1980 My literary era

In the afternoon, Huang Anyi chatted at Shi Tiesheng's house for a short time before leaving. After she left, Lin Weimin also left.

A few days later, the Seoul Olympics were in full swing, and the people of Yanjing were also scolding.

Especially the closer you get to the back, the harder the scolding gets.

Because it was all semi-finals and finals, and the medals were stolen right under your nose, how could anyone not be angry when they saw it?

Lin Weimin had not seen Bangzi's performance since that day at Shi Tiesheng's house. There was no need for Chun Chun to make himself angry.

Time flies to the end of September. Amidst the criticism of the Seoul Olympics, the editorial department of "Contemporary" completed the preparations for the tenth issue of this year. Everyone thought that they could relax for a few more days.

It's a pity that God's calculations are not as good as those of humans. Unexpectedly, Yue Hehe knocked on the door of the editorial department at this time carrying the last volume of "Emperor Kangxi" on his back.

Tong Zhonggui went to the office and told Lin Weimin that Yue Erhe had come with the manuscript on his back, and he was overjoyed.

From the first volume in 1984, "The First Emperor of the Palace", the second volume in 1985, "The Shocking Wind and the Rain", and the third volume in 1986, "The Jade and the Presence of Auspiciousness", Er Yuehe's creative efficiency is very stable.

When it comes to the fourth volume, "Chaos in the Xiaoqiang", because it is the last volume, Yue Erhe wrote it very carefully. The content of this volume took more than two years to write.

Recently, he finally finished writing the fourth volume, took a leave from his work unit, and went straight to Yanjing with the manuscript on his back.

The four volumes of "Emperor Kangxi" contain a total of more than 1.6 million words, which can be called a huge work.

Lu Yao's "The Ordinary World" has over a million words and took five years to write. By comparison, you can see how efficient Yue Erhe's creation is.

Holding the thick manuscript, Lin Weimin sighed: "It's not easy! It's really not easy! It takes four or five years to write such a large book. It's so valuable!"

Er Yuehe sent the manuscript, and his body and mind seemed to relax, "I can have a good sleep this time!"

Lin Weimin handed the manuscript to his colleagues and said, "I finally finished writing the book. Let's have fun in Yanjing this time. Think of it as a holiday for yourself!"

These days, packages can only be sent to the postal service, and occasionally packages get lost, so writers’ more important manuscripts are sent by human mail.

Many times, some writers are proud of their status and will call the publication and say that I have written the manuscript. Does your publication want it? If so, send someone to pick it up. Many publications will go to great lengths to get high-quality manuscripts. Send the editor to get it.

"Contemporary" has such a high status in the world that no one dares to do this. Usually, the writers themselves or have someone send them to them.

Er Yuehe came to Beijing carrying the manuscript of the fourth volume of "Emperor Kangxi" on his back. This volume contains nearly 500,000 words. Just reviewing the manuscript will take at least ten days and a half. If it needs to be revised, the time will be even longer. It could take a long time, maybe one, two, three or five months. During this period, if Er Erhe stays in Yanjing, he will naturally have a lot of time to travel.

Er Yuehe declined Lin Weimin's suggestion. His identity as a writer was only part-time, and his main job was civil servants.

A few years ago, he wrote the first volume of "The Initial Reign of the Palace" and stayed in Yanjing for several months. This time he asked for leave from his work unit and told him to come to Yanjing to deliver the manuscript. The unit was afraid that he would repeat the situation last time and warned him repeatedly. Come back after delivery.

Er Erhe went to the guest house upstairs to rest. His colleagues in the editorial department sighed while holding the manuscript. They originally thought they could rest for two days, but this time they gave up.

In recent months, "Contemporary" has lacked heavyweight novels. Lin Weimin plans to publish the final work of "Emperor Kangxi" in the eleventh issue.

In just one month, it is extremely difficult to complete the review work of a 500,000-word tome.

Fortunately, the fourth volume of "Emperor Kangxi", "Chaos in the Xiao Wall", took more than two years to create, which shows Yue Hehe's caution and attentiveness, and there are not many places that need to be revised.

In order to revise the manuscript more efficiently, my colleague Yue Hehe from the editorial department spent several days on the phone to communicate all the details that needed to be revised.

At the beginning of November, the fourth volume of "Emperor Kangxi" "Chaos in the Xiaoqiang" was officially published in the eleventh issue of "Contemporary". Due to its huge volume, this novel will be divided into two issues, one in the eleventh issue and the other in the second issue. Published in issue 12.

Speaking of which, the first three volumes of the novel "Emperor Kangxi" were published consecutively in "Contemporary", which caused a huge response, and the evaluation by critics was no less than that of Yao Xueyin's "Li Zicheng".

In terms of audience, "Emperor Kangxi" has a much larger readership than "Li Zicheng".

There are two main reasons for this.

