Chapter 517 His Name
From its founding to 1989, FSG Publishing has won 20 Nobel Prizes in Literature. This is certainly not Roger Strauss bragging. Although he speaks in a loud voice, what he says is realistic.
FSG Publishing House has achieved such a brilliant record in the Nobel Prize that even Gallimard Publishing House, which has swept across Europe, is less influential in the Nobel Prize than them.
Such an achievement is certainly not due to luck. In the 1950s and 1960s after the end of World War II, the United States' international influence reached its peak. As a member of the American publishing industry, FSG Publishing seized the era of continued fermentation of post-war culture and art.
They actively searched for new authors and valuable unpopular authors around the world, and attracted a large number of outstanding writers such as Brodsky, Edmund Wilson, and Susan Sontag. Such actions laid the foundation for their bid for the Nobel Prize.
As American culture continues to erode Western countries and regions, FSG Publishing has successfully taken advantage of the trend and created their unique influence on the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Lin Weimin had guessed Roger Strauss's purpose the moment he started talking.
In the 1980s, China was relatively closed to information, but it was not isolated from the outside world. Lin Weimin had been cooperating with Random House for many years and his works were marketed overseas. He naturally knew about FSG Publishing, an authoritative publishing house in the American literary world.
Isaac Bashevis Singer, an American Jewish writer, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978. At that time, China was in the initial stage of reform and opening up, and magazines such as World Literature and Foreign Literature that focused on foreign literary works had just resumed publication, and they immediately introduced the latest Nobel Prize news to China.
The following year, Singer's works were introduced to China.
Singer, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, is the brightest star among a series of Jewish writers created by FSG Publishing House. He has established cooperation with FSG Publishing House since the 1960s. Most of his works since then have been compiled and published here, and he successfully won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
If we simply look at the number of works published and sales, FSG Publishing cannot be called the leader in the US publishing industry.
But if we only talk about the publishing of literary works, there has been no company in the American publishing industry in the past few decades that can compete with FSG Publishing.
Even the behemoth Random House is no match for it. Random House's business is too complex, and at least in the niche field of literary publishing, it is no match for FSG Publishing.
You know, FSG Publishing not only has a huge influence on the Nobel Prize in Literature, they also have a profound impact on the selection of major mainstream literary awards in the United States. This is the influence they have built up over decades.
The silence in the room lasted for a while. As the hostess of today's salon, Anne Libovitz smiled and said, "Roger, I think you should just write a book to tell the glorious history of your publishing house!"
Roger Strauss laughed and said, "Annie, stop joking. These words can only be discussed when we, the industry insiders, gather together."
The two chatted with relaxed smiles, and other people also joined in, and the topic gradually became relaxed.
After dinner, today's salon came to an end and Anne Libovitz stood up to see everyone out.
Lin Weimin and Tao Huimin were riding up the elevator when she suddenly asked, "Weimin, did you notice?"
"What did you find?"
"Annie and Susan have a special relationship."
Lin Weimin disagreed and said, "It can be seen that they should be very good friends."
Tao Huimin shook her head, "That's not what I meant!"
Lin Weimin looked at her, "What do you mean?"
Tao Huimin rolled her eyes at him. Her husband was indeed a little slow in this regard.
"It's... people like us!" Tao Huimin said carefully.
Lin Weimin's expression finally turned into surprise. "Is this true? How did you tell?"
"You don't understand. That feeling is very subtle. I can see it at a glance."
Lin Weimin felt that Tao Huimin's words were becoming more and more mysterious, but this topic was quite exciting, yuri!
It’s a pity that both Susan Sontag and Anne Libovitz are a little old, in their forties or fifties, which is not quite up to par.
"Tell me the details!"
Teacher Lin inherited the fine tradition of the Chinese Literature Society and stayed close to Tao Huimin and whispered to her.
The next morning, Lin Weimin met David Morris, a Jewish reporter from The New Yorker, at the Dakota Apartment.
David Morris is middle-aged and has worked at The New Yorker for more than 20 years. He is a senior reporter for the magazine and has interviewed many heavyweights in the American cultural world.
When David Morris saw Lin Weimin, his first reaction was surprise at Lin Weimin's age.
Before the interview, he had collected a lot of information about Lin Weimin and knew Lin Weimin's age, but when he met him, he was still very surprised at how young Lin Weimin was.
Lin Weimin joked: "This is probably the genetic lottery for Asians!"
David Morris laughed. With just one sentence, he could tell that the writer he was going to interview today was different from the Asians he had met in the United States.
Be confident and calm.
After sitting down, Tao Huimin helped bring a cup of tea and a cup of coffee. David Morris said thank you. After taking a sip, he looked around the layout of the apartment out of his reporter's instinct.
"My wife and I are planning to come to New York for our honeymoon, and a friend helped us rent this place."
