1980 My literary era

Since 1980, Lin Weimin has written more than a dozen novels.

Over the years, his novels have gained countless readers at home and abroad. Every time a work is published, it is almost a feast for the literary world and the readership community.

The full-page review article in "Literary News" was like a clarion call, and various review articles and post-reading articles about "Don't Knock Tomorrow Again" were published in literary journals across the country like mushrooms after a spring rain.

Those review articles by professional writers and critics are okay. They basically analyze the works from a fair and objective perspective. Most of them have good reviews. At most, someone secretly expresses their disapproval of Lin Weimin's handling of the problem in a certain paragraph of the article. Dissatisfaction with the way certain plots are used.

But this is not the case for many post-reading reflections articles published in newspapers. These articles are basically submitted by readers, and newspapers do not demand professionalism or objectivity, as long as they are meaningful.

As soon as these articles were published, readers praised Lin Weimin's works a lot, but scolded Lin Weimin even more harshly.

Praising the work and criticizing the author may sound divisive, but there is no conflict at all.

Yu Hua's most enjoyable thing every day these days is to look through various newspapers to check the readers' contributions to "Don't Knock on the Door Tomorrow".

Seeing Lin Weimin being scolded, he felt a sense of pleasure for some reason, as if the scolding he had received for his novel had been transferred to Lin Weimin's head.

This morning, when he was reading the newspaper, he couldn't help but burst into laughter, which attracted the attention of his colleagues in the editorial department.

Realizing his gaffe, Yu Hua immediately restrained his expression, but just after he was serious for a few seconds, his eyes glanced at a certain paragraph of text on the newspaper, and he couldn't help but reveal a happy smile on his face.

"In terms of abusing the protagonist, Lin Weimin is worse than Yu Hua, and he is a repeat offender with a bad record!"

Yu Hua deeply agreed with this passage. I used to write novels and I was not like this now. If I hadn’t learned from Teacher Lin, how could he be in such a bad situation today... Bah, bah, bah, he has achieved such outstanding results.

It was almost lunch time, and several colleagues around them stopped what they were doing to chat. As they chatted, they talked about the sales of several publications in the company.

"Hey, I heard that the sales of this issue of "Contemporary" exceeded two million copies?"

"You are an old almanac. The 600,000 copies printed yesterday were just sent out. We are rushing to get 3 million copies."

"Hey guys, this has only been on the market for a few days!"

"Look, I can't stop selling three million copies this time."

"It's amazing! I'm confused. The president's novel is so good, but why is it so popular?"

Several colleagues were discussing this topic seriously, and Yu Hua couldn't help but put down the newspaper and participate.

"Your question is interesting. How did Teacher Lin get such terrifying appeal among readers? I think everyone is very curious about this question." Yu Hua said.

Colleagues saw his firm tone and seemed to have a draft in mind, "Editor-in-chief, you are familiar with the president, please tell everyone!"

"It doesn't matter whether you are familiar with it or not. In fact, if you think about it carefully, you will understand. Let me ask you first, how many novels has Mr. Lin written in total over the years? Let's just refer to medium and long novels, not short stories."

After asking several colleagues about Yu Hua's questions, they immediately began to answer them seriously.

""Insidious", "Cliff" and "The Wind", a trilogy of spy novels."

"The Story of Stealing Officials" and "The Story of Promoted Officials".

"'The Horseman', 'The Lover', and 'The Chase'."

…

When I didn't count, I didn't feel it, but when I started counting, everyone's expressions gradually became surprised.

19 novels!

A total of 19 novels and novels!

It turns out that Lin Weimin has created so many works.

Among the 19 works, except for the novella "Latent", the rest of the works are all full-length novels.

Even if each novel is calculated as 200,000 words, it is a production of nearly 4 million words, not to mention that there are also large works of 500,000 words or more such as "The Horse Trapper", "The Ming Dynasty 1566" and "God Bless the United States".

"I have calculated this number, and including the recently published "Don't Knock on the Door Tomorrow", there are a total of 5.19 million words."

Yu Hua's tone was a little proud, as if he had done something great.

Several colleagues were immersed in surprise at Lin Weimin's high productivity, and did not think it was boring for Yu Hua to do such a thing.

In the past, they only knew that Lin Weimin had a high output, but they had not made any statistics. Now that they heard the specific figures from Yu Hua, they could not hide their surprise.

"President hasn't turned 40 yet this year, right?"

"People born in 1960 are only 37 years old this year."

"37 years old! He remembers that he started to emerge in the literary world in 1980, and it has only been 17 years now, with 5.19 million words. This number of words is almost as big as that of Ba Lao, right?"

"It's different. The types of Balao's works are mixed. Although I haven't counted them, the volume of Balao's novels is definitely much smaller than that of the president."

"You can't count it that way. Prose and essays are also works!"

"Have you ever seen any writer who can produce works at the rate of one or two works per year in the past twenty years without interruption? What's more, all of the president's works are high-quality, and some of them are internationally renowned. A classic!"

Several colleagues debated a few words about the value of Lin Weimin's and Balo's works, but did not come up with a reason. Since ancient times, there has never been a first in literature, and arguing about this kind of thing will not lead to any results.

"Haha, you have been counting for a long time. 19 works, 5.19 million words. This output is very high, right? What about sales?" Yu Hua asked.

