1980 My literary era

"Good works deserve to be introduced." Lin Weimin said calmly.

"I heard Richard Yates wrote you a letter?" Christian Salmon asked again.

"You are really well-informed! He did write me a letter. He was very happy that the work could be introduced to China. I think you should also understand how important it is to him to be recognized. "

Christian Salmon nodded slightly, fully understanding what Lin Weimin meant.

The royalties are another factor. Richard Yates has been writing since the 1950s. He has created so many works over the years, but none of them can be truly accepted and familiar to American readers.

After all, the highest sales volume is 12,000 copies, which is too shabby for a writer who has been engaged in writing for more than 30 years and is well-known in the American literary world.

"Before I came here, I went to some second-hand bookstores to look for his works. It was indeed rare. Sometimes I really doubted whether there really was such a writer in the history of American literature. His traces seemed to have been traced by others. It was deliberately erased."

Lin Weimin smiled, "Maybe he would have been born twenty years earlier, or..."

"Or born in China, right?" Christian Salmon raised his eyebrows at Lin Weimin.

"That's right."

"Speaking of which, I like China's policy towards writers very much, but there is a question here. Won't writers get too close to politics?"

"It's up to the writer."

After chatting for a while, Christian Salmon turned the topic to creation.

"Are you writing any new works recently?"

"I just sent the English version of "The Hunt" to Roger Strauss some time ago. I am currently writing a novel about children in poor areas going to school."

Christian Salmon was immediately interested, "Why write such a novel? Where did the inspiration come from?"

"The main reason why I wrote this novel is because I initiated a foundation before..."

Lin Weimin told Christian Salmon about the China Youth Education Development Foundation and Project Hope.

"China's economic reform has just begun, and the economic income of ordinary people is generally not high. It is not easy to do charity. I hope that through this novel, the names of the Foundation and Project Hope can be more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Let more people participate in this charity event.”

Christian Salmon's face showed a bit of amazement, "Great vision! However, don't you think that this kind of utilitarian writing will affect the purity of creation?"

"The purity of creation is not the same as the purity of people, or the purity of creative purposes. Doesn't royalties affect the writer's creation? In the final analysis, it all depends on whether the quality of the work can impress people."

Christian Salmon looked at Lin Weimin and said, "Lin, your attitude towards literature is different from many writers I have met."

"What's the difference?"

"Literature seems...not sacred to you." Christian Salmon said thoughtfully.

"Sacred? Literature is for people to read, why should it be sacred? Only things placed on the altar need to be sacred.

I have always believed that we should be wary of this kind of thinking. Once we elevate literature to a higher level and delineate literature as something that can only be appreciated by a small group of people, then literature will lose its most basic foundation, and the decline of literature will be become inevitable. "

After Lin Weimin said these words, Christian Salmon fell into deep thought. After a moment, he said: "You are right, there is indeed this trend now."

The atmosphere was a little heavy, and Christian Salmon changed the topic again, "Can you tell me about your novel in detail?"

Lin Weimin simply told him the plot of the novel. Christian Salmon frowned, "Don't you think this plot is a bit false?"

"Are things outside of your American consciousness a lie?"

Lin Weimin's rhetorical question made Christian Salmon a little uncomfortable, "You mean these things are true?"

"Of course the plot of my novel has a certain dramatic element. But if you have time, you can go to those places and have a look."

Seeing Lin Weimin's natural look and determined tone, Christian Salmon stopped worrying about the authenticity of the plot and asked: "Aren't you afraid that when you write this kind of plot, others will say that you are praising the government?"

"There are many writers who stubbornly believe that the role of literature should be to criticize and expose, and are disgusted with praising and praising. You can't say that their ideas are wrong, but we must distinguish the difference between reality and praising and praising.

Since literature can criticize and expose, it can also praise and praise. This is not only the role of literature, but also creative freedom.

Don’t put literary creation into the ranks of political correctness, that’s also dangerous! "

Lin Weimin's face was serious when he said this, and Christian Salmon faintly saw a master's style in him.

Christian Salmon once again requested to photograph the novel manuscript, and Lin Weimin readily agreed.

The interview, which lasted for more than half a day, is over. This is the third time that Christian Salmon has interviewed Lin Weimin. After finally coming to China, his interview will not end so hastily.

The next day, he went to the Chinese Literature Society again and visited the working environment of Lin Weimin.

I heard that a foreign reporter came to interview Lin Weimin. My colleagues were very curious. Christian Salmon also chatted with everyone by the way. The content of the chat was of course about Lin Weimin.

Through everyone's words, Christian Salmon gradually pieced together a complete impression of Lin Weimin in his mind.

Young, talented, capable, sincere and friendly, well-connected, philanthropic...

In the end, Christian Salmon was in a trance. Is this a human being?

He inexplicably thought of discussing the sanctity of literature with Lin Weimin. Yes, literature is no longer sacred, but you are.

