Chapter 465 Strange

Chapter 465 Strange

Chapter 465 Strange

Napoleon?
A name that Professor Da did not expect. He listened quietly. Please start your performance.

"As the teacher just said, Balzac has many works that we are still familiar with today, such as "Eugénie Grandet", "Old Goriot", and "Uncle Bons".

“I believe most of the students also know that these works are actually one chapter of the masterpiece ‘Human Comedy’.”

The students all nodded. They chose Professor Xiuda's course, so they knew some basics. It was even said that Balzac wrote two works in his lifetime, The Human Comedy and The Moral Code of Love and Marriage, totaling more than 2.2 million words.

"Napoleon conquered Europe with a sword, but he used his pen, and he did so consistently over decades of his writing career, and it can even be said that it dominated his life, passion, and all his energy to achieve this goal."

"My comparison is not without purpose. Balzac placed a statue of Napoleon in his study that was about the height of a barrel, and wrote [What he left unfinished with his sword, I shall complete with my pen], which can still be seen in his former residence today."

The searching look in their eyes dissipated a lot, and the students began to listen carefully instead of just looking at the "celebrities".

"So what did he pay for? He forgot about reality and immersed himself in building the world. He drank forty or fifty cups of super strong Turkish black coffee every day, using coffee to stimulate his nerves so that his body could write for eighteen hours a day."

"In today's terms, Balzac is a natural born writer."

The students were amazed. That was really amazing! Some even thought, wouldn’t drinking so much coffee cause caffeine poisoning?
"Balzac's army is made up of two or three thousand people, created from nothing," said Gu Lu. "The literary world is like the pinnacle of the world. There are no reserved seats. If you want to succeed, everyone must occupy the orator's podium."

"How did he take it? By forging into a weapon the metal called writing ability—a metal that is hard and flexible, like steel."

"Balzac gathered together an army of two or three thousand men who took up arms. The protagonists in his works all have the characteristic of insatiable desires. Gobsek in The Usurer, old Grandet in Eugenie Grandet, and Nucingen, etc., all desire to possess everything. In the romantic literary world, Balzac's army became a pile of crazy explosives."

"This is why Balzac is so great. He was the first to shout to the romantic writers: 'The tragedy of my bourgeoisie is more tragic than yours.' His destruction and contribution to French literature are difficult to express in words, but now he deserves the reputation of the father of modern French novels."

How do you tell a writer's opinion and make it exciting?
It's more like Bo Ran! Many students had no interest in this 19th century French writer, but after hearing this, they wanted to go and take a look.

"The internal struggle of French literature in the 19th century was no less intense than Napoleon's battles on the battlefield."

Gu Lu paused, as if he had no words to say. It was time to end.

He concluded, "So for readers interested in French literature, Balzac is not a recommended work, but a must-read. It includes scenes of private life, provincial life, Paris life, political life, and even Philosophical Studies. Balzac constructed an era with words, so I would like to call it the French Along the River During the Qingming Festival!"

The French painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival was summarized by Gu Lu himself, and the others were all comments by Zweig. Gu Lu put them together from his scattered memories after reading "The Biography of Balzac".

No one would have thought that Gu Lu's comments, which were a little personal, would become popular across Europe...

"Whoosh whoosh-"

Applause broke out in the classroom. The first person to applaud was Professor Da, and the students followed suit.

Such a familiar writing style. Professor Da translated "Overnight Genius" and it feels exactly the same.

It seems that Gu Lu has a fixed formula for his narrative approach to "historical figures", which is to dig out the "momentary shining points" and magnify them in his writing.

No wonder the French and Spanish like it, it's quite shocking.

"Very good, Gu Lu, your opinion on Balzac can be used as the preface to The Human Comedy," Professor Da said, "If there is a new project to publish The Human Comedy in the future, I will definitely use it."

There are no spoilers, yet it can still attract readers' interest.

Some students think this may be the difference between writers and ordinary students.

"Okay, let's continue the class..."

More than twenty minutes later, the bell rang.

Professor Da said that after class, the students swarmed around Gu Lu's seat, and it was immediately packed.

All of them need to be signed.

The students who got the autograph immediately posted it on their Moments.

