Chapter 331 Mr. Holmes Explodes!

Chapter 331 Mr. Holmes Explodes!

Chapter 331 Mr. Holmes Explodes!

If the door is not opened, Godie will not be able to hold on.

Fuck, who must be a stupid clerk with an underdeveloped cerebellum and left arm, went to the bar again yesterday.

Gaudet considered himself a gentleman, so he would never say anything slanderous.

The legendary British gentleman also shares a principle with lazy people: the principle of proximity. Therefore, even if there is a better and more comprehensive bookstore a few hundred meters ahead, Gaudet will not choose it.

The shop opened more than ten minutes later than usual, and the stupid clerk didn't look stupid, wearing a black baseball cap of Waterstone's with a big "W" sewn in the middle of the cap. I unlocked the door, put out the sign, and carefully pushed the bookshelf at the door to where it should be.

As the largest bookstore chain in the UK, Waterstones has a permanent license in London and public liability insurance, so bookshelves can be placed in the open space outside the store.

The movements were so slow that Godie couldn't wait to help, although he didn't.

If the clerk is not wearing clothes, you can see that his right hand looks like a shrunken loofah. Compared with his working left hand, it is like a baby's arm inserted into his arm, with basically zero labor force.

Another twenty minutes passed, and Gaudio tightly closed his lips. He might be thinking that he should have gone to the cafe to have breakfast earlier, and he was madly scolding the Chinese writer Gu Lu and the clerk in front of him in his heart. Because Gaudio sometimes had a gloomy face, and sometimes stared at the clerk with strong dissatisfaction.

The other two female bookstore clerks arrived late.

"A copy of Mr. Holmes." Gaudi took off his hat and picked up his target from the new book recommendation shelf in the center of the bookstore. It was heavier than a sandwich and more expensive than tea.

Earl Grey tea only costs £4, but now he has to spend £8 on this book that he is not satisfied with at first sight.

Why was Gaudet dissatisfied before he even read it? Because the cover showed a silhouette of Holmes wearing a top hat, not the familiar deerstalker hat.

Puffin Books wanted to hire a new artist to design the cover and illustrations, but Gu Lu asked to keep them as they were. Thinking that The Little Prince would be similar, the Puffin Books editor agreed.

The difference is a little big. The Little Prince was created by Gu Lu himself, while Mr. Holmes was painted by a hired painter called "Chicken Without Hair". Mr. Chicken - oh no, that's not polite. Mr. Chicken Without Hair probably never thought that he could get money from overseas for his paintings.

"Sir, would you like to buy a set meal?" the clerk asked. "The set meal is 11 pounds and comes with a bookmark of the work."

The "stupid" clerk took out bookmarks, one of which had a plant pattern (Acorus calamus), and the other three had distinctive Sherlock Holmes patterns.

"No, thank you." No wonder he can only be a bookstore clerk. It's like this all his life, and he doesn't know how to think at all. Gaudi kept a smile on his face, but he was very dissatisfied in his heart.

Holding the book, Godet decided to give his stomach a break.

When he finds the loopholes in his work, just imagine how good his appetite will be!
With the book tucked under his arm, Gaudi put on his hat and left the bookstore. As he left, he vaguely heard, "I heard that a second Sherlock Holmes work by a Chinese writer is on the market today. Do you have any?"

Godie even felt that the people behind him were hostile to him, so he had no choice but to quicken his pace.

Maybe because he didn't have breakfast and was feeling hungry, Godet started to have all kinds of thoughts.

After returning home, the hungry Godet couldn't wait to open "Mr. Sherlock Holmes" as if he wanted to devour the book alive.

[Thank you, ZhangYuDong, for gifting me "The Sign of Four", It has allowed me to experience the charm of Sherlock Holmes once again.]
Who is zhangyudong? Never mind, he has more important things to do.

I have retold Mr. Holmes’ plot many times before, so I will omit it here, but it is worth mentioning that a true old Londoner’s perspective on this book is very different.

The opening of the book attracted Gaudet's attention. As mentioned earlier, he embarked on the path of writing because of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", as do many mystery writers in Europe and the United States.

Therefore, Godie has been particularly familiar with Sherlock Holmes since junior high school. In his mind, Sherlock Holmes is a god, and even the Napoleon of the criminal world, "Professor Moriarty", is no match for him.

Even if he fell into the abyss from the Reichenbach Falls, he could still come back disguised as an old man selling books.

