Back to 80: My Literary Life

"Editor Lei, "White Gate Willow" has only published one or two volumes. According to the author's idea, two more volumes will be written later. It is unknown whether the two volumes can maintain the level of the first two volumes."

Fang Minghua continued his analysis: "If the Mao Dun Award is not postponed, only the first two volumes of "Emperor Yongzheng" will be published. Wouldn't that perfectly avoid the failure at the end of the third volume? Everyone will evaluate it favorably. Much?"

After hearing this, Radar put down the chopsticks in his hand, thought for a moment and replied: "What you said makes sense, but unfortunately it can only be said that it is bad luck. Awards are something that sometimes depends on a little luck."

Yes, it takes a little bit of luck.

The book "Emperor Yongzheng" had worse luck.

Relatively speaking, the award-winning "The Autumn of Turmoil" had much better luck.

Of course, "The Autumn of Turmoil" is not yet on the short list of 20 films.

"Eat quickly, the food is cold." Radar said with a smile.

So the two stopped chatting.

They just chatted after dinner.

The meeting continued, and as expected the next day, someone asked Chen Changben, who was presiding over the meeting, to include "The Autumn of Turmoil" on the discussion list for the meeting.

"Today I received an official letter submitted by Comrade Ding Ning, as well as the signatures of Comrade Cai Kui and Wei Wei, to include "The Autumn of Turmoil" written by Comrade Liu Yumin on the agenda of this meeting. In accordance with the "Fourth Session of the "The Mao Dun Literary Award Evaluation Plan" stipulates that the Jury Office has approved it."

As soon as Chen Changben finished speaking, whispers came from the conference room.

Some people present have also read the book "The Autumn of Turmoil". Its literary value and readability are quite average. I didn't expect that someone would ask everyone to read it!

Of course, this is the right of every judge, and there is nothing wrong with it.

Soon, the staff brought a large pile of books, all of which were "Tumultuous Autumn". Everyone present had a copy. Everyone took time to read it, and then everyone discussed it.

Fang Minghua held the book, with the title written on the yellow cover, which looked very simple.

This book was published by the People's Publishing House. Before coming to this era, Fang Minghua was so impressed that he was the winner of the Mao Dun Award that he bought and read this book.

After reading it, he was disappointed. He really couldn't understand why this book won the award.

There are so many good books from the same period, including Yu Hua's, Ge Fei's, Su Tong's, and Liu Zhenyun's. If you pick out any book at random, you can definitely beat this one!

But I just won the award!

Now I am facing this history.

"The Autumn of Turmoil" tells the story of the great changes in rural appearance and interpersonal relationships in the late 1980s, under the impact of the commodity economy, and the various commotions aroused by a "peasant reformer" Yue Pengcheng in reforming the appearance of his hometown.

The protagonist Yue Pengcheng is not only a famous peasant entrepreneur, but also a local emperor who dominates a place; he is not only a trendsetter in the new era, but also an inheritor of old ideas. He admires his father's revolutionary career, but he is incompatible with him; he admires his son's intelligence and talent, but he and his son are at odds with each other.

The novel is not long, just over 200,000 words, and Fang Minghua read it in two nights.

It's really not that good

In his previous life, he was just a literature lover watching the fun, but in this era, he has experienced the golden age of literature, and his understanding of literature is much deeper than before.

If the publishing house is calling for manuscripts, of course this novel has a certain degree of literary quality and can be published, but now it is the selection for the Mao Dun Literary Award!

After dinner tonight, Fang Minghua specifically talked to Radar, and of course it was not just because of the book "The Autumn of Turmoil".

The two of them walked together on the road in front of the hotel.

In Yanjing at the end of May, the sandstorm season has passed, but the weather is not too hot and it is very comfortable to walk on the road.

"Editor Lei, have you finished reading "The Autumn of Turmoil"?" Fang Minghua asked as he walked.

"I finished reading it at noon today." Radar replied, lighting a cigarette.

"What do you think of the writing?"

"Yeah, it's not bad. It has relatively successfully created the artistic image of the peasant reformer Yue Pengcheng, and it has handled the relationship between history, morality and aesthetics well." Radar thought for a while and replied: "In addition, the writing is simple."

"That's it?" Fang Minghua asked.

"How much do you want me to say?" Radar stopped, looked at Fang Minghua and smiled: "I am a commentator, not a trumpeter. I can see these advantages."

Fang Minghua laughed after hearing this.

"Editor Lei, from your tone, you don't think much of this book."

"What about you?" Radar asked.

"I'm not optimistic either." Fang Minghua answered simply.

"reason?"

"This book can be regarded as a reform literature category. From this perspective, compared with Zhang Jie's "Heavy Wings", Li Guowen's "No. 5 Garden Street", Ke Yunlu's "New Star" and other works, " "The Autumn of Turmoil" shows no innovation or progress in terms of character creation or language structure!"

“Especially in terms of content, this novel is too inclined to follow changes in institutional policies. In terms of structure, it simply stays in the mechanical mode of time and space extension. In terms of textual language, it is more like the kind of pale and empty reportage. The entire work lacks a minimum ideological penetration. The penetrating power and artistic appeal cannot bring readers aesthetic pleasure and emotional resonance.”

"The author mainly focuses on Yue Pengcheng, a township entrepreneur, and then records Yue Pengcheng's suffering, bold changes and mental distortion like a running account. The whole story only stays on the surface of the event, neither following the logic of life nor the distortion of his character. The lack of deep exploration of human nature makes the work too superficial and even too vulgar.”

Fang Minghua said so much in one breath, Radar listened carefully, and finally nodded in agreement.

"You're right, this book does leave a lot to be desired."

"I don't know why someone proposed to include this book in the reading range of the jury members?" Fang Minghua expressed his doubts.

Radar did not answer directly but asked: "Minghua, among the 20 novels in the preliminary review, how many of them reflect the reality of reform?"

Fang Minghua thought carefully: "Not many, Hou Quansheng's "Business World" and Peng Mingyan's "Aristocrats of the Century" can fall into this category. But to be fair, I think these two books are worse, not as good as this "Tumultuous Autumn"."

"That's right. There has to be a novel that reflects the reality of reform, right? The dwarf can win the general."

Radar’s words mean a lot.

So that’s it!

Fang Minghua understood instantly.

No wonder this book won the award, surprising many readers. Literary critic Hong Zhigang once commented on the lucky win of "The Turbulent Autumn": "If there is any deeper meaning to its award, it can only be outside literature. Beyond Art.”

"Actually, Minghua, the "Gang Piano" you wrote also belongs to the reform literature, and its literary value is much better than this one. Our reading class discussed that novel for a long time, but it is a pity that you have won the award twice in a row. The Mao Dun Award has to be given up," Radar said again.

That's not what Fang Minghua is thinking about now.

According to history, it is a sure thing that "The Autumn of Turmoil" will win the award. His objection alone will not have much effect. There is a politically correct meaning in this.

"Editor Lei, I also want to recommend a book for the jury to read." Fang Minghua said suddenly.

"Oh, which one?" Radar suddenly became interested.

""Alive" by Yu Hua"