1980 My literary era

In Guowenshe, JZ housing construction is now the hottest topic.

But in the domestic literary world, there is another hotter topic.

In the third issue of "Contemporary" in 1994, the first issue published Lin Weimin's latest masterpiece, the novel "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea".

This work tells the legendary life of Cantonese opera playwright Jiang Yuliu, nicknamed The Thirteenth Man of the South China Sea.

Although it is based on the deeds of real people, "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea" is not a biography-themed work. Instead, it uses the novelist's style to present the life of Jiang Yuliu, a famous Cantonese opera master, to the public.

For most Chinese people, Cantonese opera is just a local opera with limited influence. Even many northerners have almost zero understanding of Cantonese opera. Lin Weimin suddenly created such a novel based on the famous Cantonese opera master. Not only many colleagues in the literary world were surprised, but also many colleagues in the literary world were surprised. It is also full of surprises for most readers.

Compared with several other competitors, the sales volume of "Contemporary" in the past two years has remained very stable. Although sales were somewhat sluggish in the second half of last year, the basics are still there.

After being launched at the beginning of the month, affected by the release of "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea", sales have followed a beautiful upward curve.

In just one week, sales exceeded one million copies.

"Spirited Away" has been serialized for more than a year and a half, and this novel is also a work of children's literature. If "Spirited Away" is not counted, Lin Weimin has not published a full-length work for nearly three years.

As Lin Weimin's heavyweight work in the literary world for three years, the publication of "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea" naturally attracted the attention of countless colleagues and readers.

"Contemporary" wrote an editor's note at the beginning of "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea", briefly introducing the content of the novel.

Before reading this novel, many people were misled by the editor's note at the beginning, thinking that this was a novel that might contain many Cantonese opera elements. However, after actually reading it, they realized that Cantonese opera was just an embellishment in the novel.

What the novel is really about is the ups and downs of a genius's life in troubled times.

Many people can't help but think of "Farewell My Concubine" written by Lin Weimin when he was just starting out. At first glance, the two have too many similarities, but in detail they are completely different.

Compared with "Farewell My Concubine" back then, Lin Weimin's handling of "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea" was more restrained and mature, and every stroke was already everyone's style.

Within a week of the novel's release, there were more and more letters from readers, and the evaluation of the novel was generally very high.

Cai Wenjing, a junior student from the Chinese Department of Liaodong Normal University, wrote in the letter:

Entering the 1990s, I feel that the creation of novels in China seems to have entered a period of weakness.

The cultivation in the 1970s allowed a large number of Chinese writers to mature in the 1980s. During this period, a number of classic works with widespread influence and readership were produced in China.

Perhaps it was because the previous 1980s was too glorious. After a cursory reading of many novels since the 1990s, there are very few works that can leave a deep impression on people.

When some writers write about creative writing, they attribute this phenomenon to the fact that predecessors have already written everything that can be written, or that changes in the public opinion environment have squeezed the creative freedom of writers.

I think such an idea is extremely absurd. The appearance of Lin Weimin's "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea" appropriately refuted the claims of those writers.

This novel has a solid style. Compared with "Farewell My Concubine", which has many similar elements, "South" has a richer secular atmosphere. Lin Weimin uses simple but precise strokes to describe the old Shanghai, the old Xiangjiang, and the old city. The description of China is not deliberately piled up, but it can make people indulge in it in very short sentences.

Jiang Yuliu, a genius in the Cantonese opera world, is not a fictional character like Cheng Dieyi. He has a lot of materials for research, but these materials also bring constraints to his creation.

I appreciate Lin Weimin's ease in handling the character and plot of Jiang Yuliu and his moderate, fact-based storytelling, which makes the character of Jiang Yuliu more vivid and full, and naturally integrates the character into the tide of the times and the general trend of history, and composes a story. The ups and downs of fate of a proud man in troubled times.

I like the work "Farewell My Concubine" very much, but I have to admit that this work is less frivolous than some classics, and "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea" made me see a potential, that is A potential like Gone with the Wind, like War and Peace.

I immaturely believe that it is a work that can go down in history like the above two works.

"This little girl is pretty good at writing reviews. No wonder she is a top student in the Chinese Department."

Zhang Zhonge read the letters from readers and gave an evaluation.

Zhu Changsheng smiled and said: "Weimin's work this time is highly rated among readers!"

"What's rare is unity of opinion. It's not like some works, which have mixed reviews. Letters from readers either praise or criticize. It seems that it is not easy to get unanimous praise."

"Yes, we have maintained high-level and high-output creations for so many years. Today's writers, those with high output have unstable quality, and those with high quality have low output, but for the people, one work is more stable than the other.

His movie "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea", in my opinion, is too stable and I can't find any faults. It's really hard to evaluate..."

Zhang Zhong'e asked with a smile: "What's the matter? Are you planning to brag about Chief Editor Lin's masterpiece?"

"There's no need for me to take action..."

Zhu Changsheng had a teasing smile on his face and looked at a desk in the office.

Yao Shuzhi joked: "Xiao Tong, it's not good for you to openly do private work during work, isn't it?"