Fortunately, Professor Da asked him to go to the office, which saved Gu Lu.

In the familiar office——

"Can you help me take a look at this course?" Professor Da poured a cup of tea, placed it in front of Gu Lu, and suddenly said this.

What? Gu Lu just picked up the water cup, then put it down silently.

"We are going to start a new course," Professor Da said, "French literary theory and criticism."

The course names seem similar, but the content is quite different. For example, the French culture course in the last class includes an overview of Western culture, French literary theory, linguistic methodology, novel aesthetics, etc. Professor Da also offers a French literature appreciation course, which focuses on appreciating famous works.

"The general direction of the new course is to study the development trajectory of French literature in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the summary of major schools. Just like what you, Xiao Gu, talked about in class, Romanticism." Professor Da said, "It seems that you know a lot about it, Xiao Gu. Please help me look at the course outline and see if there are any questions."

The more fundamental reason that was not said out loud was: "The French like you so much, they must have figured out the French's weakness."

It turned out that he was just doing this. Gu Lu breathed a sigh of relief and took a sip of tea. To be honest, Gu Lu was not worried that someone would find him for help. The reason for his hesitation was that he was afraid that he was not capable enough.

King Guru has always been very savvy and knows that his fame comes from his golden finger. He will not put himself in a high position of knowledge and guide anyone.

Professor Da handed him a manuscript and Gu Lu looked at it quietly.

Eh? Gu Lu found that he seemed to be able to give some advice, mainly because he had done too much preparation when copying.

For example, when I was copying "Escape to God", I read Tolstoy's collection of more than 4 million words two or three times (just two or three times). Then I also read the relevant history of the 19th century in the Bear Country and the environmental conditions at that time. Because any writer is a "writer of the times" and must understand that era.

The same is true of our understanding of France.

……

At night, Gu Lu, who was stood up, returned to the apartment.

What do you mean by pigeon? Zhou Lin had agreed to have dinner with him, but something happened at the company and the dinner was cancelled.

I forgot to mention that the girl with super strength and strong mobility quickly set up her stall after getting the license issue with Gu Lu’s help.

In fact, Gu Lu really wanted to tell the girl with extraordinary strength that she didn’t need money anyway, so there was no need to work so hard…

Wait, we aren’t together yet, so I can’t say that, Gu Lu thought.

Gu Lu searched the refrigerator and found a lot of food, such as windmill beef rolls from Sam's Club and a stewed vegetable platter. "I'm not that hungry, let's make a rough plan first." Gu Lu opened his mailbox and took out his memo.

Make arrangements accordingly.

"The Borrower" published by Changjiang Publishing House will be published at the end of June, which is this week.

The TV series "The Four: Against the Cold Current" will start filming in early July (optional).

The opening ceremony of "The Wandering Earth" is also in July. Gu Lu feels that he must go because Ping Ping Country Culture Company has invested a lot of money in it.

From the New World is scheduled to be the new show in August. Gu Lu thought for a moment and sent a message to Li Minghai in the ferry district. Remember to follow the promotion in August and catch this wave of wealth.

"I'll also help promote it on Bilibili and Weibo then." Gu Lu thought to himself.

Just look at the arrangement of things, and it is enough to show what Gu Lu values ​​and what he does not value.

Ni Shui Han didn’t take it seriously, and at the premiere of “The Devotion of Suspect X” in Tokyo, Gu Lu only recorded a video of congratulations.

"It would be best if Ovi is released in July or August," Gu Lu felt that he had to hurry up.

So I turned my appetite into motivation, sat in front of the computer, and wrote for about four hours.

The results are encouraging, and Ove only has 30,000 words left to finish.

During the break, Gu Lu received a call.

"Chairman Wen, do you have something else for me?" Gu Lu answered the phone.

"Okay, okay, what exactly is it?"

"You'll know when you come. You'll understand."

During the brief conversation, Gu Lu recalled the last time when he was awarded the red flag, the other party had the same tone.

To be honest, because Gu Lu has the support of the United Front Work Department, every achievement he makes is actually fulfilled.

Gu Lu thought to himself, it seems that the country has benefited a lot from the "Three Kingdoms War" this time. Because they gave the reputation of 70+1 works. In the past, only a few people in the literary world knew that Gu Lu was valued by the government, but now everyone knows it.