But the Holmes in this book——

"How can Holmes be old? At that time, I was..."

At that time, Godie realized that even he, who was reading, seemed to have grown up.

So why can't Sherlock Holmes grow old?
It seems that Holmes is still brave enough to fight against everything as always, but this time his opponent is aging and Alzheimer's disease.

It was as if someone had struck a few bangs in Godie's heart, making him feel a little uneasy. The last time he had a similar feeling was when the toad he had raised for a long time died.

To use an analogy that is easier for our Chinese friends to understand, Doraemon is broken and Nobita died of old age.

Before watching the film, Godie's mind was full of thoughts on how to find loopholes in the scheme and the case. He never expected that this sinister Chinese man would play the emotional card!

Gaudet continued to read -

"Most importantly, it was a privilege to spend my youth with a man who could detect the thrill in the most mundane cases and who could tolerate my hot temper and many eccentricities with his humor, patience and loyalty."

"But in any case, Holmes has always regarded Watson as someone closer than his own family, so his sudden death, coupled with the recent departure of Mrs. Hudson, made Holmes feel that a door had slammed shut in front of him, locking in everything that had shaped his life in the past."

“To feel someone’s absence is, in a way, to feel their presence.”

……

Holmes died alone. Watson, his brother and the landlady all died.

After reading the novel of more than 100,000 words, Gaudio shed tears. Perhaps it was for Sherlock Holmes, or perhaps it was for his childhood self.

But this guy was like someone who had learned the Sichuan Opera's unique face-changing skills. He was sad one second and glared at me the next!

"How could a Chinese writer write such a work?"

Look closely, this man is called Godie, and his expression seems to be saying: Are you cheating?
Very good, Gaudi has even less appetite. Tell me whether it saves money or not. He is not hungry anymore.

To the British, Sherlock Holmes is not a fictional character. Various organizations have awarded him honorary titles, which is the pinnacle of fictional characters.

It's an interesting fact that everyone knows that Conan Doyle wanted to kill Sherlock Holmes because serial writing was too painful (The Final Problem), but the readers' objections were too great, so he had to return to the original (The Empty House).

Mr. Sherlock Holmes is only a minor hit in China, and even the aging of Mr. Holmes is only slightly touching, but in Britain...

"Fuck, you stupid, stinky, disgusting bitch, how come you can write so well?" Godie is depressed and has to go to her boyfriend's house to calm down.

I knocked on the door and waited for a long time before my boyfriend opened it. His eyes were red.

The two looked at each other for a long time before they said, "You saw it too?"

"you also?"

Godet's boyfriend is a die-hard mystery novel fan, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to succeed so quickly.

London tonight belongs to Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and Britain tonight belongs to the elderly Sherlock Holmes.

That scene was only possible because Gu Lu refused to come to London to hold another book signing event for "Mr. Holmes".

"In the left hand, the Weymouth series sanctions Kane, and in the right hand, Holmes, who is over 90 years old, sanctions us."

"I declare that he is the foreigner who understands Sherlock Holmes best."

"The red wine is spilled all over the floor. I just had an argument with my wife."

"At the Mountains of Madness is so desperate and crazy. Mr. Holmes is so elegant and beautiful. Are they really written by the same author?"

"Oh my god, this is crazy, really crazy. I have read many spin-offs of Sherlock Holmes, but I actually think this one written by a Chinese is the best! Can someone kick my ass hard and wake me up?"

"I am very grateful for this work, which puts a perfect end to Sherlock Holmes. I also thank Mr. Zhang Yudong, who was thanked on the title page, for "The Signature of Four."

The word of mouth is overwhelming.

The spread is rapid.

On Earth, Tricks of the Mind sold over a million copies in the UK (ranking second in the year), and the momentum of Parallel World was slightly weaker, but still around 80-90%, because Puffin Books had good early publicity.

The people who cursed and didn't believe that Gu Lu could write well have made a big reversal. Although the British forums are not popular with such free-for-all behaviors as "If he xx, I'll chop off his mouth" and "If xx, I'll eat the defense", there are also more abstract remarks, which are the same for netizens all over the world. Just think about the fact that 80% of the milk jokes were invented by British netizens.

[I can already foresee that Mr. Holmes will fail, just like I am sure that my daughter is my own], [We have the Golden Dagger Award, we have Agatha, Anthony, Josephine, what does China have? How could we lose?], [Yesterday I received God's will, He told me that if Mr. Holmes is good, I will go to hell.] and other messages.

