Chapter 236: The Potential of Maupassant in China
Chapter 236: The Potential of Maupassant in China
The April issue of People’s Literature is no different.
But today's content has brought a little shock to the literary world!
Even though President Jian received the sample issue sent by Gu Lu, and his family subscribed to People's Literature on an annual basis, he still bought three copies when he passed by the newsstand and took them to the editorial office.
The president was in a good mood today. When the employees of the publishing house saw this, they thought to themselves.
After dialing an old friend, President Jian flicked the corner of the book with his fingers and hummed a sweet song.
After two or three rings, the other party picked up.
"Mr. Yu, are you busy?" President Jian said.
"I'm giving a speech at Tsinghua University's School of Literature. If you have anything to say, please tell me now."
The background noise on the other end of the phone was indeed quite noisy.
"Is there something serious? Then why are you answering the phone?" President Jian said immediately.
The fact that he was able to give a speech at Tsinghua University shows that Yu Xinyao is the country's top literary critic, and I am not bragging.
"…I thought you had something urgent."
"Not really. You give your speech first." President Jian still knew the priorities of things. He called just to show off.
"Tell me something!"
Why does my friend's voice sound a bit gnashing of teeth?
President Jian mysteriously asked Yu Xinyao to read the latest issue of "People's Literature".
Look at Yu Xinyao here——
"Teacher Yu, is it ok?" Office administrator Mr. Qi asked respectfully.
"Okay, nothing more." Yu Xinyao put away his phone.
The content of his speech today was "European and American Literature from an External Perspective", and the auditorium was packed.
The reason for today's speech is Yu Xinyao's "Yu Shi: A Cultural History of Europe and America". The work has achieved great success in Europe and America, so Tsinghua invited him.
"European and American literature is heavily influenced by Greece. Shelley wrote the play Prometheus Unbound, which changed the ending. The original myth with vivid colors became the focus of eliminating the evil class in society. We..."
The speech was a success.
The students benefited a lot.
The school is happy.
Yu Xinyao was tired. He did not go to the bookstore to buy magazines but took the bus home.
In the red newspaper box on the right side of the door, there were several freshly published magazines, including the "People's Literature" that Lao Jian asked him to buy quickly.
Once you order, you cannot spend more money to buy it again.
As soon as he returned to the room, he started rolling tobacco. He picked up the wooden pipe, puffed and exhaled, and white smoke filled the air.
He likes to read under the strong smell of cigarettes.
However, the smell of unprocessed tobacco is too strong, so Yu Xinyao only smokes it at home.
Just read the main text. The editor's recommendation is similar to the preface of a novel, and Yu Xinyao won't read it.
However, as he glanced over, he caught a glimpse of a familiar name.
Illusion? Not sure. Look again. Yu Xinyao turned back.
[Foreword
Xuande furnace is a prop in this novel. It is interspersed in the experiences of many characters, and the fate of many people is written together. Xuande furnace has the meaning of witnessing fate. In "Xuande Furnace", Xu Dingkuan's family, who are in adversity, have their own attitudes towards life and their own endings in life, but they are fighting against fate at the same time. "Live well", although the words are extremely simple, but they are their heart-wrenching life experience.
Obviously, we cannot easily define Gu Lu's "New Meaning of Liaozhai Series" as "a copycat work of Liaozhai Zhiyi". It injects modern consciousness into the ancient version of Liaozhai, integrates traditional and modern perspectives, subverts and reconstructs from a new height, and makes the novel form a wonderful structural force. The narrative of the work does not have any traces of deliberate showmanship, it is complex and clear as the heart, and calmly tells the perception of the world.
"Double Lamps" and "Rui Yun" are sufficient texts for study in writing classes in terms of narrative folds and development techniques, narrative voice and tension control, etc.
... (Omitted 300 to 400 words)
--editor]
The first volumes of People's Literature are all named after famous people, such as Zhang Ce, the author of "Xuan De Furnace".
Yu Xinyao knew that the author of "Bloody Kite" had written a series of wordless detective novels.
Of course, Yu Xinyao doesn't know much about popular novels. He is familiar with Zhang Ce because Zhang Ce is the deputy editor-in-chief of "Golden Shield"!
Golden Shield is the official magazine of the Beijing Public Security Bureau...
But it was definitely not Zhang Ce who attracted Yu Xinyao, but "Gu Lu? Is it the Gu Lu I know? Gu Lu's article was published in People's Literature?"
President Jian used his connections to push Gu Lu up? Yu Xinyao's first reaction.
Very quickly, Yu Xinyao put this idea to rest.
Although my old friend is half businessman and half intellectual, he would not do such a thing. Yu Xinyao, who has known him for many years, understands this.
