Chapter 523 Worth a Yanbing Literature Award
Lin Weimin stared at Alai's hand until he saw the four-character title of the book on the first page of the manuscript, and he couldn't help but reveal a relaxed smile on his face.
Finally the wait was not in vain!
"Teacher Lin!"
Alai handed the manuscript to Lin Weimin. He took the manuscript and suppressed his impatience and arranged Alai in the guesthouse upstairs.
"We've been traveling for two days, so take a good rest first. I'll let Xiao Tong review the manuscript first."
After arranging for Alai, Lin Weimin handed the manuscript to Tong Zhonggui.
The next morning when Tong Zhonggui went to work, he had dark circles under his eyes and bloodshot eyes, and it was obvious that he had not slept. He blocked Lin Weimin who had just entered the building and was very emotional.
"Teacher Lin! Teacher Lin! You must read this novel!"
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Look at you, you didn't sleep all night last night, did you?"
Tong Zhonggui chuckled twice, "I really didn't sleep. I couldn't sleep at all. I couldn't put down this novel by Alai. It's so well written. You must read it carefully."
Lin Weimin said: "Don't worry, write your review comments first, then hand the manuscript to me, and then go upstairs to catch up on some sleep."
Tong Zhonggui knew that Lin Weimin was concerned about his health. He nodded, and couldn't wait to return to the office. He picked up the pen and started writing quickly, flipping through the manuscript from time to time.
After a whole morning, he finally finished writing the review comments.
There is no fixed format for the editor's review comments, which are usually just a few hundred words. However, Tong Zhonggui spent the entire morning writing this review comment, which consisted of more than ten pages of manuscript paper.
When it was almost time for dinner, Yao Shuzhi saw the scale of the comments on the manuscript and asked in surprise, "Xiao Tong, what masterpiece did you review?"
Tong Zhonggui raised his head and smiled foolishly, "You'll know later!"
"So mysterious!"
As she spoke, she wanted to turn over the manuscript on Tong Zhonggui's desk, but Tong Zhonggui held her back and said, "I'll show it to you later. Teacher Lin wants my review comments!"
As he said this, he took the manuscript and review comments and went to Lin Weimin's office.
Yao Shuzhi was aroused by Tong Zhonggui's actions and talked to others about the manuscript that Tong Zhonggui was reviewing.
"Isn't it the manuscript sent by the author from the southwest region yesterday?"
It was almost time for lunch, so everyone put aside the work at hand and started chatting.
Lin Weimin touched the dozen pages of review comments and joked, "You are annotating this novel!"
Tong Zhonggui smiled and said, "I was so excited that I couldn't help but write more."
Lin Weimin nodded, "Okay, let's go eat first, and then think about sleeping when we get back."
After lunch, Tong Zhonggui went to the dormitory upstairs to rest, while Lin Weimin sat in the office and flipped through the manuscript.
Before Allais's work, the word "dust settles" did not exist in the vast Chinese vocabulary.
"Dust Settles" tells the story of a powerful Kham Tibetan chieftain who had a stupid son with his Han wife after drinking. However, this stupid son always had premonitions and behaviors that were ahead of his time, and became a witness to the rise and fall of the chieftain system.
Generally speaking, the framework of this novel does not deviate from Alai's "Agu Dunba", and is still derived from the oral literary culture of Tibet.
But after reading the novel, Lin Weimin felt that its style was more like William Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury". The two works have many similarities.
For example, both novels tell the stories of social transformation and turmoil, express nostalgia for hometown, and emphasize the erosion and dissolution of traditional culture by time.
In addition, they both use the image of "fool" to tell stories. The "Yoknapatawpha" world and the "Jiarong Tribe" world in the snowy area of Aba involved in the two novels are both heavily religious, using seemingly stupid forms to present the complex external world.
Of course, the two novels have similarities as well as differences.
As the narrator of "The Sound and the Fury", Benjy, the protagonist, only has straightforward narration. His narration becomes a stage for displaying other people's personalities, without any personal emotions or subjective judgments.
