Literary Master 1978

Faced with the sudden arrival of the novel manuscript, not only the editors were surprised, but even Li Shifei, the author, was at a loss.

Is this the manuscript he asked for? A work like One Hundred Years of Solitude?

Li Shifei wanted to call Lin Chaoyang and ask him, you said it would take three to five years, but you finished it in less than a year, are you kid trying to fool me?

But he looked at the thickness of the manuscript and silently retracted this idea.

Which writer would fool around by writing a manuscript of hundreds of thousands of words?

With such a thick stack of 500-grid manuscript paper, according to Li Shifei's experience, this novel must have at least 600,000 words.

Apart from other things, just this number of words is not something that ordinary writers can write.

Li Shifei still remembers that he wrote to Lin Chaoyang at the beginning of the year, and Lin Chaoyang said that he would go to his hometown to collect information and materials, and then wrote again, he should have started writing this novel in May or June.

In less than nine months, writing a masterpiece of 600,000 words, what level is this?

Li Shifei is an editor and a writer at the same time. He knows the difficulty of this.

Let alone, even if it is to copy a novel of 600,000 words, copying 10,000 words a day, it will take two or three months, not to mention that Lin Chaoyang constructed such a grand narrative work from scratch.

When Li Shifei first received the manuscript of the novel, he recalled his correspondence with Lin Chaoyang in the past year. In addition to revealing some plots and character ideas of the novel to him, the other party never emphasized the progress of the creation.

He had previously preconceived that such a work must take three to five years. After receiving the manuscript, he realized that he had underestimated Lin Chaoyang.

Not only underestimated his creative ability, but also underestimated his creative efficiency.

Looking at the current Chinese literary world, there are probably few people who can stand shoulder to shoulder with such efficient creation.

Lin Chaoyang did not give any advance notice and sent the manuscript just like this, which really gave him a huge surprise.

After the initial surprise, Li Shifei directly "took" the manuscript for himself and used the power of editor-in-chief to preview it.

He just wanted to see what the quality of the "One Hundred Years of Solitude"-style work written by Lin Chaoyang in nine months would be.

Recalling this, Li Shifei showed a wry smile on his face. It was really a big surprise!

But the surprise Lin Chaoyang gave him was far from over.

At the beginning of the manuscript, Li Shifei had the idea of ​​"taking the best and getting the middle", but after he finished reading the whole novel, Li Shifei's idea was completely changed.

This is not "taking the best and getting the middle", but the real "taking the best and getting the best".

Chaoyang, Chaoyang, you really gave me a big surprise.

Li Shifei's eyes involuntarily fell on the manuscript. On the first page, there were three big words written - "Crossing Guandong".

Crossing Guandong, this term is not unfamiliar to Chinese people.

In a broad sense, all the people from Shanhaiguan who went out of the pass to make a living in history can be called "Crossing Guandong".

In a narrow sense, it refers to the history of people in Guannei who went to Guandong to make a living due to drought, famine, war and other disasters during the historical period from the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China.

The "Crossing Guandong" in the novel "Crossing Guandong" is the narrow sense of crossing Guandong.

The novel tells the story of the protagonist Zhu Kaishan and his family in the late Qing Dynasty who came to Baishan Heishui from their hometown in Shandong due to war and famine.

They earned their first pot of gold by panning for gold and picking ginseng, and dealt with bandits, government officials, peers, and feudal bosses. They survived again and again and finally had their own farmland.

However, the local gentry regarded them as "outsiders". After a difficult struggle, the Zhu family and the locals became brothers in life and death.

In order to seek development, Zhu Kaishan led his family to Harbin, but he was excluded and oppressed by the "Rehe Gang" merchants. After paying the price for the struggle, both sides realized that only unity of purpose can prosper for generations.

Later, in order to follow the trend of the times of industrial power, Zhu Kaishan took the lead in opening a coal mine. In order to safeguard national interests and national sovereignty, he fought against Japanese colonists and killed Japanese officers.

Finally, in the gunfire of the "September 18th Incident", Zhu Kaishan and his family embarked on a new road of adventure.