First, "Li Zicheng" is too idealistic and "red-military" the Chuang King's troops, which deviates from historical facts to a certain extent. Readers of such books usually have better historical knowledge than ordinary people. Naturally, there are many criticisms of this. This is the shortcoming of "Li Zicheng".

"Emperor Kangxi" is relatively stable and realistic in this aspect.

The second is the issue of the age of the work. As the last feudal dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, no matter how it performed, one advantage that must be mentioned is that it is close to the contemporary era, the historical materials are relatively abundant, and most readers are familiar with it. This is "Emperor Kangxi" "The advantages.

As one goes and the other goes, "Emperor Kangxi" has a wider audience.

However, although it was widely praised after being published, it was not without criticism.

In the past few years, the most criticized aspect of the novel "Emperor Kangxi" is the "emperor-only view of history" involved in the novel. Although the novel mainly reflects the intrigues of officialdom, many media and scholars still criticized the novel as He wrote books and biographies for feudal emperors and praised their virtues.

This argument has been raised repeatedly in the past two years, but the editorial board of "Contemporary" has never responded directly.

At the end of "Emperor Kangxi" this time, Lin Weimin wrote a special "Editor's Note" to respond to this issue.

There are two responses:

First, traders and soldiers can write, civil and military officials can write, and emperors of ancient and modern times can naturally write. This is not only creative freedom, but also historical materialism that is not based on family background.

Secondly, the Kangxi, Yongzong and Qianlong periods are recognized by the historical circles as the three major political dynasties. Not to mention the very important Qianlong period, the positive historical value of this period cannot be completely wiped out. The credit for laying down the territory of modern China is worthy of a special book.

With the launch of the eleventh issue of "Contemporary", Lin Weimin's "Editor's Note" has also caused a lot of discussion among readers and academic circles.

Of course, a simple editor's note cannot eliminate the controversy, but this is the first positive response from the editorial department of "Contemporary", which has played a positive role in the discussion of the novel among the people and academia.

After the eleventh issue of "Contemporary" was released, the editorial department had a few relaxing days.

Lin Weimin received a call from Michael Phillips from the United States. The investment for "The Intouchables" has been secured, the script has been written, and now he is choosing a director.

"Lin, I need your help." Michael Phillips said to Lin Weimin on the phone.

"Help? Mike, how can I help you?"

"Does Steven Spielberg know?"

"Of course. The director of "Jaws" and "E.T." You wouldn't tell me that you were looking for him to direct "The Untouchables," right?" Lin Weimin said in surprise.

Phillips was very satisfied with his surprise, with a bit of complacency in his tone, "My friend, it seems you are quite satisfied with this director?"

Phillips and Spielberg first met during the post-production stage of Spielberg's first feature film "Rampage". It has been more than ten years ago and they have a close friendship.

“We were just having dinner together and casually chatted about the project I was preparing to produce recently. Steven heard that I was planning to produce “The Intouchables” and started chatting with me.

I saw that Steven was interested in "The Intouchables", so I took the opportunity to invite him to be the director of this film. Steven is in a bit of a dilemma. He is currently producing "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and also has a fantasy romance movie in hand. "Phillips paused at this point, seemingly intending to sell it off.

"Then how did you convince him?" Lin Weimin asked.

Phillips laughed: "It's not that I convinced him, but he asked me for something."

"I need something from you? What do you mean?" Lin Weimin asked in confusion.

"He wants the film rights to your film 'Life is Beautiful, No Matter What'."

"Want the film rights to "No Matter What, Life is Beautiful"? Is this his condition for taking on "The Untouchables"?"

"That's right!" Phillips explained to Lin Weimin: "Steven liked the movie "No Matter What, Life is Beautiful" that you published in the United States at the beginning of the year very much. Lin, you may not know that Steven has always planned to film A film about the persecution of Jews by the Nazis during World War II, which was the pain of their nation.”

Lin Weimin's mind instantly thought of the movie "Schindler's List" shot by Spielberg in the 1990s.

"Is he sure he wants to film "No matter what, life is beautiful"?" Lin Weimin asked.

"There's no way to determine this yet. Lin, you know, a director of Steven's level may have as many as five or six films in different stages of directing and production. There are dozens of copyrights.

Before the movie is officially approved, no one can guarantee that the movie will be shot. "

Lin Weimin pondered for a moment after hearing what Phillips said.

Phillips said: "Lin, is there anything to hesitate about? Steven is now an S-level director in Hollywood. If he is really willing to take over "The Intouchables", including the possibility of directing "None" in the future, then It’s definitely a good thing for you.”

"Mike, of course I'm happy that the work has been adapted by a big director, but I'm more afraid that no one will see this work."

Phillips immediately understood what he meant, "Are you afraid that Steven won't shoot after buying the rights?"

"That's right."

Phillips immediately felt embarrassed. It is true that Steven is a famous Hollywood director, but Lin Weimin's works also have no worries about being filmed. It seems that it is not that easy to get this thing done!