Chapter 288 Not That Simple
As a senior reporter of the Yenching Youth Daily, Li Xiangyang has a certain say in the newspaper, otherwise he would not have been able to publish an article to support Lin Weimin amid the initial criticism.
Of course, after the first article was published, the whole thing was out of his control as a reporter.
Li Xiangyang's earliest impression of Lin Weimin was "The Death of Euler", a short story with a unique style at the time of its publication, which was unforgettable.
He felt that the so-called "avant-garde novel" published in the first issue of "Contemporary" magazine directed by Lin Weimin in 1983 might be more suitable for the title of "The Death of Euler".
This was followed by several spy novels, which tended to be of a typified writing style, but of such high quality that Li Xiangyang once thought that Lin Weimin was ready to never return from this path. Unexpectedly, Lin Weimin turned around and wrote Farewell My Concubine.
In Li Xiangyang's opinion, this novel should be regarded as a turning point in Lin Weimin's writing career.
It is different from the spy novels I wrote before, such as "The Hidden Danger" and "The Cliff", and it is also different from the general scar novels on the market.
"Farewell My Concubine" perfectly integrates artistry and readability, exuding a flavor that is both intimate and profound.
He does not think this is an epic work, but it may be a classic that is difficult to replace in the contemporary literary world and will continue to be passed down.
Compared with the stunning success of Farewell My Concubine, Lin Weimin's novel Let's Talk It Out Nicely, published in Zhongshan, seems mediocre both in performance and in reviews.
But this novel is Li Xiangyang's favorite among Lin Weimin's many works.
What "If You Are the One" talks about is actually very simple, it's just about the word "communication".
In today's Chinese literary world, there is no shortage of writers who are willing to write heavy epics, nor is there a shortage of writers who pursue profound thoughts. What is lacking is writers like Lin Weimin who are full of desire to explore the subtleties of life.
Those noble and beautiful things are certainly worth praising, but aren’t the ordinary days of ordinary people worth it?
Li Xiangyang believes that many writers of this era lack Lin Weimin's steadiness and closeness to ordinary people.
In 1983, The Horse-Trapping Man was published. The length of 300,000 words is a rare large volume among Lin Weimin's works. Li Xiangyang's first impression after reading it was that Lin Weimin had entered the mature stage of creation.
Many young writers, when they first start their creative journey, often take several years or even more than ten years to find their own path. After going through this process, they gradually mature.
But Lin Weimin is different.
"Lurking" and "The Cliff" were published one after another, and he has completed the transformation from immaturity to maturity in literary creation at an astonishing speed.
In the subsequent "The Sound of Wind" and "Farewell My Concubine", he already showed a tendency to stroll leisurely.
In "If You Are the One", he is trying to find a new style and breakthrough.
"The Horse-Trapping Man" is a good feedback for his attempt. In Li Xiangyang's view, the birth and publication of "The Horse-Trapping Man" is a sign of Lin Weimin's creative maturity and an important milestone that distinguishes him from other young and middle-aged writers in China.
Why do you say that?
Because many creators first draw their creative materials from the people, things, and objects around them, their past experiences, and the past experiences of the people around them.
But this is not the case with "The Horse Tamer". From the subject matter to the content, this novel has nothing to do with Lin Weimin's life and work environment. However, Lin Weimin was able to make up for this shortcoming in cognition and experience through his writing style, and used 300,000 words to create a magnificent and eventful friendship story for the readers.
How powerful is this ability to conceive? How excellent is this writing?
Needless to say, the authorial thinking embodied by Lin Weimin in "The Horse Tamer" has far surpassed the subjective comments and accusations that are prevalent in the works of many young writers.
Compared with those immature creators, Lin Weimin's writing is calm and restrained, yet wise and warm.
When watching the middle and later parts of "The Horse Catcher", Li Xiangyang once thought that Lin Weimin might choose to give Bayin a causal ending, or a warm and harmonious ending.
But Lin Weimin's choice was beyond his expectations, and Li Xiangyang believed that it was also beyond the expectations of most people.
The ending is that Bater's Alaifu seems to have accepted Bayin, but this happy ending is ironic.
The character of Bayin suddenly breaks away from the traditional evaluation of good or bad people and becomes three-dimensional and vivid. As the absolute protagonist of the novel, he makes people love and hate him.
After reading the novel, Li Xiangyang had only one feeling: the character of Bayin was brought to life.
Different from Cheng Dieyi, who is born with the amazing "crazy and insane" character, Bayin, who is selfish but has a conscience, is the majority of people in life.
The character Bayin created by Lin Weimin neither makes readers hate him outright nor does he love him fanatically.
"Bayin, a character that people both love and hate," Li Xiangyang feels that this will be an unforgettable character in readers' reading career.
The pen stopped writing after finishing "The Horse Tamer". Li Xiangyang took a sip of tea and before he knew it, the tea had gone cold.
Li Xiangyang stood up and changed himself a cup of hot tea. His cervical spine ached after working at his desk for a long time. He went to the window of the office. It was here that Lin Weimin sat to accept the interview in the morning.
Looking out the window, Li Xiangyang's mind was filled with memories.
"What about "Chasing the Murderer"? In your eyes as an author, what kind of work is "Chasing the Murderer"? "
"Brother Xiangyang, let me ask you first, what kind of work do you think "Chasing the Murderer" is?" Lin Weimin did not directly face Li Xiangyang's question, but asked back.
Li Xiangyang pondered for a moment and said, "From the perspective of traditional novel writing, I think "Chasing the Murderer" is a work of showmanship, focusing on narrative techniques but ignoring the connotation and depth of the story."