The novel has a grand perspective and a time span of an astonishing thirty years. It describes a magnificent epic of thirty years of social changes between the white mountains and black waters in the Northeast. Such creative depth and breadth are extremely rare in today's Chinese literary world.

The work is also ups and downs in the design of the story. It stands to reason that for such a large work, there are inevitably some things in the novel that are straightforward.

But after reading the novel, Li Shifei felt that there was nothing that was not exciting and attractive, and there was no sense of encumbrance from beginning to end.

The characterization of the novel is even more unique. Zhu Kaishan, Wen'er's mother, Zhu Chuanwen, Zhu Chuanwu, Zhu Chuanjie, Xian'er, and Nawen are all vivid.

Even the characters who are mentioned briefly, such as the old bat and Tianwaitian, have distinct personalities and are unforgettable.

After reading the novel, Li Shifei can say with certainty that no one in the Chinese literary world can write better than Lin Chaoyang in terms of character writing.

Li Shifei recalled the specific plots in the novel. If he wanted to summarize it, he could probably use three words to describe it - big, new, and strange.

Big - means the subject matter is grand, the story content is rich, and the ideological connotation is great;

New - the creative concept is innovative. At least in Li Shifei's impression, there has never been a work in the Chinese literary world that has described in such detail and richly the history of ethnic migration that has almost been sealed into history books;

Strange - it is legendary and strange. Gold diggers, theater troupes, platoon gangs, bandits, stragglers, the ups and downs of the business world, national struggles, hatred between the country and the family, can accommodate such rich elements and content in a novel, and make people read it with relish. This writing skill alone is enough He, a veteran editor of thirty years, admired him endlessly.

Theme, concept, story, characters, connotation, every aspect of the literary work is outstanding.

Combining the folk customs outside the Pass with the vast white mountains and black waters, it depicts not only a colorful, desolate and tragic historical picture, but also the tenacious vitality and tenacity of the Chinese nation, its struggle to the end and unyielding determination against hardships. national spirit.

Thinking of this, Li Shifei couldn't help but feel sincere admiration for Lin Chaoyang. It was hard for him to imagine that such a work full of historical heritage and epic magnanimity was written by Lin Chaoyang within nine months.

It is truly a magnificent masterpiece!

With a sigh in his heart, Li Shifei put pen to paper.

"This is a solid, rich novel that is both readable and historically profound. It is a good work that has both cognitive and aesthetic value.

1. This work embodies a relatively realistic view of history. It can be said to highly vividly and truly depict the historical environment and political tide from the late Qing Dynasty to the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War.

2. This work reflects the appearance of China's rural and urban areas in Northeast China from the late Qing Dynasty to the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War through the complex entanglements between two generations of the Zhu family. It is also accurate and in-depth.

There was a period in the past when we used a simple view of class struggle to rule everything. Facts have proved that this is not consistent with historical reality.

"Crossing Guandong" shows the author's calmness and courage at this point, and as a literary work, it appears to be fresh, profound, and accurate..."

A review review contains a thousand words, and Li Shifei hardly stops writing. In his more than thirty years of editing career, he has only written review reviews of such length a handful of times.

After writing this review, he still had some unfinished ideas.

Review comments are written from the perspective of an editor. In order to reflect professionalism, they must not contain too much personal or subjective emotions.

After Li Shifei put down his pen, he thought for a while, turned over another page of manuscript paper, and picked up the pen.

This time, he wanted to express his love for the novel "Crossing Guandong".

As he was writing this, he lost track of time, and even more so his wife's advice. By the time he stopped writing, the sky was already turning white.

Li Shifei felt bad and thought about sneaking back to bed and pretending to sleep for a while. He didn't want to sit for too long that night and his legs were already numb.

The friction between the chair and the floor made a piercing whine, and his old waist, which was in disrepair, also went into strike due to the sudden movement.

"Ouch!"

His wife, who was a light sleeper, was awakened by his movements. When she got up, she saw him staggering and leaning against his desk.

