Chapter 73 The name of the novel is "No Longer Human"
Chapter 73 The name of the novel is "No Longer Human"
"Deputy Editor Saito?"
"Saito?"
Two voices suddenly rang in her ears, and Saito Rena, who was trapped in the cold and desperate abyss created by "No Longer Human", suddenly woke up. The cold beads of sweat that inexplicably seeped out of the tip of her nose slid down and dripped onto the manuscript with a plop.
"Ah?" Saito Reina looked up, blankly looking at Kitagawa Hidekazu, the deputy director of the contract department. After a long while, she came back to her senses and murmured, "Kitagawa, have you signed the contract?"
"Yeah, I called you several times just now but you didn't respond. Are you okay, Saito? Are you feeling unwell?" Seeing that her face was pale and her expression was a little dull, Kitagawa Hide quickly sat down and asked.
"I, I'm fine." Saito Reina quickly reached out and wiped the sweat off the tip of her nose. With Kitagawa Hide and the other person present, she couldn't take out her makeup box to touch up her makeup. She lowered her head and first glanced at "No Longer Human", then whispered,
"This book is too depressing for me. I feel a little uncomfortable reading it."
"Well, maybe after you finish watching it all and think back on it, you will feel better." Kitagawa Hide inexplicably remembered the scene when he first watched "No Longer Human". His reaction at that time was exactly the same as Saito Rena's.
I remember it was after he failed a mock exam in his senior year of high school. He suddenly felt as if several huge rocks were pressing on his chest, suffocating and unable to breathe, so he lied about being sick and asked for half a day off.
He did not stay in the school infirmary that half day, but walked aimlessly in the campus. As he walked, he unknowingly arrived at the school's dairy that sold milk.
There were several such dairy houses in the high school that Kitagawa Hide attended in his previous life. They were usually opened by relatives of the school leaders. They not only sold yogurt, but also cold hamburgers that cost five yuan each, as well as a lot of magazines such as "Xiaoshuohui", "Zuixin Xiaoshuo", "Science Fiction World", and occasionally some pirated books.
It was that afternoon that he came across a novel that would change his life.
The name of the novel is "No Longer Human".
He only read half of the book in one afternoon and was almost exhausted.
It’s not that this novel has great magic, but that the protagonist, Oba Ezo, is too much like himself, or it can be said that Oba Ezo is every one of us who has been squeezed by life and society, has lost ourselves, lost our souls, and can only use clown-like flattering behavior to blend in with the crowd.
We are all what Ye Zang calls "people of the world". We are also cowardly, weird, timid and cunning.
We are ordinary people. For us, it is difficult to survive, and the things that support our lives can only be given by the people around us.
Just watching the first part of "No Longer Human", the feeling of suffocation will surge over your body like a tide, especially for those who are confused, chaotic, desperate, and helpless, they will feel more depressed and uncomfortable.
It's like a drowning person stretching out his hand with all his strength, only to find that the water above his head is still far away.
But if you read it all, from the preface to the postscript, plus the preface and the postscript specially added by Hide Kitagawa, readers will definitely be able to appreciate the prototype character Takuya Yanjing's small, sad but heroic life, and thus gain his own spiritual salvation.
This novel depicts a person whose "heart is toward light, but who goes all the way to darkness."
It shows the entire mental journey of a sober person on the road to depravity.
It is a cruel novel to the extreme.
But every word also tells the public that we are "Oba Yozo", but we can choose not to be "Oba Yozo".
"Have you finished reading it all?" Saito Reina stroked the manuscript lightly with her fingers, took a deep breath and suddenly stood up, "Anyway, I think I know why you, Kitagawa, asked not to serialize it and insisted on publishing a single volume. As for this manuscript, I have to take it to everyone in the editorial department for in-depth discussion. Would you like to join us?"
"Uh" Kitagawa Hide hesitated.
Although the basis of this book is mostly from Dazai Osamu's original novel, it also contains some of his own adaptations, as well as some of Takuya Iwao's real life experiences, allowing him to review what he wrote together with professional editors.
It's a bit shameful.
However, Kitagawa Hide thought about it carefully and decided to take this opportunity to see how professionals work, so he nodded and agreed: "Okay. But I won't participate in your professional discussion."
"Let's go now!" Saito Rena picked up the manuscript and bowed slightly to the still confused Deputy Director of the Contract Department, then led Kitagawa Hide to the editorial office on the sixth floor.
She is full of enthusiasm and motivation in her job. After reading half of "No Longer Human", she became more and more certain that Kitagawa Hide's expectations for this book are definitely not as simple as making money.
There is no doubt that it satirizes society and criticizes cults.
According to what he said, the follow-up should also include the theme of self-redemption, which he is good at.
This is clearly a work that is competing for the Akutagawa Prize, Naoki Prize or Mishima Prize!
He said he didn’t care about awards, but it turns out he has such a proud side?
On the way to the editorial department, Saito Rena glanced at Kitagawa Hide's profile and smiled secretly.
She remembered what Kitagawa Hide had said when he invited her, "Let's continue to be partners, as editors and authors, and work together to win them!"
She became more and more certain of Kitagawa Hide's intentions.
He wants it! As an editor he recognizes, I must also work hard to help him achieve his goal!
