Literary Master 1978

The publication date of "Big Times" in Hong Kong is exactly two days different from that in the mainland, both in early October.

In the past few years, Lin Chaoyang has gained a group of loyal readers in Hong Kong.

Although the scale of these readers cannot be compared with the audience of popular books such as martial arts novels and comics, the number is also quite considerable.

Among them are not only ordinary citizens, but also a large part of the elite class in Hong Kong.

Before "Big Times" was released, Ming Pao Publishing House had been preheating it in several newspapers and periodicals under its own brand for more than half a month.

As soon as the novel was released, many readers rushed into the bookstore to buy the book, and couldn't wait to get a sneak peek.

The story of "Big Times" mainly revolves around the stock market. Compared with Lin Chaoyang's previous novels, the plot is popular, with revenge for the murder of the father, love between children, ups and downs in the stock market...

Even readers who are not familiar with the stock market and stocks can easily read it and unknowingly indulge in it, moved by the joys and sorrows of the characters, and worried about the ups and downs of the story.

But everything has its pros and cons. The easy-to-understand plot has won the love and support of some readers, but also disappointed some readers.

This type of readers basically have some common characteristics, most of them are from elite families or have a high level of education.

The most favorite works of Lin Chaoyang are "The Death of Van Gogh", "The Ferry" and "The Truman Show".

They usually prefer to listen to the calls for help from afar, but turn a blind eye to the suffering nearby.

They are not very interested in works such as "Crossing Guandong" and "Parasite".

Although "Big Times" is very popular, both the theme and the ideology are very localized and very close to the people.

For them, such works can be used for entertainment, but they really can't bring any spiritual pleasure or spiritual baptism.

Therefore, a few days after "Big Times" was released, this novel gradually formed two completely different reputations among readers in Hong Kong.

Corresponding to this is the love and praise of most readers. In the eyes of these readers, Lin Chaoyang's profound insight into human nature shown in "Big Times" is extremely rare in the Hong Kong literary world.

Many people hate and love the villain Ding Hai in the novel. They hate his paranoia, selfishness, and ignorance, and love Lin Chaoyang's portrayal of this character.

He is portrayed as a person who lives in his own world and has a set of absurd logic. He always thinks he is right.

Even if his behavior brings great pain and disaster to others, it is also someone else's fault.

Ding Hai's existence is like a mirror. Such characters seem contradictory, but in fact they are everywhere in reality.

In addition to the in-depth portrayal of human nature, the profound criticism of social reality in "Big Times" is also unforgettable.

The gap between the rich and the poor and the class solidification depicted in the novel are only stronger than "Parasite". It may not make people feel desperate like "Parasite", but the various injustices revealed are more chaotic.

The poor rushed into the stock market, a game of making money, waving their hard-earned money, thinking that they could realize the dream of getting rich overnight.

In fact, they are just the fat meat on the chopping board of the rich and the evil, who easily squeezed out the hard-earned money through fraud, manipulation and speculation without having to bear any legal consequences.

This cannot even be called a fraud, but an organized and premeditated social robbery.

These tragic descriptions in "Big Times" are not only aimed at the rich and the unkind, but also criticize the chaos in the Hong Kong financial market.

The reason why those rich and evil people dare to be so rampant, can call the wind and rain, harm countless shareholders, and grab huge wealth is ultimately because of the connivance, shelter, and even conspiracy of corrupt officials.

Compared with the rich and the evil, those termites in the cloak of hypocrisy are more disgusting.

The hateful thing about these people is that the evil they do is great evil, but their purpose is often just their own petty profits.

Of course, what the novel wants to express is not just a simple criticism of negative characters.

In Lin Chaoyang's writing, these people are just ants in the big era.

In the face of the impermanence of fate, people are powerless to change anything.

Ding Hai thought he could change, but he jumped off the building; Long Chengbang thought he could change, but his later years were miserable; Fang Zhanbo thought he could change, but he lost the love of his life.

These characters have different but similar fates, which have given readers the strongest spiritual shock and naturally won the love of these readers.

The reading atmosphere in Hong Kong society is not strong, especially for serious literary works. The listing and sales of "Big Times" and the discussion and evaluation were initially limited to the reader group.

On October 19, the Hang Seng Index plummeted, but readers did not realize the problem.

A week after the Hang Seng Index plummeted, the media exclaimed that the stock market crash in 1973 reappeared. Some readers who played stocks themselves finally realized that the third stock market crash described in "Big Times" seemed to coincide with the trend in reality.

