Chapter 462: The Consequences of "Banned Books"

Lin Weimin's "Hunting" was published in the tenth issue of "Contemporary" this year, and in just one month it achieved sales of nearly 1.5 million copies.

As public opinion continued to ferment, the sales of this issue were also rising at a very rapid rate.

Before Lin Weimin submitted his article to the Literary Gazette for the second time, the sales of the tenth issue of Contemporary Magazine had exceeded 2 million copies.

Looking at publications across the country, only popular literature publications can match this sales volume. In the field of pure literature, no one can compete with it, including Harvest.

What is even more frightening is that after Lin Weimin's second article was published in the Literary Gazette, when readers heard that "Hunting" would no longer be published within ten years, everyone's first reaction was to run to bookstores or newsstands to buy a copy of "Contemporary".

Even though they have bought and read the novel before, many readers still choose to buy it again.

If it is not published within ten years, it means that if you want to see the novel "Hunting", you can only read it through the tenth issue of "Contemporary" in 1987. There is no other channel.

For countless literature lovers in the 1980s, this was like the handwritten copies that were popular twenty years ago, and everyone tried every means to get a copy.

But the reality is that the sales of Contemporary magazine are stable between 1.2 million and 1.4 million copies most of the time, so the print volume of each issue will be roughly in this range.

After Lin Weimin's work was published, Contemporary magazine adjusted the first print run to 1.8 million copies.

Then, because the sales were so hot, another 600,000 copies were printed.

After the article in "Wenyi Bao" was published, the sales of this issue of "Contemporary" has gradually declined to a stable stage. The inventory of sales channels such as bookstores, post offices, and newsstands across the country has reached 400,000 copies, which basically meets the subsequent sales of this issue of "Contemporary".

But no one expected that Lin Weimin's article would trigger such a huge buying frenzy.

In just four or five days, all channels of publication were sold out. At the same time, readers' purchasing needs were not met and they requested additional books.

Subscription requests came in droves from all over the country and were collected by the Guowen Press. In just three days, the number of subscriptions for the tenth issue of Contemporary Magazine reached a staggering 800,000 copies.

And this subscription demand continues to increase, rising at a six-digit rate every day.

Faced with this sudden situation, the leaderless editorial department of Contemporary Magazine did not dare to make a decision on their own and could only hand over all the data to the president Cheng Zaochun.

Cheng Zaochun looked at the subscription demand in his hand and was a little bit unbelieving.

"Contemporary" has been on the market for two months. Where does all this demand come from?

"President, it should be related to Weimin's article published in the Literary Gazette. The current situation is that not only those who have read "Hunting" before want to buy our publication, but also potential readers who have only heard of it, have not read it, or even have never heard of it, are being led by these readers who are rushing to buy it."

He Qizhi was right. The number of subscriptions sent from all over the country has now completely exceeded the readership of this issue of Contemporary. Among these subscriptions are not only loyal readers of Contemporary and Lin Weimin, but also readers who are just following the trend to join in the fun.

After all, it is quite fresh for an author to proactively propose that his novels will not be published or published within ten years.

It’s not that there were no “banned books” in the country in the past, but they were all passive in nature. It was the first time that readers had seen something as general as Lin Weimin’s.

Readers who have read it want to buy another copy as a souvenir.

Readers who haven’t read the novel are curious and want to see what’s so magical about it.

There were countless readers following suit, and the trend quickly formed in just a few days.

After listening to He Qizhi's explanation, Cheng Zaochun thought for a moment and said, "Notify the printing factory to print an additional 1 million copies first."

"What about the orders that continue to come in?"

"We'll see in a few days. This trend won't last too long. It should be over in ten days or half a month. We'll print more in a few days depending on the situation."

"good!"

After receiving the instruction from Guowen Publishing House, the printing factory worked overtime overnight.

Two days later, a truck loaded with freshly printed copies of "Contemporary" came out of the printing plant and was sent to the railway station freight station, where these publications will be distributed to cities across the country.

——

The plane arrived in France via Hong Kong. After landing, Lin Weimin met his long-lost old friend Gary Yang.

After the physically uncomfortable kiss on the cheek, Garyan kept talking like a machine gun.

The enthusiasm is real, but the noisy is also real.

In addition to Galliard, an employee of Gallimard Publishing House, there was also Counselor Zhong from the Chinese Embassy in France who came to pick him up at the airport.

Lin Weimin felt flattered that the second-in-command of the History Museum came to pick him up at the airport.

After a few pleasantries, Counselor Zhong thanked Lin Weimin specifically, saying that his participation in the Goncourt Prize would indeed contribute to cultural exchanges between China and France.

In terms of specific details, for example, the French resident historian was invited to attend the award ceremony of this year's Goncourt Prize. From culture to politics, exchanges are a natural result in this way.

After checking into the hotel, Lin Weimin rested for a few hours and accepted a banquet hosted by the History Museum.

The next day, Lin Weimin, led by Galliyan, visited the headquarters of Gallimard Publishing House and then discussed publishing matters.

The Prix Goncourt was established by the French naturalist novelist Edmond de Goncourt in memory of his brother Jules de Goncourt.

Edmond de Goncourt made a will on July 14, 1874. In order to commemorate his brother, he wanted to use his inheritance as a fund to set up the Goncourt Prize Selection Committee. He also designated 10 friendly writers such as Flaubert, Zola and Daudet as the first members of the award. It was officially established in 1903.