Seeing her getting up, Li Shifei immediately showed a flattering smile on his face.

"Oh! I didn't want to wake you up, but it's a pity that this old waist is useless."

He held his waist and exaggerated the three-point pain into seven-point pain. As expected, he extinguished the complaints and nagging that his wife was about to say.

He Xian helped him back to the bed, rubbed his waist, and finally couldn't help but said: "Tell me, why are you messing around during the New Year? It's better this time. You don't have to go out to pay New Year greetings. You can wait at home for others to give you a blessing." Happy New Year!"

Li Shifei smiled and said: "That's good. It saves red tape and worries."

"Okay, don't say these useless things. I haven't slept all night, so go get some sleep. Someone will definitely come to pay New Year's greetings later."

He Xian felt sorry for her husband and pressed Li Shifei down to let him sleep.

Sure enough, before eight o'clock, guests came to the house to pay New Year's greetings.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, it is etiquette for people to come to pay New Year greetings. Even if Li Shifei sprains his waist, he still has to say a few auspicious words to others.

Lin Xianzhi of the editorial department was transferred to "Flower City" by Li Shifei from the countryside. Therefore, Lin Xianzhi has always regarded Li Shifei as a teacher and a father over the years, and he was the first to come to pay New Year's greetings early.

When Lin Xianzhi saw him twisting his waist, he couldn't help but express some concern, and Li Shifei then talked about "Crossing Guandong".

"Is this novel really as good as you say?"

Lin Xianzhi was a little incredulous when he heard Li Shifei's high praise for "Enter Guandong". In his impression, the editor-in-chief had never spoken so highly of any novel.

Li Shifei said with emotion: "Maybe it's because this is a manuscript I asked myself. I have also witnessed the process of this novel coming from scratch, and there may be some personal emotions mixed in it."

Then he said: "But I still insist that this is a masterpiece of magical realism that shows the author's maturity.

Its grand scale is rare among literary works after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and its rigorous structure is not inferior to famous works such as "Midnight" and "In Search of Lost Time".

Real strength and exquisite characterization are evident at every turn.

To be honest, after reading the novel last night, I couldn’t stop crying.

Life is so rich and complex that no great work can exhaust its richness and complexity.

But the contribution of "Crossing Guandong" in revealing the richness and complexity of life is groundbreaking and successful.

I have said so much, but the most successful part of this novel is its profound thoughts. It is a masterpiece that explores the essence of life.

Of course, I dare not say that it is flawless. Any literary work has its advantages and disadvantages, but I can be sure of one thing.

"Crossing Guandong" may have some weaknesses, but it is definitely not a failure. For this reason alone, it is better than 99% of the works we have seen.

After reading it to the end, it is actually difficult for me to tell what style it is.

Magic realism? Critical realism? Or realism?

I can't care so much, I just know that it is a good work, an excellent work, and an excellent work that is expected to go down in history.

It is magnificent and charming.

In the future, when Lin Chaoyang strives for the title of "Master", this work can be the pillar of support. "

Li Shifei leaned against the head of the bed, talking incessantly, his praises almost like singing praises.

If someone else recommended a work to Lin Xianzhi in this way, he would certainly sneer. No matter how good a literary work is, it is written by people. There are still many famous works that are not worthy of their reputations. How good can a work written by a contemporary writer be?

But now he is facing Li Shifei, the mentor who brought him into the literary palace. Even if Lin Xianzhi does not believe in his own aesthetics, he will not disbelieve in his judgment.

What's more, there is the pearl of "Crossing the Boat" in front.

Lin Xianzhi stroked the manuscript in his hand, his eyes fell on the title of the book on the front page.

The three words "Chuang Guandong" seemed to have a kind of magic, firmly imprisoning his mind.

"Xianzhi!" Li Shifei grabbed Lin Xianzhi's wrist unexpectedly, and he said to Lin Xianzhi word by word with a serious look in his eyes:

"I am witnessing the historical process of contemporary Chinese literature! "

Lin Xianzhi was shocked when he heard this.