The narration of the "fool" Second Young Master, the protagonist of "Dust Settles", is like a dream talk. He uses "foolishness" as a self-protection. It is more like the great wisdom that appears foolish as loved in traditional Chinese culture. He finds a living space in the power struggle and uses this wisdom to firmly control the development of the plot.
The two authors also have completely different attitudes towards stories. Faulkner puts his heart and soul into his creation, making his work full of the tension of love and hate.
But the protagonist portrayed by Alai in "Dust Settles" is always an outsider, detached from the world, giving the whole story a sense of otherworldliness, which makes Lin Weimin couldn't help but recall the feeling he had when he read Alai's poems.
It took nearly two days to finish reading "Dust Settles". Lin Weimin put down the manuscript, rubbed his eyes that had not rested for a long time, but was still thinking about the plot of the novel in his heart.
"Dust Settles" reveals only a faint helpless sadness about the passing of traditions. The writing is delicate and profound, and it deeply commemorates the things that have passed away and remembers the people of the past. The "fool" Second Young Master in the novel is the eyes of Alai, the creator of the world in the book. He looks at the disputes of the world with a detachment from time and space.
After reading the novel, it is not difficult to see that Allais imitated his predecessors when he created it, but to be realistic, the artistic value and thoughtfulness of "Dust Settles" are not inferior to Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury".
Imitation is not to copy, but to surpass.
Lin Weimin sighed, and spent some time marking the parts of the novel that he thought needed to be revised. Then he waited for Alai to come back from his trip and found him and Tong Zhonggui in his office.
"The novel is very well written! I think it deserves a Yanbing Literature Award!"
Alai had just sat down, but when he heard Lin Weimin's words, he was so surprised that he jumped up without even sitting down, looking flattered.
"Teacher Lin..."
"Haha, what's the matter? Don't you have confidence in yourself?"
Alai was tongue-tied and stammered, "No... I dare not think about it, I dare not think about it. This is my first novel, I think it will be great if it can be published."
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "There will be no problem in publishing it! Not only will we publish it, but we will also give you some special treatment."
When he said this, Alai and Tong Zhonggui's eyes were focused on him with some anticipation.
"Headline, first issue, large font!"
Tong Zhonggui's breathing stagnated and he looked at Lin Weimin in disbelief. These three conditions were the top treatment for having one's work published in Contemporary Magazine.
It is not uncommon to have a headline in every issue. It only means that the work is competitive among all the works in the current issue. However, being published in large font and in one issue is a treatment that not everyone can get.
The last work to receive such treatment in Contemporary was the first part of Lu Yao’s Ordinary World, which has been published for more than five years.
During these five years, Contemporary Magazine has published some important works, but none of them have been worthy of such treatment from Lin Weimin. Even Lin Weimin’s own works have never been published in this way.
Given Lin Weimin's current fame and status in the country, it would not be difficult for him to enjoy this treatment, but as the editor-in-chief of Contemporary Magazine, he did not want to take advantage of it, lest people gossip about him.
"Teacher Lin, this... this..."
Alai was so excited that he didn't know what to say. His face turned red. After holding it in for a long time, he said, "Is this...appropriate?"
Lin Weimin laughed and said, "What's inappropriate about that? I give you this treatment because your novel deserves it. If it's not worthy, I won't give it to you even if you beg me."
After a long while, Alai finally calmed down.
After talking about the novel creation process for a while, Lin Weimin asked Alai: "How many days of leave did you take this time?"
"One week. I plan to leave tomorrow." Ale said truthfully.
Lin Weimin said, "Can you talk to the editorial department and stay in Yanjing for a few more days to finish revising the manuscript before leaving?"
"This..." Alai hesitated.
Lin Weimin added: "I plan to publish your novel as soon as possible. If everything goes well, it can be published in the eighth issue."
Alai was surprised again, and even Tong Zhonggui looked at Lin Weimin in surprise. Tong Zhonggui said, "Teacher Lin, aren't we in a hurry?"
It is almost the end of July, and there is only half a month left before the eighth issue of "Contemporary" is published. It is not an easy task to complete the revision, proofreading and typesetting of a novel.