"I can't count this as personal work. This is also to promote the works published by our publication, which can indirectly drive the sales of our publication."

Tong Zhonggui said without blushing or heart beating.

Yao Shuzhi gave him a thumbs up, "Okay, I learned from your master in vain."

"Hehe!" Tong Zhonggui smiled and kept writing.

This day is Friday, and on Fridays, the "Literary Newspaper" publishes.

As the earliest, highest-level and most influential newspaper in the field of literature and art in China, "Literary and Art News" has always been loved by countless domestic literary and art circles and readers, and has a broad audience.

The new "Literary and Art Newspaper" came out early this morning. It was immediately placed in bookstores, post offices, and newsstands all over the country. Some units or families who ordered the newspaper received brand-new "Literary and Art Newspaper" that smelled of ink early in the morning. Newspaper".

When they opened the newspaper while having breakfast or drinking their first cup of tea at work, many people immediately discovered the commentary article published on the second page of the headlines.

"Exquisite skill without craftsmanship, heavy sword without edge - On "The Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea".

The title of the article is a quote from Jin Yong's novel. Many people these days are fans of Jin Yong's books, and they recognize this sentence at a glance.

"It is a pleasure to read Jin Yong's martial arts novels. There is such a sentence in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". I liked it very much, so I used it as the title of the article.

There are certain objective standards for measuring anything, and the same is true for measuring the quality of literary and artistic works. However, people have thousands of faces, and each has different life experiences, ideological realms and artistic accomplishments. Therefore, the understanding and evaluation of a work often vary from person to person.

The work I want to talk about today is the new work "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea" by teacher Lin Weimin. Teacher Lin and I are colleagues, so I dare not talk about the friendship between teachers and students, but he does have a kindness to teach me. The opinions in the article may not be correct, and the attitude may be unfair. I hope my colleagues will criticize and correct me.

…”

The review article is very long. In the first one or two hundred words, the author clearly states his identity and position. Anyone who cares will smile knowingly after taking a look at the signature.

"Su Tong".

He is a writer and the editor of "Contemporary". "Contemporary" is Lin Weimin's stronghold. It is not inappropriate for Su Tong to say this in the article.

At the same time, his words are also the beginning of the story: I am going to praise Teacher Lin to my death today, and it will not be easy for anyone to come.

Looking further, Su Tong first analyzed the content, creative techniques and concepts of "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea" from a professional and detailed perspective. After a long discussion, he turned to talk about the author Lin Weimin.

"The significance and value of "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea" lies in the fact that it not only reflects the tragic fate of a genius involuntarily in the oven of the times with an epic spirit, but also lies in the author's characters, history, events and emotions, etc. The diversified value tendencies presented. It brings people into a cultural atmosphere that is always free and ubiquitous, interpreting the characters' personalities and stories.

During the creation process of this work, Lin Weimin's creative ability and skills have reached the peak state that a contemporary writer can achieve, and there is no one else in the contemporary literary world who can match him.

He keeps pace with the development of Chinese literature in the new era. He is sensitive to the development atmosphere of the society of the times, but also stays away from the world of society. He not only depicts the modern life picture, but also indulges in the traditional cultural atmosphere. The real society carries out super-perceptual reflections, and also carries out metaphysical questioning through the secular world.

In the contemporary literary world, he is a unique writer. He made his debut early, achieved rich results, and has strong and lasting creative power. He has produced new works every year for more than ten years, with new ideas in every department. He is always young, always full of emotions, and always keeps progress.

Standing behind him, I would always feel jealous, ashamed, and frustrated unconsciously. I would struggle to look up to him, look down at him, and then look at him levelly. I always selfishly think that living in the same era as him is the misfortune of all literary creators in this era, not just me.

We are hidden under his radiance, and the closer we draw to him, the dimmer we become.

But this is not a kind of luck. Just like the moon surrounding the sun, just like the stars surrounding the moon, through his brilliance, we also shine out in the dimness. "

After reading the long review of more than 5,000 words, readers had different reactions.

Many readers who like Lin Weimin seem to have seen a close friend. They regard Tong Zhonggui's article as a treasure, constantly recommend it to people around them, and often quote the words in the article to brag about Lin Weimin and "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea".

Some self-proclaimed sensible readers disagree with Tong Zhonggui's comments, thinking that he has no moral integrity and integrity as a scholar, and that he is nakedly flattering his teacher, which is shameful.

My colleagues in the literary world have mixed feelings after reading this article.

They agreed with most of the views in Tong Zhonggui's article, but the bragging about Lin Weimin in the second half made everyone feel a little uncomfortable.

Since ancient times, there is no first in literature and no second in martial arts. It is normal for literati to look down on each other, but they cannot deny that a considerable part of Tong Zhonggui's beautiful words are indisputable facts.

The more contradictory this mentality is, the more it confirms what Tong Zhonggui said in his article.

Like the moon surrounding the sun, like the stars surrounding the moon.

In the sea of ​​stars in the literary world, everyone seems to have become Lin Weimin's foil.