This discovery immediately excited them.

The news spread from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, and then it was noticed by newspaper reporters.

After some verification, it was found that there were indeed some similarities.

The stock market has been on the nerves of almost every citizen in Hong Kong these days, and even the most obtuse reporter would realize that this is likely to be another hot news story.

In just two days, the "accurate predictions" in "The Great Times" appeared in newspapers of all sizes in Hong Kong.

Twenty or thirty newspapers reported continuously, and the articles were overwhelming, and the popularity was higher than Xu Guanwen's attack on the Freedom Association more than ten days ago.

With the help of media reports, "The Great Times" came to the public of Hong Kong.

Influenced by the surge in the Hang Seng Index over the past year, the number of stock investors in Hong Kong now accounts for one-third of the total population.

If calculated by family unit, the number of stock investors almost covers the entire city's population.

At present, the stock market crash is in full swing, and stock investors are in dire straits. The media suddenly exposed the "accurate predictions" of "The Great Times", and stock investors immediately flocked to it.

They flocked to bookstores on the streets and alleys, wanting to buy a copy of "The Great Times" to find out.

Lin Chaoyang has many readers in Hong Kong, but the stock investor group is even larger. The public attention brought by the news boom has even surpassed the stock investor group and has become a cultural phenomenon that everyone pays attention to.

Going to bookstores to buy "The Great Times" has become the most fashionable thing for Hong Kong citizens in recent days.

Citizens flocked to the bookstores and crowded all the major bookstores in Hong Kong. The stock of "The Great Times" was cleared out by enthusiastic citizens in less than two days.

Dong Qiao was so happy during these two days that he arranged for the printing factory to reprint day and night.

But reprinting, shipping, and putting on the shelves always take time. The bookshelves of the bookstores are still empty. Many citizens who heard the news could not buy "The Great Times" and complained.

Such a situation has further promoted the enthusiasm of the media to report on "The Great Times" and citizens to discuss "The Great Times".

In less than a week, the three words "The Great Times" can be heard everywhere in Hong Kong where there are stockholders.

Since the news wave appeared, the sales of "The Great Times" have remained high for many consecutive days, and the enthusiasm of readers to buy it is difficult to match even the new work of Huang Yulang, the top comic in Hong Kong, which is now on the market.

It took less than four days to sell 100,000 copies of works such as "Crossing Guandong" and "The Truman Show", which took one or two years to sell before, and the sales volume is still rising like a rocket.

150,000 copies, 200,000 copies, 300,000 copies...

Since the publication of pure literary works in Hong Kong, there has never been such an exaggerated situation. While attracting the attention of the Hong Kong literary community, it has also fallen into a state of envy and speechlessness.

After the initial wave of news reports, media reporters began to contact Lin Chaoyang to try to interview him, but without exception, they could not get in touch.

These reporters did not give up and ran to the gates of Lin's Film and Jiahui Garden in Mid-Levels to squat on Lin Chaoyang.

As a result, they squatted for two days. In the morning of this day, they chatted with Tao Yumo, who was yawning and about to go to work, and got a bad news from her.

Lin Chaoyang went abroad two days ago!

This sudden news almost broke the hearts of the reporters who had been squatting for two days.

"You journalists are so uninformed!"

Tao Yumo's ridicule was like salt sprinkled on the journalists' wounds, and the journalists' faces turned green.

But adhering to the professionalism of journalists, some people still struggled to ask: "Ms. Tao, is Mr. Lin going abroad for business this time? Or for vacation?"

"What vacation? To receive an award!" Tao Yumo said casually.

The originally discouraged journalists' eyes brightened up immediately after hearing her words. With their nose of news coverage for many years, they concluded that this award must be extraordinary.

Otherwise, who would go abroad to receive an award for no reason!

"Ms. Tao, is it convenient to ask Mr. Lin what award he went to receive this time?"

"A French literary award, called the Renaudot Literature Award, do you know it?"

Faced with Tao Yumo's question, the journalists remained silent.

If we answer that we don't know at this time, won't it seem that everyone is uneducated?

"I know, I know! It's a very famous French award!" A reporter said flatteringly.

Tao Yumo clapped her hands, with a proud smile on her face, and praised: "You reporters know more. This is the second most famous literary award in France after the Goncourt Prize!"

The reporters were immediately surprised. It was so famous?

