Back to 80: My Literary Life

Of course, Fang Minghua would not be stupid enough to point out on the spot that the 20 novels provided by the reading class after the initial evaluation were not comprehensive enough. He took out a long list of 111 novels and looked at it carefully.

Fortunately, these novels are all on this list.

In the next half month, the 23 members of the jury will read these 20 novels and express their opinions for full discussion.

Although it seems that the time for reading 20 novels in 15 days is tight, in fact, most of the members present have already read these novels. Now they only need to focus on reading and listen to other members' opinions on a certain book.

Today, we will discuss the novel "Emperor Yongzheng".

"Emperor Yongzheng" is a historical novel series created by the writer Er Yuehe. It is the second part of the "Luoxia Trilogy". The novel is divided into three parts: "Emperor Yongzheng·Nine Princes Fighting for the Throne", "Emperor Yongzheng·Diaogong Tianlang" and "Emperor Yongzheng·Hate Water Flowing East".

The speaker now is Zheng Bonong, deputy editor-in-chief of "Literary Theory and Criticism".

Zheng Bonong is almost 60 years old this year. He is a high-ranking official from Fujian. His Mandarin has a strong hometown accent, which is a little unclear if you don't listen carefully.

"Comrades, take a close look at the book "Emperor Yongzheng". I think it is an excellent historical novel. Its advantages are mainly concentrated in the following points."

Zheng Bonong wore reading glasses and read with a notebook: "First, the writing style is unique. The writing style of this book is somewhat similar to "Dream of Red Mansions", that is, it not only relies on the vividness of themes, characters, plot structure, etc., but also relies on a large number of dense descriptions of daily life details."

"Second, combining the pursuit of pure literature with the techniques of popular literature is also an important feature of "Emperor Yongzheng."

"Third, the description of power struggle based on historical facts has expanded the breadth and depth of historical novel creation, rather than overly catering to the public's reading interests, resulting in "flat entertainment functions that flatten the depth of historical culture."

Zheng Bonong's speech lasted for ten minutes before it ended, and everyone in the conference room began to discuss in a low voice.

"Minghua, what do you think of this book? "Radar, who was sitting next to Fang Minghua, asked in a low voice.

"I think what Editor-in-Chief Zheng said makes sense." Fang Minghua did not hide his point of view.

"This novel not only allows people to see the complicated historical events and historical struggles in the grand historical picture scroll, but also allows people to feel the fresh and simple historical customs and people in the gentle and delicate folk paintings, and the character creation is also quite good. "

"Yes, it is." Radar nodded and said:

"When the members of the reading class saw "Emperor Yongzheng" from a pile of books, they thought it was just an ordinary popular reading material at first and almost threw it aside. Later, they accidentally flipped through it and found that it was a rare and considerable novel, so they rescued it. Hey, do you think this book will win the award in the end? "

Of course, it is too early to say it will win the award now, but it is okay to talk about it privately with good relationships. Fang Minghua was about to speak when he suddenly heard someone say: "I just listened to Editor-in-Chief Zheng's speech. Let me talk about my different opinions on this novel. ”

Why is it that another person sounds strenuous when speaking?

Fang Minghua looked and saw that it was another person from Fujian Province!

Zeng Zhennan, a native of Zhangpu, Fujian Province, is the deputy editor-in-chief of Literary Review of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Huh?

Two people from Fujian Province are competing with each other!

The venue suddenly became quiet.

"Editor-in-chief Zheng just talked about the advantages of this novel, and I agree with it, but!" Zeng Zhennan paused, looked around and emphasized his tone.

"This novel also has its shortcomings, some of which I think are fatal! According to the principles of historical novels that are recognized by the academic community to deal with historical facts: the plots of famous historical events are generally not suitable for fictionalization, and the basic appearance of important historical figures is generally not suitable for fictionalization."

"But this novel made a self-righteous adaptation of Yongzheng's death! Yongzheng's death has always been one of the mysteries in the Qing Palace. There are only two kinds of stories in the folk and in the history books: normal death and stabbing by hatred of women; but the author of this novel has created his own unique opinion: suicide by drinking a knife, which seriously violates the facts and is the biggest failure of this novel! It is also a blasphemy against the symbol of historical novel creation! "

"In addition, there are many such failures in the novel, that is, obvious historical errors that appear only because the author wants to show off his historical knowledge to show his profound knowledge." For example, in the 52nd chapter of the novel: "The high bird has gone, the good bow should be hidden, the scholar is wise and prudent to protect his body", there is such a passage:

Seeing the other party's endless speech, Fang Minghua was stunned.

Damn!

Fortunately, I have never written a historical novel. In this era without the Internet, there is not so much information for you to check. If I write it, I will probably be scolded to death by these people.

However, people did read this novel seriously, and why did the author Er Yuehe have to be so ingenious in dealing with the death of Yongzheng?

It is obviously a thankless task.

Zeng Zhennan's speech was agreed by most of the participants, and Fang Minghua sighed in his heart.

It is not unreasonable that this book was not selected in the end.

It's hanging

But the novel is really well written. When we buy the adaptation rights and let Shengshi Film and Television make it into a TV series, it will also be popular.

After this business trip is over, I will contact the author Er Yuehe, Fang Minghua thought.

The comments on "White Gate Willow" are relatively unified.

The author started writing this book in 1981 and published the fourth volume in 1998, which took a full 16 years. The author also wrote from the age of 35 to 51!

The first and second volumes are participating in the competition this time. The works are permeated with the charm and style of oriental culture, with elegant style, vivid characters, and dignified and exquisite writing. It is a typical literati historical novel.

At the meeting, Yong Wenhua, deputy director of the Creation and Research Department of the Chinese Writers Association, joked with Fang Minghua: "Minghua, the first World Chinese Literature Award for Best Novel sponsored by your Qin Province Writers Association was awarded to this "White Gate Willow". It seems that you have a good eye for pearls. I guess you will definitely vote for him this time!"

Fang Minghua laughed: "Director Yong, you are wrong. At that time, I was just a member of the reading class. The final selection was made by the members of the jury. It should be said that the members of the jury had a good eye for pearls, and I can't say it."

"Oh, what do you think of this novel?"

"It's pretty good." Fang Minghua replied.

"How does it compare to the book 'Emperor Yongzheng'?"

"Each has its own merits. As for their respective advantages and disadvantages, everyone has just said it, and I agree with it."

Seeing Fang Minghua laugh, Yong Wenhua did not ask any more questions.

During dinner in the evening, Lei Da and Fang Minghua gathered together, Lei Da smiled and asked: "Minghua, are you a little biased towards 'Emperor Yongzheng'?"

"Yes." This time Fang Minghua did not hide his opinion.