It's a slap in the face, although many readers still argue after reading it, pointing out that the reasoning elements of this book are simply insufficient.

But what most people think is good is universally good, and the hot sales of "Mr. Holmes" prove everything.

In just two days, it jumped to the top of the Nielsen Book Weekly List.

On the third day, according to the news on the BBC website, "Chinese writer Gu Lu's new work, Mr. Holmes, has become the most popular work in the book market today. Because of its existence, wives' housework has become twice as tedious."

Why is a novel related to housekeeping?

Next is a street interview.

The person being interviewed was a housewife, and a typical full-time housewife.

"Jerry read that book (Mr. Holmes) and likes to spill red wine on the floor when he drinks it. If you don't clean it immediately, it will be very difficult to clean up later." said the full-time woman.

The scene switches back to the expert that the BBC is looking for, a professor at the Institute of Asian Cultures. The professor responds: "The Chinese have a special word to describe the action of pouring wine on the ground, called leijiu (pouring wine). This is because Chinese culture maintains the habit of respecting heaven and earth. The wine pouring represents the earth, and people look up at the sky. In this way, between heaven and earth, they can communicate with any deceased things, such as ancestors, such as gods."

"Oh, so Holmes wants to communicate with Watson and many dead people." The host suddenly joked, "This sounds like a satanic ritual."

“Please do not easily belittle a country’s culture that has been passed down for thousands of years.” The professor from the Institute of Asian Cultures did not join in the joke, but instead stopped it seriously.

This shows that this professor is quite capable, because if you want to study the civilization of a region, you can only gain something if you have a respectful attitude.

Well, that's not the point.

The point is that with the hot sales of "Mr. Holmes", pouring wine has become popular in a small range in the UK.

Why? Didn't I say it at the beginning? Gentlemen and lazy people have the same habits.

The traditional way of paying respect to the deceased in European and American countries is to go to church after the funeral and pray and read scriptures under the guidance of a pastor. Or simply hold a memorial service organized by relatives and friends. However, these actions have time limits and require multiple people to complete.

If you are alone, you can only go to the cemetery and place a bouquet of flowers.

For example, if a husband suddenly thinks of his deceased wife while eating, it would take too much time to rush to the cemetery. However, pouring a glass of red wine is enough to express the feelings in his heart.

When the author on Earth wrote about the Neon people using stones to commemorate the dead, the work became popular in a small area as it sold well. The Hollywood adaptation of the movie was released, and it spread to all of Europe. The structure of European houses has a small courtyard, which is convenient for placing stones. Of course, it is more convenient to pour wine...

Gu Lu hadn't thought about this at all when he was modifying this small detail.

Is this considered cultural export?
"Congratulations, Mr. Tom. Your author has become a big hit in the UK," said Portman, editor-in-chief of Puffin Books. "I have a bottle of very good champagne for Mr. Tom to celebrate."

"Mr. Portman, do you want to reprint the work a second time?" Yao Xiaoju saw through the nature of congratulations.

"Of course, I thought that people wouldn't be so crazy about Sherlock Holmes after more than a hundred years," Portman said. "I didn't expect it would still have such a huge market."

It is precisely because of the accumulation of more than a hundred years that Sherlock Holmes has become a household name in Britain, which has led to such a miracle. But Yao Xiaoju said something else, "Gu Lu likes Sherlock Holmes very much, so he created this work very carefully. Careful creations always resonate with people."

"Of course," Portman said, "The second print run will be 10 copies. I congratulate Mr. Gu Lu again for becoming a best-selling author in the UK."

The Little Prince has only sold about 10 copies cumulatively, while Mr. Holmes had an initial print run of copies and a further print run of , which is enough to prove that Puffin Books has great confidence in this book.

Yao Xiaoju hung up the phone. "In the past, the people who contacted me were editors and deputy editors-in-chief, but today it was the editor-in-chief who called me directly. Capitalism is really as realistic as before, it hasn't changed at all."

After saying this, Yao Xiaoju felt really dumbfounded. How could capitalism become better? The only possibility was that other isms could turn into capitalism.

"The differences in culture and history between countries have a huge impact on book sales." Yao Xiaoju once again experienced this personally.

It is a small hit in China, with a strong atmosphere of Japanese mystery, but some people would rather publish fairy tales and science fiction works than read this book. There is a big difference.

Even though "Mr. Holmes" is selling well, some people are unhappy.