"I know, Mr. Arthur Miller." David Morris said, prepared his paper and pen, and took out a Sony recorder.
The voice recorder has just been on the market not long ago. It is different from the digital recording that is common in later generations, but it is a tape recording.
"This is my best friend." David Morris introduced the recorder to Lin Weimin with a smile.
“Technology changes life!”
The two smiled in tacit understanding, exchanged a few words, and then the interview officially began.
Lin Weimin and David Morris sat opposite each other. David Morris said, "Why don't we start our interview today with Mr. Arthur Miller? How did you and Mr. Arthur Miller get to know each other?"
"It's a long story. My teacher is the Chinese playwright Mr. Wan Jiabao. He and Mr. Arthur Miller are old acquaintances. Mr. Wan visited the United States a few years ago and Mr. Arthur Miller received him.
Before the visit ended, Mr. Wan invited Mr. Arthur Miller to visit China. In 1983, Arthur Miller visited Yenching People's Art Theater for exchange. I accompanied Mr. Arthur Miller for a few days and we became very good friends..."
"You just talked about your teacher Wan Jiabao. I'm very curious about your learning experience and how you got on the road of creation. These are very rarely reflected in my materials." David Morris asked as he flipped through the materials in his hand.
"My education is very simple, I only have a junior high school education. You should know about the turmoil a few years ago. I was forced to interrupt my studies and then went to the countryside to work as a production team member.
Life in the countryside is relatively hard, and I started writing purely to improve my living conditions.
At the beginning, what I wrote was very bad, and I would receive rejection messages from magazines every few days. About a year later, my novel was finally published in a literary magazine and won a national award.
As a result, I received an invitation from the Institute of Literature to receive a short-term literary training..."
"I am very interested in this literary research institute. Can you tell me more about it?"
"sure……"
David Morris's interview style is not the aggressive type, but his thinking is rigorous and meticulous, and he often keeps asking questions about a sentence in the answer.
The interview proceeded in an orderly manner and everything went smoothly, but David Morris could not change the old bad habits of American reporters.
As we chat, we can't help but extend the topic to politics.
"I think we can expand on this topic. You just mentioned that your studies were interrupted because of the movement. Can you talk about the impact it had on you?"
Lin Weimin said: "I don't think this is part of our interview."
"Yes, but why can't we talk about it? Is it because you don't want to talk about it? Or is there some reason why you can't talk about it?"
David Morris's words were obviously pointed and gradually became sharper.
Lin Weimin shook his head. "It's not that I don't want to talk, nor that I can't talk. It's just that this occasion is not suitable for talking."
"Why?" David Morris demanded.
Lin Weimin cited the example of a group of writers visiting France last year, saying: "I am relatively pragmatic. It is not that the government cannot be criticized, and it is not that history cannot be evaluated, but I hope that my words will have some positive effects, rather than just being regarded as complaints or for others to see."
“Through our reporting, you might get some support!”
"Why do you Americans need to support us Chinese people?"
Lin Weimin's question stumped David Morris. While he was pondering, Lin Weimin said, "Let's talk about literature!"
Having hit a snag with Lin Weimin, David Morris had no good entry point for the time being and had to give up the idea of extending in the political direction.
Returning to the topic of literature, Lin Weimin is a very good interviewee. He is humorous, knowledgeable, and open-minded, which made David Morris sigh with admiration. At the end of the interview, he couldn't help but sigh: "Lin, it would be great if you were an American writer!"
Lin Weimin laughed and said, "God has been so kind to you Americans, but you are always greedy!"
David Morris was not upset by Lin Weimin's teasing. Instead, he laughed heartily. After more than two hours of interview, he realized that this was Lin Weimin's usual style, with a bit of sharp irony in his humor.
This is the standard for great writers!
"Let me ask you one last question. Let's end our interview today with this question." David Morris's expression became serious. He looked at Lin Weimin and asked, "When do you think you will win the Nobel Prize in Literature?"
Lin Weimin looked at David Morris calmly, "David, your question is too clichéd and has nothing new to say."
"Novelty is not important, what matters is what readers want to see."
After joking, Lin Weimin replied seriously: "Your question has been asked before in other media interviews. To be honest, the Nobel Prize in Literature is the most influential literary award in the world today. There are probably few writers who would not hope to win this award. But..."
“It would be tragic if I wrote books all my life and was only named a Nobel Prize winner in literature.”
When Lin Weimin said this, he looked out the floor-to-ceiling window and saw the vast sky and land.
David Morris followed Lin Weimin's gaze and looked at the world outside the window. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in his heart as Lin Weimin spoke.
Yes, if the most famous name a writer is called in his life is “Nobel Prize in Literature winner”, but no classics are left in the world, what is the point?
He withdrew his gaze and looked at Lin Weimin again, and an inexplicable thought arose in his mind.
This young Chinese writer before us will definitely leave his name in the world literary scene.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