That is, the real stuff? And the three or four works mentioned at the beginning of the volume are the special recommendations of this issue.
It is a text that can be used as a study text in writing classes, and the editor's evaluation is basically excellent.
"This... Gu Lu?"
Let’s read the articles first. Yu Xinyao changed his habit of reading in order and jumped directly to Gu Lu’s two articles.
The combined words of "Double Lamps" and "Rui Yun" are less than 30,000 words, and you can finish them quickly even if you read them carefully.
"It goes down the throat smoothly and doesn't hurt the throat at all." As he said this, Yu Xinyao was choked by the tobacco and coughed twice.
What Yu Xinyao wanted to express was new wine in old bottles, but this new wine was well brewed.
Ruiyun is particularly ironic, as he changes the theme of the article drastically with just a few words.
After the ink stains on the face of the famous prostitute Ruiyun disappeared, the official Hesheng felt uncomfortable and disliked it.
[He Sheng was not as concerned as Rui Yun. He was not used to the bright candlelight and the rosy face. He felt as if he had lost something.
Ruiyun felt that his caress was not as gentle and sincere as usual. She sat up and asked softly:
"What's wrong?"]
An abrupt end, just the right amount!
"Is it that He Sheng feels that he is not worthy of Ruiyun and prefers the ink-stained Ruiyun, or is it that He Sheng just likes ugliness? Gu Lu is very good at changing the open ending." Yu Xinyao praised.
"Who wrote this review?" Yu Xinyao disagreed with the statement 'it is sufficient to be used as a study text in writing class', because without certain writing skills, one would not learn anything from reading these two articles, as they are too profound.
Just like the word “as if something is lost” in Ruiyun’s last paragraph, this is not a common word, and its meaning is: as if something is lost.
But this one word is more appropriate than words like "distraught", "empty", "sad", etc. It's wonderful. If you don't believe it, read it again in conjunction with the plot. It's very delicate and not suitable for beginners.
Yu Xinyao put his cigarette holder on the ashtray and immediately called President Jian.
The other party quickly answered the call——
"How is it? Xiao Gu didn't hurt Zhongyong, right?" This was the first thing President Jian said.
This was a bit embarrassing for the previous speech at East China Normal University, but Yu Xinyao was actually happy inside.
"He is really a genius in writing short stories," Yu Xinyao said, "From "Double Lamps" and "Ruiyun", we can see that he has a very sophisticated grasp of words. I am comparing this sophistication with the articles published in People's Literature." "To be more specific -" Yu Xinyao seemed to suddenly remember something, "Gu Lu's Little Prince seems to be more like a collection of short stories."
"Let Gu Lu develop more in short stories," Yu Xinyao suggested. "Gu Lu may become the Maupassant of China in the future."
"Ahem, Old Yu, this is quite a big turn, from Fang Zhongyong to Maupassant." President Jian coughed twice.
"Because I've seen his control over words, what was the name of his previous novel?" Yu Xinyao continued after his old friend reminded him, "Oh, yes, it's "Hyouka", one is on the ground and the other is on the moon."
"In fact, Xiao Gu is quite good at writing novels. He recently wrote another novel, which is very exciting." President Jian was referring to "Flatland", which he had just read a few days ago.
"Oh?" Yu Xinyao asked, "How does your talent for writing long stories compare to your talent for writing short stories?"
"That's definitely not the case." President Jian responded straightforwardly. In his mind, one was a world-class talent, the other was a provincial-level talent, there was a huge gap between them.
It's no wonder they think so. Currently, Gu Lu's novels include "Mr. Holmes", "Hyoka", and "The Little Prince". The "The Little Prince" is actually a novella. Mr. Holmes has a strong translation accent, so I won't mention the writing style. How good are the rest?
"I will urge Xiao Gu to develop his short stories and not waste his talent," said President Jian.
Yu Xinyao heard the response she wanted to hear and was about to hang up the phone, "I have something else to do, so I'll hang up first."
"So urgent...Are you going to write a review?" asked President Jian.
"Of course, if it's not written well, you should criticize it, and if it's written well, you should praise it." After saying that, Yu Xinyao hung up.
All that remained in President Jian's ears was the busy tone.
After hanging up the phone, President Jian also sighed, "An author's writing thread is a line, which must have ups and downs, but Xiao Gu's thread... gives me a sense of restart."
It’s like if the writing is not good this time, it doesn’t matter, we can turn off the computer and start again.
To be honest, if President Jian had not watched Gu Lu grow up and knew that Gu Lu was deeply knowledgeable about Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, it would be hard to believe that Bingguo and Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio were created by the same writer.
The sensation caused by "People's Literature" on the Internet was not as exaggerated as when the article "Science Fiction World" was published.