"Sales volume? Needless to say? "Spirited Away" has sold almost 22 million copies, right? It's just a few years ago. There are also "Farewell My Concubine", "Lover", "Ming Dynasty 1566"... Oops, I can’t even count them. There are too many popular books by the president.”

Yu Hua nodded slightly, "Needless to mention the book with the highest sales, everyone is familiar with it. Let me ask you, do you know which book has the lowest sales among all the president's works?"

Everyone looked hesitant when they heard this, and someone was the first to speak: ""Chasing the Murderer", right? I remember when this novel first came out, everyone was clamoring that it was too brain-consuming to read, and many people couldn't read it."

"No, that's not right. "The Pursuit" is a classic of avant-garde literature, and it was extremely popular at the time. At that time, regardless of whether it was read or not, it was fashionable for everyone to hold a copy of "The Pursuit", just like one year everyone followed the trend and bought Same as "Ming Dynasty 1566"."

"I think it's "Promotion". The audience for political satirical novels has never been very large. The sales of this novel were pretty good when it was first published, but later it seemed that the sales were not so good."

It is true that Lin Weimin's works are selling well, but not everyone pays attention to every work from beginning to end, so we only have a vague idea of ​​the sales of many works many years after they are published.

Several people guessed for a long time, and Yu Hua shook his head and rejected all the names he mentioned.

"What you said is wrong. The lowest-selling novel is "If You Have Something to Say"."

Two colleagues looked a little surprised, "You can't, right? I read this novel when I was in high school. It's very well written! And didn't the movie earn nearly 100 million at the box office last year? How popular it is!"

"When "Speak Well" was published in the early 1980s, you guys were still in school at that time and didn't understand the inside story." Yu Hua popularized science for a few people, "At that time, scar literature , reform literature became popular, and root-seeking literature was in the ascendant. The style of "If You Have Something to Say" was unique at the time. Everyone was suffering and resenting each other. Teacher Lin suddenly told a story that focused on urban life and told the story of communication between people. , which was very unpopular with some critics and writers at the time."

After listening to Yu Hua's explanation, several young colleagues nodded, not knowing that "Speak Well" had such an experience back then.

"Of course. The evaluation of the novel "Speak Well" is actually not low, it just has a unique style. This novel has been published for more than ten years and sold 1.8 million copies last year."

1.8 million copies is already an extremely excellent result for the vast majority of works by most authors.

But among Lin Weimin's works, this sales performance can only be ranked at the bottom.

"Let's go back to the question we just asked, why are Teacher Lin's works so popular?

Think about it, starting from "Latent", which of Mr. Lin's works has not always maintained extremely high literary and artistic standards?

After so many years, relying on the accumulation of good works, how many loyal readers will he have to accumulate?

Let me just say that you young people, have you ever read his novels?

Even if many people didn't like watching it before, they can't bear to have people around them watching it.

Do you remember "The Ming Dynasty 1566", right? At that time, it was rumored that it was a bedside reading material for the elderly, and millions of copies were sold in a rush. Who worked in the government and public institutions, especially leading cadres, did not have a copy at home?

And "God Bless the United States". Have you all heard of the comments made by the big leaders? Regardless of whether you like reading or not, you should find a book and hug it for a while.

In addition, there are the awards that Teacher Lin has won overseas. How many times have he brought glory to the country!

I don’t know if you care about foreign literature. You can collect a few literary magazines or literary review magazines from European and American countries and take a look. Teacher Lin’s popularity in overseas countries may subvert your imagination..."

When Yu Hua said this, someone interrupted him, "I think it's more than that."

"Everyone feels honored that the president has brought glory to the country. But the thing that impressed me most about the president was when he donated 10 million yuan to Project Hope that year. I was still in college at that time. The monthly living expenses are only 20 yuan. 10 million yuan, I would never dare to dream of this figure.

When the news came out, the students in our dormitory and class were all excited.

On the one hand, everyone lamented the president's wealth, on the other hand, they also respected his magnanimity even more.

That was 10 million yuan, which is more than 80 million yuan now. If you take into account the inflation over the years, I think you will definitely have two to three billion, and I would be reluctant to donate it anyway.

I was particularly impressed by what a classmate in our dormitory said at that time, and I still remember it today:

Donate the 10 million yuan as soon as you say it, and you deserve to make money.

After he said this, he turned around and went to the bookstore to buy all of Teacher Lin's books, which cost him more than a month's living expenses. Many people in our class bought them. "

"You said this, and it's true when I think about it. That year, the news of Project Hope was overwhelming, and our school also organized a donation of a lot of money. The president's donation was really unforgettable. At that time, my father's salary was just To 100 yuan.”

Recalling their past common experiences, everyone talked with great enthusiasm, and the content gradually deviated from the original topic and began to discuss Lin Weimin's current net worth.

While several people were chatting, there was the sound of chaotic footsteps in the corridor.

Yu Hua raised his hand and looked at his watch, "Hey! It's 11:30, let's not talk about it for now. There is braised lion's head in the cafeteria at noon today. If you go late, it will be gone."

After saying that, he ignored everyone and was the first to rush out of the door.

When the others heard this, they immediately stood up and talked about how important it was to eat!

If you miss this lion's head meal, you have to wait another week.