Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 737 "When it comes to awards, sometimes you need a little bit of luck."

"Editor-in-Chief Lei, only the first and second volumes of White Gate Willow have been published so far. According to the author's idea, he will write two more volumes later. It is unknown whether the two volumes can maintain the quality of the first two volumes."

Fang Minghua continued to analyze: "If the Mao Dun Prize had not been postponed, and only the first two volumes of the book "Emperor Yongzheng" had been published, wouldn't it have perfectly avoided the failure at the end of the third volume? People would have given it a much better evaluation, right?"

After hearing this, Lei Da put down his chopsticks, thought for a moment and replied, "What you said makes sense, but it's a pity that it can only be said that he was unlucky. When it comes to awarding prizes, sometimes you need a little bit of luck."

Yes, it takes a little bit of luck.

The book "Emperor Yongzheng" had less luck.

Relatively speaking, the award-winning "Turbulent Autumn" was much luckier.

Of course, "The Tumultuous Autumn" is not yet on the list of 20 preliminary films.

"Eat quickly, the food is getting cold." Radar said with a smile.

So the two stopped chatting.

They were just chatting after dinner.

The meeting continued. As soon as the meeting started the next day, someone proposed to Chen Changben, who was presiding over the meeting, to include "The Turmoil of Autumn" in the discussion list of this meeting.

"Today I received a formal letter from Comrade Ding Ning, with signatures from Comrades Cai Kui and Wei Wei, proposing that Comrade Liu Yumin's work "The Turmoil of Autumn" be included in the agenda for discussion at this meeting. According to the "Fourth Mao Dun Literature Award Evaluation Plan," the Jury Office has approved it."

As soon as Chen Changben finished speaking, low voices could be heard in the conference room.

Some of the people present had read the book "The Turmoil of Autumn", and found that its literary value and readability were quite average. I didn't expect someone to suggest that everyone read it!

Of course, this is the right of every judge, and there is nothing wrong with it.

Soon, the staff brought a huge pile of books, all of which were "The Turmoil of Autumn". Everyone present got one book, and everyone took time to read it, and then everyone discussed it.

Fang Minghua was holding the book. The title of the book was written on the yellowed cover, which looked very simple.

This book was published by People's Publishing House. Before coming to this era, Fang Minghua bought this book specifically because he was a Mao Dun Prize winner.

He was very disappointed after reading it. He really couldn't understand how this book won the award?

There are so many good books of the same period, such as Yu Hua's, Ge Fei's, Su Tong's, and Liu Zhenyun's. Any book you pick out can definitely beat this one!

But he won the award!
Now I am facing this history.

"The Turmoil of Autumn" tells the story of the great changes in the rural landscape and interpersonal relationships in the late 1980s under the impact of the commodity economy, and the various turmoil aroused by Yue Pengcheng, a "peasant reformer" in his efforts to reform the landscape of his hometown.

The protagonist Yue Pengcheng is both a famous peasant entrepreneur and a local tyrant; he is both a trend-setter in the new era and an heir of old ideas. He admires his father's revolutionary career, but he is incompatible with his father; he appreciates his son's intelligence and talent, but he and his son are sworn enemies.
The novel was not long, just over 200,000 words, and Fang Minghua finished it in two evenings.

It's really not good.
In his previous life, he was just a literature lover who came to watch the fun, but after coming to this era and experiencing the golden age of literature, his understanding of literature is much deeper than before.

If the publishing house was soliciting manuscripts, this novel would certainly have a certain literary quality and could be published, but now it is a selection for the Mao Dun Literature Prize!
After dinner tonight, Fang Minghua went to talk to Lei Da specifically, of course not just because of the book "The Turbulent Autumn".

The two of them strolled together on the road in front of the hotel.

In late May in Yanjing, the sandstorm season had passed, but the weather was not too hot, and it was very comfortable to walk on the road.

"Editor-in-Chief Lei, have you finished reading the book "The Turmoil of Autumn"? " Fang Minghua asked as they walked.

"I finished reading it this afternoon." Lei Da replied, lighting a cigarette. "What do you think of the writing?"

"Well, it's pretty good. It successfully portrays the artistic image of the peasant reformer Yue Pengcheng, and handles the relationship between history, morality and aesthetics well." Lei Da thought for a moment and replied, "Also, the writing is simple."

"Is that all?" Fang Minghua asked back.

"How much do you want me to say?" Lei Da stopped, looked at Fang Minghua and said with a smile: "I am a critic, not a trumpeter. I can see these advantages."

Fang Minghua laughed when he heard this.

"Editor Lei, from your tone, I can tell you don't think highly of this book."

"What about you?" Radar asked back.

"I'm not optimistic either." Fang Minghua answered decisively.

"reason?"

"This book can be considered as reform literature. From this perspective, compared with works such as Zhang Jie's Heavy Wings, Li Guowen's No. 5 Garden Street, and Ke Yunlu's Rising Star, there is no innovation or progress in character creation or language structure in Turmoil Autumn!"

"In particular, the content of this novel is too inclined to follow the changes in the system and policy, and the structure simply stays in the mechanical mode of time and space extension. The text language is more like a pale and empty reportage. The whole work lacks the minimum ideological penetration and artistic appeal, and cannot bring aesthetic pleasure and emotional resonance to readers."

"The author focuses on Yue Pengcheng, a township entrepreneur, and then records the hardships he encountered, his bold changes, and the distortion of his character like a running account. The whole story only stays on the surface of the events, neither following the logic of life nor the in-depth exploration of human nature, which makes the work too shallow and even too vulgar."

Fang Minghua said so much in one breath, Lei Da listened carefully, and finally nodded in agreement.

"You are right. This book does have many unsatisfactory aspects."

"I don't know why someone suggested including this book in the reading range for the jury members?" Fang Minghua expressed his doubts.

Lei Da did not answer directly but asked: "Minghua, among the 20 novels in the preliminary review, how many of them reflect the reality of reform?"

Fang Minghua thought about it carefully: "Not many. Hou Quansheng's "Business World" and Peng Mingyan's "Century Aristocrats" can be classified into this category. But to be fair, I think these two books are worse, not as good as this "Autumn of Turmoil"."

"That's right. There must be a novel that reflects the reality of reform, right? Pick the best from the worst."

Radar's words are meaningful.

So that’s it!
Fang Minghua understood instantly.

No wonder the book's winning of the award surprised many readers. Literary critic Hong Zhigang once commented on the lucky win of "Turmoil Autumn" in this way: "If its winning of the award has any deeper meaning, it can only be beyond literature and art."

"Actually, Minghua, your work 'The Piano in a Factory' also belongs to reform literature, and its literary value is much better than this one. We discussed that novel for a long time in our reading class, but unfortunately we had to give up because you have won the Mao Dun Prize twice in a row." Lei Da said again.

This is not what Fang Minghua is considering now.

According to history, it is a foregone conclusion that "The Tumultuous Autumn" will win the award, and his opposition alone will not have much effect. There is a politically correct meaning to this.

"Editor-in-Chief Lei, I also want to recommend a book for the jury to read." Fang Minghua suddenly said.

"Oh, which one?" Radar suddenly became interested.

"Yu Hua's "To Live""

(End of this chapter)