Fortunately, I didn't say I didn't know just now, otherwise I would have been embarrassed.

While feeling lucky, they immediately put aside the issue of face and asked Tao Yumo about the specific details of Lin Chaoyang's award.

"No, no, I still have to go to work."

Tao Yumo said a few words to the reporters, suddenly glanced at her watch, and left in a hurry regardless of the reporters' obstruction.

As soon as she left, the source of information was gone. The reporters stared blankly for a while, and each went their own way to think of a solution.

"Big Times" is now very popular, and the author Lin Chaoyang is the focus of the whole city. Any news about him can enjoy the headline treatment.

Moreover, from what Tao Yumo said, the award he won this time seems to be quite unusual, and they have to investigate it carefully.

At the same time in France, Paris.

Paris in early November was already in the early winter.

The weather was gloomy and it looked like it was going to snow, adding a bit of chill. Lin Chaoyang stood at the window and admired the street scene of Paris for a few minutes.

He landed in Paris yesterday afternoon. Clement Metayer came to pick him up on behalf of Gallimard Publishing House and arranged him at the Lenox Hotel next to Paris University Street.

Although it is called a hotel, the scale of the Lenox Hotel is not small. It not only has accommodation business, but also restaurants and bars.

According to Clement Metayer, the area where the Lenox Hotel is located is the Latin Quarter.

For more than a hundred years, this area has been called the "Literature Quarter" by Parisians, and countless writers, poets and cultural scholars have lived here.

"The Rulian who won the 'Rulian Award' also lived here back then."

This is the only connection that Clermont Meteille can find between the Latin Quarter and Lin Chaoyang. Stanislas Julien is a well-known French sinologist.

On his first night in Paris, Lin Chaoyang didn't sleep too well. He got up and rested at the window for a while to relax.

After washing and getting dressed, he went downstairs to have breakfast.

The breakfast at the hotel is very simple, just milk, coffee, baguettes, croissants, and jam.

The baguette was as hard as a rock, so Lin Chaoyang decisively chose the croissant.

But he escaped the baguette, but he didn't escape the coffee that was worse than a working man's life.

After a difficult breakfast, Lin Chaoyang sat in the lobby of the hotel waiting for someone. He was unfamiliar with Paris and needed a guide.

"The weather is nice today, it actually snowed."

He had not waited long before Clermont Meteille arrived.

"Lin, it looks like you slept well last night?"

"It's not bad. It would be better if the breakfast could be richer."

After chatting for a while, Clément Meteye added: "There are still more than two hours until the award ceremony. How about going for a drink?"

Lin Chaoyang:? ? ?

Is this what you French people feel like about relaxation?

"With weather like this, it would be a waste not to have a drink."

Seeing Lin Chaoyang's dissatisfied expression, Clement Meteye could only mumble and retracted his thoughts.

"Since you don't want to have a drink, let's go first. It's snowing outside and there might be a traffic jam."

When we left the hotel, there were snowflakes in the sky.

Leng Buding came to Paris in the early winter from the warm Xiangjiang. Even though he was already wearing a down jacket, Lin Chaoyang still shrugged unaccustomedly and got into Clément Meteye's Chevrolet.

Clement Meteille was right, there was indeed a traffic jam on the way to Tuon's restaurant.

The Touron restaurant is located in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. Clement Meteille's Chevrolet finally reached the intersection of the restaurant with difficulty, and then it was difficult to move.

"There are too many cars on this street today. Let's walk there."

Clermont Meteille found a place to park his car and led Lin Chaoyang on foot to the door of Tuon Restaurant. The restaurant full of French style was decorated with a brand new look today.

France is a major literary country in Europe, with hundreds of literary awards being awarded and awarded every year.

Starting from August every year, literary awards events in Paris take place one after another.

November is the peak month, because several heavyweight literary awards in France will be awarded one after another at this time, so it is also called "Literary Award Month".

Today is the first Tuesday in November, and it is also the day when the Prix Goncourt and the Renaudeau Literary Prize are awarded simultaneously.

Not only that, the two awards were even presented at the same restaurant and announced together.

The main purpose of the establishment of the Renaudeau Literary Prize was to make up for the shortcomings of the Goncourt Literary Prize, which can be regarded as a disguised form of popularity.

However, it was very successful. After half a century, it directly became the most influential literary award in France, second only to the Prix Goncourt in influence.

When Clement Meteye and Lin Chaoyang arrived at the restaurant, it was already crowded.