"It's a bit rushed. But there are only a few parts of the novel that need to be changed. If Alai can make the changes smoothly, we can arrange for someone to proofread it, and it should be ready in time.
It doesn’t matter if it’s too late, at most it can be published in the next issue, so it’s okay if it’s published one issue later.”
After Lin Weimin finished speaking, he looked at Alai with a questioning look in his eyes.
Alai said: "No problem, I will call the company to ask for leave and try to finish revising the manuscript as quickly as possible."
Lin Weimin nodded, "Don't be too anxious. We still have to consider the quality of the manuscript. It doesn't matter if it's a little later!"
After they finished chatting about the novel, it was already dark outside.
Alai went out for a trip today, and Lin Weimin waited until he got off work to meet him.
The matter of revising the manuscript was urgent, so Alai rejected Lin Weimin's proposal to have dinner together and went back upstairs with the manuscript.
Lin Weimin glanced at Tong Zhonggui, and Tong Zhonggui tactfully packed up his things and left work.
He knew that Teacher Lin was not going to treat him to a meal.
When Lin Weimin drove back home, it was already past 7:30 in the evening. After a simple meal, the two drove to Qiqizuo Hutong.
I will be away from home for more than three months this time, and today I went to visit Han Zhuangzhuang.
On the way, Lin Weimin mentioned the issue of changing Tao Huimin's car. The Crown she is driving now was eliminated by Lin Weimin. Lin Weimin once said that he would change her car after she became proficient in driving.
Lin Weimin had discussed this topic with Tao Huimin before they got married, but she did not agree.
When Lin Weimin brought it up again, Tao Huimin said, "I've only had this car for five years. It would be a waste to change it. Besides, I'm already very good with a motorcycle. I don't know how much attention I'd pay if I drove a Crown. Why would I change my car?"
Seeing that Tao Huimin was sincere, Lin Weimin said, "Then wait two years before changing it."
"We'll talk about it when the time comes."
The car stopped at the entrance of the alley. The two walked for a while, pushed open the door of Han Zhuangzhuang's house, and saw him eating a cucumber with his bare chest.
"Uncle? You're back?" Han Zhuangzhuang saw Lin Weimin's face full of surprise.
"Um!"
Han Zhuangzhuang went into the house and put on his shirt, while Lin Weimin sat under a tree in the yard and chatted with Han Dingbang.
He and Tao Huimin said they were going to the United States for their honeymoon, but he ended up being away for more than three months. Han Dingbang was also very concerned.
"There's nothing we can do now that this has happened." Lin Weimin sighed.
"It's good that you're back! It's good that you're back!" said Han Dingbang.
Lin Weimin asked Han Zhuangzhuang again, "Have you finished filming the movie?"
"Yeah, we just finished filming at the beginning of the month."
"When is the movie on?"
"It's too early. Director Xie is very ambitious. He plans to take the movie abroad to participate in film festivals after it is completed, and then release it." Han Zhuangzhuang said.
Lin Weimin laughed and said, "It seems that Director Xie was stimulated by Yimou."
"I guess so." Han Zhuangzhuang's face was full of wrinkles as he smiled.
This looks a bit anxious!
But being an actor is just right, there is no interference or concerns about image.
"What are your plans next?"
"I don't have any plans. I'll just go back to the studio and take on a suitable script if one comes along. If there isn't a suitable script, I'll just focus on acting in the studio."
"Didn't you ask Yimou for a role?"
"There is no role I can play in his movie. He asked me to play a young master, but I can't play a young master. I turned it down. Let's work together again in the next movie if there is a suitable role."
Han Zhuangzhuang added: "By the way, Yimou wanted to contact you a while ago, but he couldn't find you when he called the United States."
Lin Weimin asked about the time of the call and said, "At that time, I was in the United States doing a book signing event and traveling around."
"Then should I give him a call and ask him to come over?"
"Okay, ask him. If he doesn't have time, ask him to come to work to see me tomorrow."
"good!"
(End of this chapter)
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