"But what?" Lin Weimin's expression was calm and his tone was firm.
Li Xiangyang chuckled. "But I think that the traditional view of novel writing has been constantly subverted. From Tang legends to Ming and Qing novels, to vernacular novels, including those foreign masterpieces, every time we accept something new, isn't it a shock to the original concept?"
Lin Weimin smiled with some pride, and it was obvious that Li Xiangyang's words touched his heart.
Li Xiangyang took this opportunity to continue: "I heard that the reason you wrote "Chasing the Murderer" was to promote avant-garde novels. Is this true?"
Lin Weimin nodded gently, "You can say that."
“Do you think it’s too utilitarian?”
"Utilitarian? I wrote a pioneering novel just to promote it. Is that utilitarian?"
Li Xiangyang also found the loophole in his words. Lin Weimin said: "Did the debate between vernacular and classical Chinese rely on students and teachers talking nonsense? Practice is the only criterion for testing truth. This has been said for several years and everyone should be familiar with it. Talking is fake, but hands are the real deal."
Lin Weimin changed his sitting position and continued, "It takes a long time for any type of literature to be accepted and known by the public. Avant-garde novels are not a unique skill. I just hope to bring a fresh reading experience to readers. When this type of novel has not yet been widely accepted, high-quality works are the best way to promote it."
Li Xiangyang nodded in agreement.
"You really put a lot of effort into promoting avant-garde novels! So let's go back to the original question. What kind of work do you think "Chasing the Murderer" is?"
Li Xiangyang is worthy of being a journalist. He didn't forget his question after going around in circles for a long time.
Lin Weimin thought for a moment and said, "If I have to say it, this novel should be considered a brain game!"
"Brain game?" It was the first time that Li Xiangyang heard this new term.
"Do you mean games like Huarongdao and Sudoku?"
"Almost. In my humble understanding, literature should never be just about bitterness and hatred, and it should not be just about highbrow literature. It can be about the common people, it can be about teaching while entertaining, and it can also be about entertaining the masses.
The most terrible thing is to elevate literature to a high pedestal and not allow it to be desecrated. Not only will it alienate us from the masses, but to put it bluntly, it will also cut off the way out for those of us who make a living by writing."
Li Xiangyang found the interview more and more interesting. He asked, "So, in a sense, Chasing the Murderer is a game you play with your readers."
Lin Weimin's mouth curved slightly, "I have used much more brain cells than my readers. I can say responsibly that there may be many good works in scar novels and reform novels, but there won't be too many excellent novels of my type!"
"Why?" Li Xiangyang asked.
Lin Weimin's face once again showed that confident look, "Because this requires intelligence!"
Li Xiangyang thought of many answers in his mind, but he never expected it to be this one. He couldn't help but laugh, "Weimin, if you say that, you're going to offend a lot of people!"
Lin Weimin also laughed, "Haven't I offended enough people?"
After they finished laughing, Li Xiangyang said seriously, "Indeed, I used up a lot of brain cells just reading the novel "Chasing the Murderer". I had to read it twice before I finally understood the whole story. Not to mention how much effort you, as an author, had to expend when conceiving the story."
“I am not targeting scar novels or reform novels, but in our inherent creative perspective, going through something, or rather, experiencing something, is considered to be unusually important.
This creative method is indeed very effective. Even people with little writing experience can create good works as long as the writing and creative ideas are good.
But if we who call ourselves professional writers continue to cling to this prejudice, it would be an excuse for our own complacency.”
Li Xiangyang felt that they couldn't dwell on this issue for too long, as Lin Weimin was showing signs of starting fire.
"Let's leave 'The Pursuit' for now. How about we talk about 'The Lover'?"
"I've read your previous review articles. They're quite good and there's a lot of them. Are we still going to talk about The Lover today?"
"It's not easy to interview you as an author, so we have to talk about it. When talking about The Lover, we have to mention the original intention of writing this novel. Jiang Zilong said that you wrote this novel because you promised Comrade Guo Yudao, who has passed away."
Lin Weimin shook his head. "That's not quite accurate. I had the idea for the novel a long time ago. Later, when Lao Guo came to Beijing for medical treatment, before he left, he said that he regretted not having written a novel in his life. That's how the character 'Guo Yudao' in The Lover came about."
Lin Weimin did not flatter himself and described the situation truthfully.
"During that time, I went to Shaanxi to collect manuscripts. Do you know Cheng Zhongshi? Two months ago, his "Mr. Blue Robe" was published in the first issue of "Contemporary" this year."
Li Xiangyang said: "I have seen it, his work is very good."
“Perhaps those of us who make a living by writing have this tendency to some extent, hoping to leave our names in history through our writings.
I remember that time when I went to Cheng Zhongshi's home to collect manuscripts from him, when we were talking excitedly, he took my hand and said: "I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish I could make myself a brick to support my head." I can relate to him!"
Lin Weimin's expression was somewhat sighing, and Li Xiangyang also looked sympathetic.
They then talked about some other topics related to the works, and Li Xiangyang finally brought the topic to the controversy caused by "The Lover".
"Do you have any thoughts or anything you want to say about the turmoil over the past few months?"
Lin Weimin shook his head again. "When we met at CCTV, you insisted that I say it, and I said let the bullets fly for a while."
"And now?"
"Now, let the bullets continue to fly."
After Lin Weimin said this, Li Xiangyang's expression was meaningful.
This sounds grand, but if you think about it carefully, it doesn't seem that simple!
(End of this chapter)
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