Two heavyweight literary awards were awarded at the same time. Today, the Toon restaurant can be said to be the most high-profile restaurant in Paris.

At this time, many Parisian people gathered in front of the Touon restaurant, most of whom were literature lovers.

Knowing that the Goncourt Literary Prize and the Renaudeau Literary Prize will be awarded today, I came here to see the excitement, which brought out a lively festival atmosphere.

In addition to these people watching the excitement, there were also reporters from major newspapers in Paris inside and outside the Toon restaurant.

and invited award-winning writers over the years, as well as editors, critics and jury members from major well-known publishing houses.

Before Lin Chaoyang entered the restaurant, he saw several faces with yellow skin and black hair at the door.

"Comrade Chaoyang!"

After Secretary Zhou's introduction, Zou Dai stepped forward and enthusiastically held Lin Chaoyang's hand.

China and France established diplomatic relations in the 1960s, and France is one of the five permanent members.

Zou Daishi was the envoy stationed in France and had the rank of minister, but seeing the smile on Lin Chaoyang's face was like seeing the leader coming.

There was certainly a reason why he was so happy.

Lin Chaoyang's winning of the Lenaudeau Literature Prize seems to be a personal matter, but in fact it is a testimony of cultural exchanges between China and France. This award also bears a share of his contribution to Zou Daishi.

There are two rounds of selection for the Renaudeau Literature Prize. When Lin Chaoyang entered the shortlist as early as September, the embassy had already received the news.

This is not because the embassy is well-informed, but because information is not transmitted smoothly these days.

The Renaudeau Literary Prize jury had to first contact the French cultural department, and then contact the China Literary and Art Association through the embassy in France before they could contact the author Lin Chaoyang.

More than a week ago, the results of the second round of the Renaudeau Literature Prize came out. After Lin Chaoyang was confirmed as the winner, the French Consulate in Guangzhou gave the green light to apply for a visa for Lin Chaoyang to go to France.

Yesterday, Secretary Zhou, who was staying at the embassy, ​​went to the airport to pick him up. Originally, the embassy was planning to arrange for Lin Chaoyang's food and accommodation in Paris, but Gallimard Publishing House had already made arrangements, so Lin Chaoyang did not go with them.

"This is reporter Nie from the New H Agency. This time I learned that Comrade Chaoyang has won this honor, so I came here specially from the UK."

Secretary Zhou introduced Lin Chaoyang to a square-faced middle-aged man wearing glasses.

Zou Daishi asked about the food and accommodation, and asked Lin Chaoyang how he felt now.

"I have won many awards in China, but this is my first time abroad. I am still very happy." Lin Chaoyang replied with a smile.

After chatting for a while, Zou Daishi and others surrounded Lin Chaoyang and walked into the Tuong Restaurant.

As soon as they came in, they felt the eyes of many guests in the restaurant looking at them.

The winners of the Renaudot Literature Prize will not be announced in the media in advance, but the winners will be notified in advance, so after the results of the award are announced, it will no longer be a secret in the French literary world.

Everyone knows that the winner of this year's Renaudot Literature Prize is a Chinese writer.

Therefore, when Lin Chaoyang and others appeared, the reporters, guests and judges in the restaurant knew that one of the protagonists of today was here.

In the history of the Renaudot Literature Prize, it is not uncommon to award the award to foreigners, but according to the original trajectory, it should be more than ten years later.

A group of French people watched Lin Chaoyang and others enter the restaurant with salutes, and guessed who was the winner.

It was not until Clement Metayer introduced Lin Chaoyang to Christian Giudicelli, one of the judges of the Renaudot Prize, that everyone suddenly realized.

The author of "The Truman Show" is such a young writer!

In the eyes of Europeans and Americans, Asians look young, and Lin Chaoyang is indeed young. Many people present had incredible eyes.

In their imagination, a satirical novel with a strong absurd color like "The Truman Show" should come from an old writer who is over fifty but still stubborn and unyielding to the secular world.

No one expected that the writer who created him was actually a college student.

In the surprised eyes of the crowd, Lin Chaoyang shook hands and greeted the judges of the Renaudot Prize one by one, and also said hello to the group of judges of the Goncourt Prize.

The judges of the Goncourt Prize have a high-sounding title-Academician.

The "Goncourt" in the Goncourt Prize refers to Jules de Goncourt, who was a French naturalist novelist along with his brother Edmond de Goncourt.

