Chapter 37: Paper Expensive in Tokyo
Chapter 37: Paper Expensive in Tokyo
In less than three days, Kitagawa Hide's "Pinball in 1995" serialized in the May 5 issue of "Gunzo" made Japan realize what it meant to have expensive paper in Tokyo.
In libraries, bookstores, universities, streets and alleys, all readers of pure literature are basically talking about this "unusual" novel, of which only the prologue and the first five chapters have been serialized so far.
Especially since the title of the novel has a slight overlap with Oshima Hikaru's new work, and they were published one after the other, one can't help but compare them together.
Even readers who are not so familiar with pure literature can see some clues from this comparison.
The beginnings of the two novels are similar, so there is no question of who plagiarized the other, because judging from the last five chapters of "Pinball in 1973", they are two completely different novels.
It’s just that the feelings expressed by the two are very similar, and there is an indescribable sense of weirdness that makes people feel suspicious.
Because it is the official sequel to the popular "Hear the Wind Sing" some time ago, the supplement attracted many loyal fans of "Hear the Wind Sing" as soon as it was released. Including the preface, the content of more than 18,000 words is enough for them to make various speculations and discussions.
It has to be said that Kitagawa Hide has already aroused readers' expectations for the sequel to the novel from the preface to the supplement.
He was probably the first writer who was so "audacious" as to write a preface for himself for the second novel in the series after just publishing one, and "shamelessly" criticized the current society and government.
Ever since "Hear the Wind Sing" was published, many people have been speculating about the true identity of Kitagawa Hide, this new writer who suddenly emerged.
The mainstream critics believe that he is the son of a big boss of Kodansha.
Because "Rat" is described in detail in "Hear the Wind Sing" as a rich second-generation, and the fact that "Rat" and "I" are the same person has been analyzed and proven by many pure literature lovers.
Moreover, after winning the Group Portrait Newcomer Award, Kitagawa Hide remained mysterious. His acceptance speech was vague and he did not reveal anything about his life.
This made the critics even more certain that he did not dare to reveal his true identity because once he did, the unclear relationship between him and Kodansha would become unclear.
However, this time, in the preface to the supplement, Kitagawa Hideaki clearly stated that he was a security worker and one of the vast majority of grassroots people.
The original intention of writing this novel was to allow ordinary people who are in the same situation as him to find their spiritual home and salvation in life while following "I" and "Mouse" in their journey to find the pinball machine.
After reading the first five chapters, even relatively slow readers realized that this is a brand new style of pure literature, a wonderful novel that has never been seen on the market and is full of the strong "Beichuan style".
It is also the only novel in the current Japanese literary world that uses a youth love story to illustrate heavy themes such as loneliness, confusion, and redemption!
In this way, in this era when the Internet was not yet very developed, relying on the spontaneous word-of-mouth spread of readers, "Pinball in 1973" gradually began to radiate from the Tokyo area to surrounding cities.
"Undoubtedly, he has created a new genre of novels, and pioneered the creation of pure literary works in China with the theme of 'pursuit'! I think it won't be long before such 'pursuit-style' novels will be popular all over Japan!"
At a regular meeting of the editorial department of "Literary World" under Bungeishunju Publishing House, Editor-in-Chief Dong Hao slammed the whiteboard in front of him with his hands, then grabbed the crumpled May issue of "Gunzo" on the table and yelled at the editors below,
"I said it as early as when he published "Hear the Wind Sing"! Novels written with the cover of youthful love are more likely to please readers, and there will definitely be a lot of copycat works!"
"So why? Why exactly?" Editor-in-Chief Dong Hao clenched "Group Portrait" tightly, with such force that he almost tore it apart. "I clearly said so! Not one of you, not one person asked your authors to write similar novels!"
"Have you forgotten that you are the heirs of the wolf-like soldiers under the Emperor? The world of pure literature is just like a battlefield. Our goal is to capture cities, kill all the enemies, and take away their women, children, money, and so on!"
His voice became louder and louder, and the editors below hung their heads, not daring to speak.
The founder of Bungeishunju Publishing House is Kan Kikuchi, one of Japan's top literary giants, known as the "Emperor of Japanese Literature" and an out-and-out right-wing militarist.
Therefore, the overall political stance of "Literary Circle" is extreme right, and it has close ties with right-wing writers such as Shintaro Ishihara.
The editorial department of "Literary World" still retains many bad habits of pre-war Japan. The editor-in-chief Azuma Kota is also an extreme right-wing element who always wants to manage and rule his editors and writers with militarist ideas.
If Kitagawa Hide was present, he would probably think that this damn place is even more disgusting than those "wolf culture" companies that engage in pyramid schemes in later generations.
Dong Haotai tapped the whiteboard again and again.
“This isn’t that exaggerated,” an editor muttered.
Then the book "Group Portrait" hit him on the forehead like a grenade, making a loud explosion.
"Snapped!"
"Zawakawa, get out! The Literary World doesn't need idiots like you!" Dong Haotai yelled at him.
Editor Sawakawa shrank back in fear, but still stood up straight and shouted with all his might, "Yes!"
Then he ran out of the meeting room in shame.
The atmosphere became even more depressing.
"Those critics who only work for money are crazy. Are your brains also crazy? Can't you see it? In the future, a new school will surely rise. It will not be called postmodernism or new sensation, but simply and crudely named after the author, 'Kitagawa Hideki school'!"