It's very exaggerated. Here's a random example. The judges of the Zhuang Zhongwen Literature Award originally thought that Gu Lu would win the award this year - but now, the judges hesitated.

How should I put it? In the certified “70 years and 70 works”, the deceased respected writers are not mentioned, but the living ones are all certified by domestic awards. “+1” is listed with them, and there is also a newcomer award. Isn’t it a bit insulting?
"I feel so. For example, can we give the award to Mr. Jin Yucheng and Mr. Su Tong?" asked the judge named Zhang.

The two selected are "Flowering" and "The Story of the Yellow Bird". I feel that the reading threshold of the former is a bit high, and the whole book is in Shanghai dialect, even though the language is beautiful. The story of the latter is much better. This is Gu Lu's opinion after reading the two books.

“… Mr. Gu Lu deserves to win the award at his current age. If he is not selected now, won’t the credibility of our award be questioned in a few years?” said the judge surnamed Zhou.

"But Mr. Gu Lu's status in the literary world is on par with that of Mr. Jin and Mr. Su. We can even invite Mr. Gu Lu to be a judge." The short judge said it more tactfully. He actually wanted to say directly that Gu Lu's status was above the two of them.

The literary world is a group-based society, which requires various awards and mutual praise among writers. But Gu Lu is obviously on a different path, he has official praise and official awards!

The jury was divided into two factions, and the debate lasted for over an hour without any result.

Suddenly someone asked, "Why did this happen to us? Why didn't we give the award to Teacher Gu Lu a few years ago?"

The conversation was so intense that several judges' expressions changed.

No one took a fancy to him in the past few years. He wasn’t even nominated. People thought Gu Lu was just a best-selling author.

Actually, it is not only the Zhuang Zhongwen Literature Award jury that is caught up in internal discussions, but other awards are also like this. As for the Lu Xun Literature Award, they think that the short story published by Gu Lu in People's Literature is worthy of the award, but some judges disagree. There are many different opinions.

The next day, at the agreed time, Gu Lu arrived at the agreed place.

Located at the entrance of a community on the Third Ring Road.

I haven't seen the chairman for a few months, but his temperament and dress are still meticulous.

He spoke more gently, "Expert Gu has really become famous. Our entire international foreign policy think tank has been working overtime and held many meetings."

"Really?" Gu Lu said, "Why didn't I know?"

Even if he is abroad, he should be notified.

"Then let me give you two opening topics," said President Wen, "'Based on Gu Xuxu's method of writing, a study on the feasibility of continuing to write famous works as a cultural exchange method', 'The importance of Qingwen diplomacy, on whether it can completely replace panda diplomacy', 'A study on the current status of cultural exchanges among Britain, France, Russia and Norway'..."

He paused and looked at Gu Lu, "You can't just call Expert Gu and say, 'Expert Gu, we have started the research, and the research material is you.'"

Chairman Wen chuckled as he spoke. Gu Lu thought of Leonardo da Vinci who was being studied in a mental hospital, and couldn't help but smile, as if it was a bit impolite.

"Panda diplomacy is still very important. I personally feel it is irreplaceable." Gu Lu said, pandas are so cute. I heard that people in Sichuan Province can get one when they reach adulthood.

“The results of the conference research cannot be fully replaced,” Chairman Wen nodded.

The main reason for holding so many meetings is to recreate Gu Lu's situation. Others may not know, but Chairman Wen is still not clear? Compared with the benefits of this wave of cultural output, the reward given to Gu Lu is really not worth mentioning.

After many studies by experts, it was found that in every meeting, there were two words that were mentioned most frequently: "special cases".

Gu Lu is a special case.

Continuations are a special case.

This competition is a special case.

The implication is that, let alone letting others replicate it, even Gu Lu himself cannot replicate it.

"Expert Gu, is the car we drove last time still working fine?" Chairman Wen brought up another topic.

He would not tell others that he had not yet obtained his driver's license. Gu Lu replied, "It's fine."

That's good, Chairman Wen nodded and said, "This time our think tank has another gift for you, Expert Gu."

really!

(End of this chapter)