The literary era since 1979

Chapter 268: Selling Reflection Tickets
The two-story residence, located on the hillside behind the mountain, is quaint and elegant, with a balcony facing the lush woods and the Iowa River.

Fang Yan followed Nie Hualing into the living room.

On the walls of the corridor, there are various kinds of facial masks, especially various wooden masks of Indians.

In addition, there are photos of Paul Angell and Nie Hualing when they were young, as well as their family photos, wedding photos, etc.

Fangyan glanced and saw a newspaper in a frame, which contained a review of Paul Ingres's first collection of poems. According to Nie Hualing, he was a well-known poet in the Midwest of the United States and an associate professor at the University of Iowa.

At the same time, he serves as a consultant for the "Writers' Workshop".

"welcome!"

Just then, Paul Angell walked out of the living room, his arms open, his face filled with fiery enthusiasm.

Following behind him was an old man with white hair and a young man with long hair, probably the writer from Taiwan.

"Fangyan, you are so young."

Paul Angell extended his hand.

Fangyan exchanged a few pleasantries with him, "You speak Chinese very well."

"Thanks to Hua Ling for teaching me well."

Paul Engel smiled and greeted Ru Zhijuan, Bai Ruoxue, Wang Anyi and others. He was very happy to have two young Chinese female writers participate in this year's "International Writing Program".

When he saw the clothes Bai Ruoxue and the others were wearing, he asked, "Can such beautiful dresses be worn in China now?"

Bai Ruoxue asked curiously, "Of course."

Wang Anyi said: "This one is not the most beautiful one!"

"Wow, that's a big change."

Paul Angell said that when he first went to the mainland in 78, both men and women were wearing blue, gray and green clothes, and it was impossible to tell the men from the women.

"If you go to China now, you probably won't be able to tell the difference between men and women." Fang Yan said, "It's popular for men to have long hair, but women tend to cut their hair very short."

"Really? Is it as long as mine?"

The Taiwanese writer with long hair took the initiative to talk.

"It's a little shorter than yours."

Fangyan looked him up and down. He was wearing a denim jacket and bell-bottom pants, unkempt, and a flower ribbon on his head, dressed like a typical hippie.

"Hey, introduce yourself."

Liu Wuxiong grinned and said, "My name is Liu Wuxiong, my pen name is Qidengsheng, and I'm from Taiwan. You guys are from there, right?"

Fangyan nodded and pointed at Pan Yaoming.

"He's from Hong Kong."

"Really!"

Liu Wuxiong showed an expression of excitement and excitement.

Fangyan extended his hand to him and he immediately shook it.

“It’s a historic handshake.”

"Yeah, a historic handshake!"

Liu Wuxiong sighed: "It's a pity that I didn't bring a camera."

Fang Yan said, "I brought it, but I left it in the apartment. I can take another photo tomorrow to record this historic moment."

"That's right! People from the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong are reunited together." Liu Wuxiong grabbed Pan Yaoming with one hand and Fangyan with the other, and shook him a few times excitedly.

Nie Hualing, Ru Zhijuan and others saw this and smiled knowingly. Bai Ruoxue walked forward, stretched out her hand and introduced herself.

Wang Anyi followed suit and asked:
"Why is your pen name 'Seventh Grade Student'?"

"When I was in junior high school, I was bored at home."

Liu Wuxiong said: "I published a one-page publication every week, drawing some pictures and writing some things, some of which were copied. I published one page every week, and I published more than 50 pages. Later, during a major flood, all these things were washed away by the flood."

"it's a pity."

Wang Anyi and Bai Ruoxue said the same thing.

"When I published this magazine, I gave myself the pen name Qi Dengsheng. It was just for fun at the time, but now it's a commemoration."

Watching Liu Wuxiong and the others chatting animatedly, Fangyan turned his attention to another writer named "Bai Yang".

He was using a crutch, his legs were very inconvenient and he limped.

"Hey, we need to be careful and try to have as little contact as possible."

Pan Yaoming lowered his voice and reminded him to be careful.

"has a problem?"

Dialects are very curious.

Pan Yaoming said that Bo Yang was "very famous" in Taiwan, and that leg was broken during the interrogation.

"Why?" Fangyan asked and found out that the newspaper column he hosted had once published a satirical cartoon, which caused the "Popeye" incident.

So, he was imprisoned on Green Island, which was the same Green Island where Zhou Chaoxian was imprisoned in "Black Gold", for ten years.

"During this time, he wrote three books."