Dong Haotai panted, his eyes were red, and he growled,
"Kodansha allowed a writer with a clean slate to be shortlisted for an award, and then suddenly published a hardcover paperback edition of his book, using a supplement to publish his new work. Don't you think there is a problem?"
"I had a college classmate working at Kodansha. It was said that they were originally going to publish a single volume, but for some reason, the plan was cancelled and a supplement was published temporarily." An editor raised his hand and said. Azuma Kouta looked at him and said coldly, "Don't you understand? This novel and this author are probably really out of nowhere. The cancellation of the plan, the inexplicable supplement, and the poor publicity are all obvious signs of polarization within Kodansha. One group of people want to rely on Oshima Hikaru's popularity to cover up Kitagawa Hide, while another group is working hard to pave the way for Kitagawa Hide."
A group of editors suddenly realized: "So, there is an internal conflict in Kodansha?"
"Idiot! You just realized it now? Do you understand now? If you don't understand what to do next, then go buy me ten supplementary issues of "Gun Xiang" and ten copies of "Hear the Wind Sing" and put them at home and read them every day!"
"Watch it while you eat, watch it while you sleep, and watch it carefully when you are having sex with your wives! Understand what we are going to do!"
"This year's New Wave is obviously the weakest in history. This is our only chance to surpass it and reach the top of the pure literature publishing industry! Don't you understand what we have to do?"
"Understood!"
Just as Bungeishunju Publishing House was arguing over Hideki Kitagawa's old and new works, Hikaru Oshima, who had just returned to a drama crew in Kyoto, could no longer sit still.
He took an overnight train from Kyoto back to Tokyo. Without any rest, he took an expensive taxi and rushed to his villa in Bunkyo Ward.
At this time, An Yuanxian sat on his sofa with a gloomy face: "You can go slower. Did you lose your mind because of sleeping with a female celebrity? After such a big thing happened, you are still looking for someone to sleep with that female singer named Yukari Tamura?!"
"Editor-in-Chief An Yuan." The short and fat Oshima Hikaru shook his beer belly and poured a glass of foreign wine for An Yuan Xian with a smile, "Calm down first, didn't I rush back as fast as I could?"
"Do you know what I heard in your villa?" An Yuanxian picked up the wine glass and drank it all. "Even the housekeeper was talking about the book "Pinball in 1973", saying that it 'really touched the hearts of us low-class people'!"
"Not really?" Oshima Hikaru shrugged, a little incredulous.
Some time ago, he was supervising a TV series produced by Fuji TV, which was adapted from a novel he wrote.
Then I suddenly received a call from An Yuanxian. I rushed back and wrote "Tokyo Memories in 1973" under his instructions.
In fact, he didn't take Kitagawa Shu seriously at all. When Kitagawa Shu won the award inexplicably, he publicly dissed him, thinking that the level of the Group Portrait Newcomer Award had declined and he was also affected.
I haven't watched "Hear the Wind Sing" either.
He is now one of the most famous "middle-class" writers in the literary world. He has an endless stream of people visiting him for help. How could he have the time to pay attention to the debut work of a new writer?
An Yuanxian came to him in a good mood to distribute books that day, implying that after a half-year break, Oshima Hikari should continue to help him.
After that, I briefly talked about the prologue and creativity of Kitagawa Hide’s “Pinball in 1973”.
At that time, Oshima Hikaru was in a period of lack of inspiration and could not find a suitable "translation" of foreign literature. After listening to it, he thought it was pretty good and just used it.
After publishing the book, he continued to focus on how to successfully use the hidden rules on Yukari Tamura, who refused to obey.
I didn't expect that after just a few days, things seemed to be going wrong!
"Not really?" An Yuanxian suppressed his inner anger, grabbed a supplement of "Group Portrait" and threw it at him, and said in a hoarse voice like a growl,
"Everyone is looking at your two novels now, and comparing them. Have you forgotten how you became famous?"
Oshima Hikaru's real masterpiece was achieved by stepping on the dead bodies of his predecessors.
Being compared with Kitagawa Hide made Oshima Hikaru feel sick as if he had swallowed a fly. He picked up the book "Group Portrait" in confusion.
"Anyway, if you let him continue to have smooth sailing during the serialization period, you should understand what will happen to you, right?"
An Yuanxian slowly stood up, walked over and patted his shoulder vigorously, then whispered in his ear,
"Oshima, everything you have now was obtained by me. Don't forget how you became famous. Don't let me hear you looking for any female stars or female singers these days. Stay home and write books!"
"You know what happens if your book is a complete flop."
An Yuanxian didn't say anything else. He was in a terrible mood.
When he decided to let Oshima Hikaru imitate Kitagawa Hide's opening and creativity, deliberately praised Kitagawa Hide too much, and helped the Ministry of Culture to obstruct him everywhere, he had already stood completely on the opposite side of Kitagawa Hide.
Now, things were going increasingly against him, and he didn't want to become a clown with his pillar writers.
Maybe we should visit Shintaro Ishihara again. We need to rely on these old seniors to turn the tide.
Thanks
500 Qidian coins reward from Ben Xiaoming, a book friend
100 Ways to Detect Men Lying Book Friends' Qidian Coins Reward
201 Qidian coins reward from my book friend Kongkongdewo
100 Qidian coins reward from Eucalyptus book friend
(End of this chapter)