For more than half a century, the Goncourt Prize has selected a novel every year. Its winners include famous writers such as Proust, Malraux, Simone de Beauvoir, etc. It is not only a prestigious literary award in France, but also has a significant influence in the European and world literary circles.

One thing that has been criticized about the Goncourt Prize is the amount of its prize money. Initially, the Goncourt Prize was 5,000 francs as stipulated by Edmond. In 1960, it was changed to 50 francs due to inflation. Now in the 1980s, the prize money still remains at this standard, but because of inflation, the value of the prize money is even lower.

However, the amount of the prize is more of a symbol for the Goncourt Prize. What makes this award more valuable is its unique influence.

Many works that were unknown before winning the award have become bestsellers in France and have been translated into multiple languages ​​and published in countries around the world after receiving the Prix Goncourt.

According to statistics in recent years, these Prix Goncourt winning works can sell an average of 400,000 copies in France alone, and their authors have become world-famous and their destiny has been completely changed by the Prix Goncourt.

Gallimard Publishing House’s invitation to Lin Weimin to come to France was certainly not without purpose.

With the influence of their publishing house in the French literary world, they have already secured the result of this year's Prix Goncourt.

Lin Weimin won the Prix Goncourt for "The Lover", which is naturally of great benefit to the dissemination of his works overseas.

Because of the movie "The Lover", the French version of "The Lover" was published by Gallimard in French-speaking regions around the world and has achieved considerable sales. Nearly 900,000 copies have been sold in more than half a year. For a translated work, this result is excellent.

Now that "The Lover" has won the Prix Goncourt, with the influence of the award, its sales will naturally be greatly improved in the next few years.

Not only that, the reputation of the author Lin Weimin will also benefit from this.

Naturally, other works created by Lin Weimin will also take advantage of this favorable trend and be anticipated and welcomed by more readers.

Gallimard Publishing House invited Lin Weimin not only to visit the publishing house, but also to discuss the publication of his other works.

This time, Gallimard was well prepared and put forward a list of books it wanted to publish.

Lin Weimin looked at the last name on the bookstore's list and said with a smile, "Your publishing house is indeed very well prepared. You even listed "Hunting"."

As the negotiating representative, Garyan was somewhat pleased with himself. "Of course. Lin, our publishing house is very sincere."

Lin Weimin said, "But do you know that I have decided not to publish the novel "Hunting" in the short term?"

Garyan was a little surprised, "Why?"

"The reasons are very complicated, and I can't explain them to you in a short time."

Seeing that Lin Weimin was unwilling to say more, Jialiyang felt a little regretful, "Well, in that case, it seems that this novel will be crossed out from the reading list."

After crossing out "Hunting", there are only four books left on the list, which are also the works of Lin Weimin that have been published the most overseas and have achieved the best results in recent years.

"Farewell My Concubine", "The Horse Catcher", "The Murderer" and "Burning".

With the experience of the last negotiation, Gariyang learned his lesson this time. He did not talk to Lin Weimin anymore, but directly made an offer.

With a 15% royalty, the first print run of the four novels ranges from 150,000 to 300,000 copies, showing great sincerity.

Judging from the performance of Gallimard, the influence of the Prix Goncourt is indeed extraordinary, and Lin Weimin happily signed the publishing contract.

After the publishing matters were agreed upon, it was evening and Gallimard Publishing House held a welcome dinner for Lin Weimin.

With the introduction of editor-in-chief Andre, Lin Weimin got to know the guests attending the event.

Many of these people are writers who have won the Goncourt Prize, such as Michel Tournier, who wrote "The Alder King", Yves Navarre, who wrote "The Menagerie", Lucien Bordard, who wrote "Anne Marie"...

These people have one thing in common: they were all made famous by Gallimard Publishing House.

This shows the influence of Gallimard Publishing House on the Prix Goncourt, and the people present seemed to be accustomed to such results.

In addition to writers, several directors from the film industry also attended the dinner.

When later generations talk about French film genres, many literary and artistic young people may be most impressed by the so-called "New Wave" films and directors.

But in fact, in the French film industry, there is a group of filmmakers who are more literary than the New Wave.

This group of filmmakers does not have any core manifesto, and rarely appears in groups in the film industry, but they have two common characteristics.

One of them is that this group of people generally live on the left bank of the Seine, so they are also called the Left Bank Party by the French.

Another characteristic is that this group of people basically have experience in literary creation. Many of them were novelists or screenwriters before becoming filmmakers. Such experience directly affects their film style.

Their literary background meant that Left Bank filmmakers had close contacts with French literary circles. However, after their heyday in the 1960s, Left Bank directors have lost their glory and have gradually been grouped with the New Wave directors who set off France.

Alain Resnais is a key figure among Left Bank directors and also the flag bearer of the New Wave promoted by the French.

In 1959, he directed his first film, Hiroshima Mon Amour, which won the FIPRESCI Award at the 12th Cannes International Film Festival. In 1961, he directed the feature film Last Year at Marienbad, which won the Golden Lion Award at the 26th Venice International Film Festival. In 1980, he directed the feature film My American Uncle, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 33rd Cannes International Film Festival.

Lin Weimin was very surprised that Gallimard Publishing House could invite this great director.

When Lin Weimin was studying at the Institute of Literature, he went to Xiaoxitian to watch internal reference films, including Alain Resnais's "Hiroshima Mon Amour".

(End of this chapter)