Pan Yaoming held up three fingers. "The Genealogy of Chinese Emperors, Empresses, Princes and Princesses, the Chronological Table of Chinese History, and the Outline of Chinese History, especially the Outline of Chinese History, which covers the period from the mythical era of Pangu creating the world to the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance, has some extreme views on Chinese culture and history."

Bo Yang seemed to have heard it and looked back at them.

Suddenly, there was a sound of applause beside my ear.

Nie Hualing saw the nanny bring dinner to the table and said with a smile:

"It's time to eat. Let's talk while we eat."

…………

"cheers!"

The wine glasses clinked gently, making a crisp "ding ding" sound.

On the table, there are Chinese dishes such as preserved radish eggs, as well as local Iowa specialties such as barbecued shrimp and corn hot dogs.

If Paul Angel wasn't worried that Fangyan and the others wouldn't be able to get used to the food, he would even want to treat them to delicious grilled crocodile stuffed with cheese.

What does crocodile meat taste like?
Tears flowed down Fangyan's mouth uncontrollably.

As the hostess, Nie Hualing was very good at creating a great atmosphere and taking care of every guest skillfully. Through casual chatting, she gradually made the writers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong and Macau become familiar with each other.

In between, there will occasionally be international writing programs.

"There will be at least one discussion meeting every week. If each of you writers has nothing else to do, it would be best if you could join the group discussion."

"Every member of the group must have at least one topic, which can be divided into novels, poems, and dramas according to the type of topic."

"........."

After his wife finished speaking, Paul Angel asked them questions one by one. The first one to ask was the older Ru Zhijuan.

“I’m going to talk about reflecting on literature.”

As a representative writer of reflective literature, Ru Zhijuan is naturally best at reflective themes. Like her mother, Wang Anyi is also prepared to talk about reflective literature and is obviously well prepared.

“Reflection on literature?”

Bo Yang, Qi Dengsheng and others had never heard of this before and were curious.

Wang Anyi briefly explained it, then looked at Fang Yan, "Speaking of reflective literature, I have to mention this good friend of mine. The starting point of the reflective literature trend was his debut work, The Shepherd."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's eyes immediately turned to Fang Yan.

"No wonder your Saving Private Ryan combines war and reflection so well, and is able to write about humanistic care, humanitarianism, and the good and evil of human nature from reflection. That's how it is."

Nie Hualing suddenly realized.

It turns out that the person in front of us is the first person in China's reflective literature!
"I have also read the book 'Saving Private Ryan', although I haven't finished it yet. But I feel that in terms of reflection on war, it is just as inspiring as the movie 'Apocalypse Now'." Liu Wuxiong couldn't help but praise it a few more times.

"Reflect, reflect..."

Bo Yang talked to himself, his eyes fixed on Fang Yan.

Fangyan smiled but said nothing. He had learned from Mike that after the Vietnam War, the entire American society was in a state of confusion and reflection, and reflective films on the Vietnam War theme were emerging one after another.

"First Blood", "Apocalypse Now", "The Deer Hunter", "Platoon", "Full Metal Jacket"...

So, looking around, "I also very much hope that Saving Private Ryan can bring reflection to the majority of American readers."

"You are right, the United States needs more reflection now!" Paul Angel stood up, walked to the living room, and quickly came back with a newspaper in his hand.

Then he handed it to Fang Yan and said, "The New York Times' review of your book is my evaluation of this book."

“The New York Times reviewed my book?”

Fangyan raised his eyebrows and flipped through the newspaper.

I saw a special book review in the cultural section:
“This is an outstanding military novel. It uses easy-to-understand language to simply and truthfully reveal the cruelty of war and show the brilliance of human nature. No one has ever written it this way before.”

"........."

“World War II is the largest war in human history so far. The novel not only highlights the bloodiness and cruelty of the battlefield in words, but also penetrates into the subtle psychological descriptions and detailed representations, allowing us to see the real appearance of war and understand its consequences.”

“It makes people think deeply about war and human nature.”

"It makes people reflect on the definition of a hero and the responsibilities of a soldier."

"As the author wrote in the preface, if one charges forward with his life for a just cause, he will be admired by the world and the people around him. But if one is unfortunately involved in an unjust war, it will lead to a moral crisis like the Vietnam War."

"I think any American citizen should take a look at it."

"Because we really need to reflect now!"

Seeing this, Fang Yan tried hard to suppress his laughter.

I have sold my reflection vouchers to America!
(End of this chapter)