For example, Kane, who was secretly planning something, originally thought that he would see Gu Lu fall, but...what's the point of all the good reviews?
Look at the largest forum for mystery writing in the UK, the Deductive Mystery Forum.

[I apologize to Mr. Gu Lu. Although Mr. Holmes is not a good mystery work, it is definitely a good Sherlock Holmes derivative work. I like it very much], [Dear Gu Lu, I was wrong, I was really wrong. I shouldn’t doubt the creative ability of a genius, just like I don’t need to doubt the evil of Weymouth], [I really want to say against my will that this is not a good work, but I can’t. Any reader who likes Sherlock Holmes will not reject it. It is the most perfect ending. It allows me to see a different Sherlock Holmes]…

"A bunch of dogs who bark when given a bone!" Kane did not give up and looked for the leader.

That’s right, it was Gaudi who fired the first shot in the “counterattack against Chinese talents”.

So far, Gaudi's account on the forum has not posted anything, and there are no new comments in the newspapers.

"Gaudet is a writer, he certainly can't have that much time. He needs to create, so the criticism of Mr. Holmes will definitely have to wait for a while."

He believed that Godie would be able to continue charging, and Kane thought that he had no problem playing as a supporting role.

Come on Gordie.

Come on, Dae-young's only hope!
We have talked about a lot of stories about "lazy people" abroad, now let's talk about the lazy man in China, King Guru.

It can’t be said that I’m lazy, I just stay in the bedroom and don’t want to move.

"Gu Lu, Gu Lu, look at you, you don't have the skills, why do you take on this job?" King Guru was criticizing Gu Lu.

Under Professor Xiahou's solemn request, Gu Lu still agreed. Because he remembered that there was an article in "When the Stars of Humanity Shine" that seemed to be about Norway. This is why he subconsciously left clues when talking to members a few days ago. It is normal for him to be interested in the Norwegian language and Norway and write works.

King Gollum scratched his head and thought, why not wait a little longer? There are still several months before the deadline, so there is no need to rush.

Is the article "The Battle for Antarctica" in "When Humanity Stars Shine" awesome? Of course it is awesome, and it is even one of the two most exciting articles in "When Humanity Stars Shine".

The direct evidence is that three years later (2016), the excerpted version was renamed "The Great Tragedy" and was included in the People's Education Press's Chinese textbook for seventh graders. Those born after and may have an impression of it.

The story told in this article is also simple. The Norwegian Amundsen team and the British Scott team were both preparing to conquer the South Pole, and the winner was the Norwegian Amundsen!
But you see, the Chinese version was renamed "The Great Tragedy", with the protagonist being the failed Scott team. Indeed, 90% of the original text is about Scott. Didn't Norwegian Amundsen, the first person to reach the South Pole, become a supporting role?
The key is to write for Norwegian cultural exchange, not for the UK, don’t get it wrong!

Wait, something seems wrong...

Zweig was not British, and his writing language was German. There was no need for him to use the British to step on the Norwegians.

Gu Lu, who has learned a lot of knowledge, if I remember correctly, the original name of this chapter is "der kampf um den südpol". The German direct translation is "Battle of Antarctica", and the winner is the Norwegians.

Gu Lu read it again in his mind and found the problem. The theme of the excerpt of the textbook "The Great Tragedy" (more than 3,000 words) and the translated version of the full text (more than 10,000 words) were quite different.

"I said that Zweig is a literary giant after all, so this shouldn't happen." Gu Lu murmured.

How does he judge whether a writer is a literary giant? His works are included in textbooks in more than one country and translated into many languages, so students in most countries know his representative works.

If you understand "The Battle for Antarctica", you will definitely be able to write articles!

"Bang bang—"

His thoughts were interrupted, Gu Lu suddenly raised his head and looked outside, there was a knock on the door.

Although the new house has a doorbell, visitors still choose the most primitive way of knocking on the door.

Could it be that Jiayu forgot to bring her keys? That wasn't right. In the entire Wudu No. 8 Middle School, he was the only student who could get home at around 6 or 7 in the evening.

The person looked far away through the cat's eyes. It was Professor Xiahou who had not been seen for a few days.

"Professor." Gu Lu led people into the house. Strictly speaking, Professor Xiahou was the first guest to come to the new home.

Why haven’t you returned to Shanghai yet? You’ve been in Shanghai for so many days. Is the professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University so idle?

(End of this chapter)