Christian Salmon had some doubts in his heart. Logically speaking, this interview with Lin Weimin was over, but the doubts in his heart were driving him to have a deeper understanding of Lin Weimin.

"Lin, I want to visit the people around you again, can you?" Christian Salmon made a request.

Lin Weimin was slightly surprised, "Of course, do you need me to take you there, or can I just give you their information?"

Christian Salmon said: "Just give me their information. I want to visit them personally."

"good."

Another day later, Christian Salmon knocked on the door of Shichahai courtyard with his translator. The person who opened the door was Cheng Simi.

Cheng Ximi was not surprised to see Christian Salmon, a foreigner. Lin Weimin had called them last night to inform them.

Christian Salmon was a little moved when he saw Shi Tiesheng coming out in a wheelchair. There are many disabled and strong writers in the history of literature, but Shi Tiesheng was the first one he had close contact with.

After chatting for a while, Christian Salmon's interview style always started with small talk. He asked about the acquaintance experience of Shi Tiesheng and Lin Weimin, and Shi Tiesheng started talking with a smile on his face.

"When Weimin and I met, he was still studying at the Institute of Literature. I wanted to take classes at the Institute, and another friend, Qu Xiaowei, brought him to pick me up..."

"It seems to be the winter of 1981, right? He bought his first motorcycle in his life and couldn't wait to show it off to me. He specially came to take me for a ride. For this, he also prepared a set of leather jackets and Leather pants.

It was really cold that day. I was sitting on the back seat of his motorcycle, and the north wind was blowing..."

"In the summer of 1983, "Contemporary" held a pen conference in Yantai, and he carried me on the train. At that time, he was already quite famous in China. Maybe he was overheard while chatting, and everyone gathered around to see him..."

"There is an open-air basketball court in the Dongshan Hotel. During that time, when we had nothing to do at night, we would play basketball. Don't look at my bad legs. Weimin pushed me on the court and I was invincible, haha!

But we were also criticized afterwards, and everyone nicknamed me, Weimin, and my wheelchair the ‘Stadium Death Squadron’…”

"The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics was the first time our country had an organized delegation to participate in the Olympics. Xu Haifeng won his first gold medal that day, and he just happened to buy his first car for the people..."

"When did you visit Xiangjiang? By the way, in 1985, many writers went there together. Weimin bought me a wheelchair at that time, and I still use it. The quality is really good. He has a good eye for choosing things. Not bad, good quality and cheap..."

"He made a great contribution to the love between me and Ximi, once when we established a relationship, and once when we got married. At the time of the wedding, Wei Min came up with a bad idea to trick Ximi into coming to Yanjing. Afterwards, Simi told me that he was a really bad person, but one good thing was that he was very good to his friends..."

Christian Salmon listened to his narration, and his face could not help but reveal an expression of yearning.

"What an enviable friendship! The years you spent together were so wonderful!"

Shi Tiesheng smiled and said, "It is a blessing in my life to know Weimin."

"I think he thinks so too."

Christian Salmon asked again: "I just heard you say that he missed your sister's wedding before, and later gave him a big red envelope. He should be among the richest writers in China, right? ?”

"It's not a group, he should be the richest one. Every year, his income from various overseas publications alone is several million dollars, as well as income from drama adaptations. In the past few years, everyone called him Lin Wanwan. Later, He became Lin Wanwan. Last year he launched the Hope Project and donated 10 million yuan, and everyone gave him another nickname, Lin Bancheng."

"Donate 10 million yuan?"

Christian Salmon's face was full of surprise. When he visited Lin Weimin before, he only mentioned that he donated some money, but did not say the specific amount.

"This number is astronomical even in the United States. I can't imagine that a writer can donate so much money!" Christian Salmon said in a tone of amazement.

He asked again: "He likes to do charity, doesn't he?"

“The word charity is still a new term in China, but this is indeed not the first time Weimin has done something like this.

I remember that a few years ago, the Literary and Art Association wanted to set up a foundation and asked Weimin to beg for help. He not only donated hundreds of thousands of dollars himself, but also went to Hong Kong to find a group of wealthy businessmen to raise millions of Hong Kong dollars. For this matter, He also helped people prepare for the filming of a TV series.

By the way, that was the year we visited Xiangjiang. "

Speaking of this, Shi Tiesheng sighed: "We have an old saying in China: A person who is great can benefit the world, and he is talking about people who serve the people."

After hearing what the translator said, Christian Salmon showed admiration on his face, "His deeds deserve to be praised and remembered!"

"He is destined to leave his name in the history of Chinese literature, and his reputation for doing good deeds is nothing to him."

Christian Salmon couldn't help but recall his visit to Lin Weimin. When talking about certain issues, he occasionally felt that Lin Weimin was talking big words. According to Shi Tiesheng's words, Lin Weimin has been practicing what he said.

As he thought about it, another layer of question marks appeared in Christian Salmon's heart.

Doesn't he have any shortcomings?