The reason is simple, because the discussion of people's literature requires a certain threshold.
It's like, why is it that every year in the college entrance examination, only the college entrance examination essay and reading comprehension cause a sensation?
For other subjects, if I don’t understand, I really don’t understand.
But the sensation it caused in the writer circle was quite huge!
How exaggerated was it? Newspapers such as Literary Gazette, Sichuan Literature, Magic City Literature, and Tianjin Fiction News all wanted to interview Gu Lu.
The big pie called "fame" is falling...
"Look up."
"What are you looking at? There's no plane flying over there."
"Today is a rare sunny day. You can enjoy some sun while we are getting moldy."
"so what?"
"We have such a good relationship, so I'll let you enjoy the sun. You can take out the garbage at noon."
Gu Lu is using "talking skills", but the other party is determined and the talk skills fail!
"If you are given this opportunity, do you want it?" Qi Caiwei asked back, "If we want to go, let's go together. This is called sharing happiness and sharing difficulties!"
Damn it! Why aren't high school girls nowadays naive? Gu Lu and Qi Caiwei discussed and decided to each take a section of the road.
When Qi Caiwei took it away, Gu Lu took it back.
"Don't say I didn't take care of you. When you come back there's nothing in the trash can, so be careful." Qi Caiwei said.
Such a familiar scene... Gu Lu fell into memories - good memories failed and he couldn't remember it.
"How is your dance learning going?" Gu Lu asked, "You didn't come to school on Wednesday. Can you make up for the huge cost you paid?"
"Master!" Qi Caiwei suddenly changed the address.
Qi Caiwei only calls Gu Lu "Master" when he helps her with book reviews. Just like Gu Lu only calls him "Master" when he is taught math problems, and usually calls him "CC".
The two of them are conjugate masters.
"You said." Gu Lu said.
"Although most of the time I feel that you are very reliable, and your thoughts are more mature than ours, but sometimes, I always feel that you have too much of an adult aura."
Qi Caiwei paused and said, "When they ask, they ask about the future, what plans they have for themselves, or whether they can earn back what they have invested."
Uh - Gu Lu opened his mouth to refute, but then he realized that what Qi Caiwei said seemed to make sense.
"That..." Gu Lu still wanted to explain.
"After thinking about it, it seems that my male elders all like to preach." Qi Caiwei said, "Isn't this a common point?"
There is a saying that goes, men like to do two things: saving girls who have fallen, and helping girls who have fallen.
"Haha, but Master, you are different from them." Qi Caiwei interrupted Gu Lu's explanation.
"Because Master, you particularly respect my opinion, I can see that. Besides, I am happy to let Master Gu guide me." Qi Caiwei said with a smile, and then ran away.
"Wait CC" "Don't go" The more Gu Lu shouted from behind, the faster Qi Caiwei ran, and in the blink of an eye her figure disappeared at the end of the corridor.
Hey! We clearly agreed that you were the one to take out the trash with the trash can. Gu Lu looked at the basket full of trash in his hand.
"..." The speechless Gu Lu suddenly laughed, because it was not bad to help others take out the trash occasionally!
Being a monitor is boring, but it is not tiring when men and women work together.
From sunrise to sunset, facing the end of school.
"I haven't had a rest for a long time. I've almost finished the things I have on hand, so I'll take a break for two days." Gu Lu thought in the afternoon.
The orange sunset has gilded the students by the window, and some students even used their hands to feel the boundaries of the beam of light.
It feels like time is passing a little slowly. Why doesn’t two years just fly by so fast that Gu Lu will be eighteen years old, and then he can develop "The Little Prince" and expand the entertainment sector!
Why did he suddenly think so? Because yesterday another company came to him to discuss cooperation, and the requirements they put forward were also very good.
Due to his age, Gu Lu still refused.
"National treasure, please call me when the teacher comes. I'm going to take a nap first." Wei Jiao said, and fell asleep on her stomach the next second.
The political teacher asked the students to study on their own first, and he left for a while.
You went out to steal chickens at night, are you so tired? Gu Lu thought about it and it seemed that all the students in Class 10 were very tired.
Ever since Wei Jiao said that he would "become a national treasure after defeating Gu Lu", she has been calling him that.
"It will only be hard for these three years, and everything will be fine once we get into college." Many students have been instilled with this idea.
The politics teacher didn't come back until the bell rang for the end of get out of class.
He takes the lead!
You weren't here in the morning, so you should be here in the afternoon.
Gu Lu took the People's Literature and walked towards Director Hu's office. To be honest, he was a country boy, but he loved to see the surprise in Director Hu's little eyes.
King Gollum’s happiness is that simple.
(End of this chapter)