The two of them came to the editorial office of "Wenyi" with their own thoughts.
As soon as he entered the editorial office, Kitagawa Hide heard a "clatter" of people standing up in the office area. Before he could react, he saw a large group of editors bowing 90 degrees to him, shouting loudly: "Warmly welcome Mr. Kitagawa to join "Wenyi"!"
This horrifying scene really frightened him. He almost thought he had entered the lair of some underworld organization, and was then treated as the returning "young master" by a group of younger brothers.
Saito Reina on the side winked at him, as if to say, "Yeah, you were almost scared, right!"
"Uh, you're welcome." Kitagawa Hide didn't know how to respond to this warm atmosphere, so he could only say a dry cliché.
"At least half of the people here are your loyal fans." Saito Reina put her hands on her hips, stood on tiptoe and whispered to him, then quickly returned to her original position and smiled at the crowd of editors, "Everyone, if you are free, please come to the conference room. I would like to hold an internal discussion meeting on the publishing plan of Mr. Kitagawa's new book."
“There is no limit on qualifications or number of people. Anyone who is free can come and participate in the discussion.”
Saito Reina added another sentence, then looked at Kitagawa Hide with a smile and said to everyone,
"Mr. Kitagawa will also be attending."
As soon as she finished speaking, more than a dozen editors immediately tidied up their workstations and picked up pens and papers, ready to go. Beichuan Xiu couldn't help but roll his eyes at her. This kind of internal discussion meeting usually only provides a small part of the manuscripts to other editors. This is clearly a deliberate attempt to lure them into a trap!
I didn't expect that my editor could be so naughty.
He could only pray silently for those editors of "Wenyi" who were so excited but didn't know what fate would come to them.
The aftertaste of "No Longer Human" in the beginning is quite strong. I hope they are all right in a while.
Just like that, Kitagawa Hide was surrounded by a group of people and walked into the conference room, bombarded with words like "Teacher Kitagawa is so handsome!", "Teacher Kitagawa, can you sign an autograph for me?", "Teacher Kitagawa, are you dating someone?"
Rena Saito's assistant printed dozens of copies of Takuya Iwao's suicide note, as well as a preface and foreword totaling less than 4000 words, at the fastest speed, and distributed them to the editors who came to attend the discussion meeting one by one.
"boom!"
The door to the conference room was slammed shut.
A large white board was pushed to the center by the staff.
The capable Reina Saito walked over in her high heels, picked up a black marker and quickly wrote the title of the book on it -
"No Longer Human".
"Is this the title of the new book? Ningenshikaku. It sounds weird. Does it mean that you have lost your right to be a human being?"
"The more I read this title, the more depressing it sounds. I don't think Mr. Kitagawa's new book will be a tragic youth love story."
"Oh, no, no. The love stories in "Hear the Wind Sing" and "Ball" have already made me feel so upset. I still haven't gotten over the stories of the nine-fingered girl and the twin sisters! Mr. Kitagawa, please don't write more tragic love stories! No~"
The voices of men and women rose and fell.
These editors, who used to be serious in front of their authors, were now discussing Kitagawa Hide's new book in a low voice like fans.
After learning the title of the book, they wanted to read it but were also worried that it was a very cruel story, and they were extremely conflicted.
Kitagawa Hide, who was sitting in a corner, saw everything. For some reason, after arriving at the conference room, the editors who had been pestering him became shy instead. None of them dared to approach him, let alone sit next to him, which created a strange "no man's land" next to Kitagawa Hide.
"Everyone, as you can see, this is the first book that Mr. Kitagawa will publish after joining our "Wenyi" magazine." Saito Rena tapped the whiteboard with a black marker, and then wrote a few words.
"The plan for the hardcover book edition has been confirmed", "a brand new culture of decadence and sadness", "an attack and criticism on the unfair capitalist society and the evil cults that do great harm to people".
The last sentence is "I am determined to win the Naoki Prize and the Akutagawa Prize!"
Kitagawa Hide, who was standing below, was watching with great interest at first, but when it came to the last sentence, his expression suddenly became strange.
He finally understood what Saito Rena had misunderstood along the way, but now it seemed impossible to explain it.
The editors in the audience began to chatter about his writing speed.
"So this is a work that is going to compete for the top new artist award. Mr. Kitagawa's output speed is really too fast."
"So the Youth Trilogy has actually been completed, right?"
"Amazing! Tomorrow I will criticize all my authors! Who says high quality cannot be high quantity? Is your quality as high as Mr. Beichuan? Mr. Beichuan can produce one book a month while maintaining such high quality! This is a truly top-notch writer!"
Kitagawa Hide was listening in the back and was not sure whether to laugh or cry. He always felt that the editors of "Wenyi" were more like energetic and passionate young people who had just graduated from college compared to those of Kodansha.
That's good too!
Such an energetic young man should not be too hit hard by "No Longer Human", right?
"The above is all the content to be discussed in this discussion. If there is no problem, please take a look at the manuscript in hand. After reading it, we can speak freely and chat casually."
Rena Saito put down the marker, returned to her seat, and continued reading the half-finished copy of No Longer Human.
The entire conference room suddenly fell silent, leaving only the sound of rustling papers.
Thanks
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(End of this chapter)