Jules de Goncourt died in 1870, and his brother Edmond de Goncourt was heartbroken. He made a will, and in order to commemorate his brother, he used his inheritance as a fund to establish the Goncourt Academy, which is the Goncourt Prize Selection Committee.

This is the origin of the so-called "academician".

It is worth mentioning that the first batch of academicians of the Goncourt Academy were all friends of the Goncourt brothers, including Flaubert, Zola, Daudet and others.

In today's world, any one of them is a figure that young literary people worship.

Compared with the Goncourt Prize, which was born with a silver spoon in its mouth, the Renaudot Prize seems more grassroots.

The early members of the jury were all journalists and critics, because the establishment of the Renaudot Prize itself was because a group of journalists and critics were bored waiting for the Goncourt Prize, so they set up an award themselves.

Since its inception, it has maintained a jury of 10 members, and it has not changed for so many years.

There are still journalists in the jury, but writers and critics are the mainstream, and most of the writers are winners of the Renaudot Prize in the early years.

For example, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, a French writer in his fifties, won the Renaudot Prize for his debut work "The Proceedings" as early as the 1960s.

In 2008, he also won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

It suddenly snowed, and the whole of Paris was shrouded in a dark sky, but the atmosphere in the Tuon restaurant was relaxed and cheerful.

Whether it is the Goncourt Prize or the Renaudot Prize, the winners have been selected.

Today's process is to announce the winners of the awards and have a meal in the Tuon restaurant.

While Lin Chaoyang was greeting the judges, another protagonist of today, Tahar Ben Jelloun, also appeared.

He won this year's Goncourt Prize for his work "Sacred Night".

To be precise, it should be the novel award of the Goncourt Prize.

The Goncourt Academy also selects works such as the Goncourt Newcomer Award and the Goncourt Novella Award every year, but they are not awarded together with the Goncourt Prize, but in September every year.

Tahar Ben Jelloun is a Moroccan, over 40 years old, with a big beard. Standing with him, Lin Chaoyang looks younger.

The judges of the Renaudot Prize are quite proud to see this situation, because one of the principles of the Renaudot Prize is to reward young writers.

Time passed unknowingly, and the atmosphere in the Tuong Restaurant did not become serious because of the upcoming awards. It was still so casual, and even the judges had already sat down and waited for dinner.

Accompanied by a crisp bell, it was not about to award the awards, but the waiter was ready to serve the dishes.

The lunch menu for the Goncourt Prize is fixed every year, with caviar, lobster and foie gras as the appetizer, roasted wild venison as the hot dish, followed by various cheeses, mille-feuille ice cream, coffee, chocolate and cookies as desserts, and expensive wine.

It stands to reason that such a meal would cost several hundred francs per person, even if it is roughly estimated.

But when the jury had eaten and drunk their fill, the restaurant handed over the bill, which showed only two francs.

The price of the meal was inexplicable, and the price of the wine was equally outrageous, with wine at one franc per bottle and champagne at one and a half francs.

Of course, this is not because the price of goods has depreciated hundreds of times at once, but because the restaurant of Touang has always insisted on the meal price in the era of the first Goncourt Prize in 1903, which has not changed to this day.

After lunch, the judges of the Goncourt Prize announced the winning writers and works after a symbolic discussion.

Tahar Ben Jelloun stood up from the table and took the symbolic 50 francs prize from the hands of Edmond Charles Roux, the chairman of the jury.

In the early years, the prize money of the Goncourt Prize was not so pitiful, as much as 5,000 francs.

However, for the winners of the Goncourt Prize, whether it is 50 francs or 5,000 francs, there is actually not much difference.

The benefits brought to them by the Goncourt Prize far exceed the role of those prizes.

After the Goncourt Prize is over, the Renaudot Prize will be awarded.

Unlike the Goncourt Prize, where the academicians have to have a formalistic discussion after the award ceremony, the winner of the Renaudot Prize was announced directly by the first-place winner, Christian Giudicelli.

"It is an amazing and thought-provoking classic with extraordinary artistic charm and profound ideological connotation.

Bold and innovative, it explores the themes of freedom, truth and courage with a seemingly absurd setting, deeply touching the hearts of every reader.

It makes the gradually declining absurd literature shine again in the sky of Paris, and it is - "The Truman Show"!

Let us congratulate Lin Chaoyang from China!"

Christian Giudicelli's award speech was generous and powerful, full of inspiring power, which made the listeners excited.