the people around him, Lin Chaoyang took the initiative to say: "My wife is Teacher Wang's student."

The people around him showed a look of realization, and Wang Furen's eyes hid a bit of joy when he heard this.

Lin Chaoyang's current fame, saying this sentence invisibly raised Wang Furen's status, put him in the position of a teacher, and suddenly made him stand out among the many critics today.

He chatted with Lin Chaoyang for a few words, and then sat down with a smile on his face.

Then Lin Chaoyang exchanged a few words with Xie Yongwang of the Literary Association. He is the director of the Creative Research Office of the Literary Association. Nearly one-third of the people who came today responded to their call.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the meeting named "1987 Chinese Realistic Novel Seminar" officially began.

The meeting was hosted by Li Shifei, editor-in-chief of Huacheng Publishing House, and Wang Yu, editor-in-chief of "Novel Review".

At the beginning, the two first expressed their feelings about the lineup of today's conference, and frankly said that the strong lineup of today's seminar is rare in the domestic literary world in recent years.

When it was the critics' turn to speak, everyone was very enthusiastic and focused their discussion on the novel "Parasite".

Everyone talked eloquently for more than an hour, but no one discussed "Ordinary World". This situation made Lu Yao's expression a little embarrassed.

Although Lu Yao had been fully prepared for today's seminar due to the bumpy publishing experience and the response after the publication for more than half a year, he still felt a little sad in the face of such an embarrassing situation where no one cared.

Seeing this, Wang Yu, who hosted the meeting, took the initiative to lead the topic to "Ordinary World".

Compared with the enthusiasm when discussing "Parasite", everyone's reaction to "Ordinary World" was much colder.

Only a few critics, such as Lei Da, Bai Hua, and Zhu Zhai, took the initiative to speak and comment, but their comments did not make Lu Yao optimistic at all.

Except for Zhu Zhai and Cai Kui who made positive comments on "Ordinary World", the comments of others were not friendly.

You have to know that this is a seminar, and Chinese people have always been concerned about harmony.

In many seminars, even if critics have some complaints about the work, they will still be cautious when speaking publicly and make some panacea comments to fool people.

But when facing Lu Yao and "Ordinary World", these critics who spoke did not do so.

Of course, they did not mean to embarrass Lu Yao, but they really felt disappointed.

In Lei Da's words, "He couldn't believe that "Ordinary World" was the first such work from the author of "Life."

Anyone could hear the anger in his words, and it was not difficult to see the high hopes these critics had placed on Lu Yao.

If it is said that Lu Yao's mood was just sad when no one discussed it before,

Now, Lu Yao's mood was like that of Lin the Master in the "Temple of the Snow Mountain", full of anger and despair.

He understood that these critics were only targeting the novel itself, and they might even have made constructive criticisms out of love.

But "Ordinary World" was a work he created with all his heart and soul, and the feelings he placed on this novel even surpassed his feelings for his children.

These criticisms were like daggers stabbing him one by one, making him feel heartbroken.

Lu Yao tried his best to suppress his resentment and desire to confide, because he knew that even if he said more now, it would not be possible to change the views of these critics.

The novel has only been written for the first part, and it has not been fully developed, let alone a huge climax.

You wait and see!

Lu Yao's face was grim, and he held his breath in his heart. I will prove it!

At the seminar, Lu Yao and Lin Chaoyang sat together.

Seeing that he looked unhappy, Lin Chaoyang knew that any writer would feel bad in such a situation, so he asked Lu Yao in a low voice.

"Are you okay?"

Lu Yao said nothing and just shook his head, but there was pain in his eyes.

Lin Chaoyang sighed inwardly when he saw this, and after the last critic finished speaking, he signaled to Li Shifei that he wanted to speak.

"Comrade Chaoyang, the author wants to speak, we welcome him!"

Li Shifei led the applause, and applause rang out in the conference room.

Lin Chaoyang cleared his throat and said, "Old Li said I am the author, which is both right and wrong. When talking about "Parasite", I am the author. But when talking about "Ordinary World", I am on the same front with you all."

After he finished speaking, there was a relaxed laugh at the scene, and everyone heard what Lin Chaoyang said and understood the purpose of his speech.

"What the comrades just said is very pertinent. I would also like to share my thoughts.

I have read the first part of "Ordinary World". From my perspective as a writer, the writing level of the novel is quite good.

Many comrades said that the writing techniques of this novel are a bit outdated and old-fashioned, and pointed out many shortcomings, but does the novel have any advantages?

The high degree of historical restoration, the detailed display of social and life styles, the author's profound insight, the representative characters, the delicate and moving emotional description...

I think everyone should be able to see these advantages, but I find that everyone seems to only focus on those shortcomings, but always gloss over the advantages of this novel.

Of course, I understand that this is a problem from everyone's professional perspective, but what I want to say is Yes, when evaluating a work, we must not simply look at the unsatisfactory side.

I think everyone should know the controversy caused by the publication of "The Truman Show" two years ago. Since this year, the reputation of the novel seems to have recovered a lot.

I don't want to brag here, but I just want to ask everyone to be patient with works like "Ordinary World".

I think it's better to wait a few more years for your final evaluation of this work.

Wait until Lu Yao really finishes writing this work and it is presented to the world in its complete form, and then give it your most sincere and fair evaluation. "

Lin Chaoyang's tone when he spoke was sincere and earnest. His words made many critics present think about something, and the conference room fell into silence for a while.

Lu Yao looked at him with excitement, and his eyes showed both the touch of receiving a helping hand in times of trouble and the sympathy of facing a confidant.

"Chaoyang!"

Lu Yao couldn't hold back his excitement and shook Lin Chaoyang's hand heavily.

If there was a BGM at this time, it must be "Show your skills in times of crisis~Show your skills~".