Chapter 531: Helping the World
"Good works deserve to be introduced." Lin Weimin said calmly.
"I heard Richard Yates wrote you a letter?" Christian Salmon asked again.
"You are really well-informed! He did write me a letter, saying that he was very happy that his work could be introduced to China. I think you should also understand how important it is for him to be recognized."
Christian Salmon nodded slightly, fully understanding what Lin Weimin meant.
The royalties are secondary. Richard Yates started writing in the 1950s and has created so many works over the years, but none of his works can be truly accepted and well-known by American readers.
After all, the highest sales volume of 12,000 copies is too meager for a writer who has been engaged in writing for more than 30 years and has a great reputation in the American literary world.
"Before coming here, I went to some second-hand bookstores to look for his works. His works are indeed rare. Sometimes I really doubt whether such a writer really existed in the history of American literature. It seems that his traces have been deliberately erased."
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Maybe if he was born twenty years earlier, or..."
"Or born in China, right?" Christian Salmon raised his eyebrows at Lin Weimin.
"That's right."
"Speaking of which, I like China's policies towards writers, but there is a question here: won't writers get too close to politics?"
“It’s up to the writer.”
After chatting for a while, Christian Salmon turned the topic to creation.
"Are you writing any new works recently?"
"I just sent the English version of The Hunt to Roger Strauss some time ago. I am currently writing a novel about children from poor areas going to school."
Christian Salmon immediately became interested. "Why write such a novel? Where does the inspiration come from?"
"The main reason I wrote this novel is because I previously initiated a foundation..."
Lin Weimin told Christian Salmon about the China Youth Education Development Foundation and the Hope Project.
"China's economic reform has only just begun, and the people's income is generally not high, so it is not easy to do charity. I hope that through this novel, the name of the foundation and the Hope Project can be more deeply rooted in people's hearts, so that more people can participate in this charity event."
Christian Salmon showed a bit of amazement on his face. "What a great vision! But don't you think this kind of utilitarian writing will affect the purity of creation?"
"The purity of creation is not the same as the purity of the person, or the purity of the purpose of creation. Doesn't the royalties affect the writer's creation? Ultimately, it depends on whether the quality of the work can move people's hearts."
Christian Salmon looked at Lin Weimin and said, "Lin, your attitude towards literature is different from many writers I have met."
"What's the difference?"
"Literature seems... not sacred to you," Christian Salmon said carefully.
“Sacred? Literature is for people to read, why should it be sacred? Only things placed on the altar need to be sacred.
I have always believed that we should be wary of this kind of thinking. Once we hold literature up to a high pedestal and define it as something that only a small group of people can appreciate, then literature will lose its most basic foundation, and the decline of literature will become inevitable. "
After Lin Weimin finished speaking, Christian Salmon fell into deep thought. After a moment, he said, "You are right. There is indeed such a trend now."
The atmosphere was a little heavy, and Christian Salmon changed the subject again, "Can you tell me more about your novel?"
Lin Weimin simply told him the plot of the novel. Christian Salmon frowned and asked, "Don't you think this plot is a bit fake?"
"Are things beyond your American cognition false?"
Lin Weimin's question made Christian Salmon feel uncomfortable. "You mean these things are true?"
"Of course, the plots of my novels have a certain amount of drama. But if you have time, you can go to those places and take a look."
Seeing Lin Weimin's calm expression and confident tone, Christian Salmon stopped worrying about the authenticity of the plot and asked again: "Aren't you afraid that others will say you are praising the government by writing this kind of plot?"
"Many writers stubbornly believe that the role of literature is to criticize and expose, and are disgusted with eulogizing and praising. You can't say their ideas are wrong, but we must distinguish the difference between glorifying reality and eulogizing and praising.
Since literature can criticize and expose, it can also eulogize and praise. This is not only the function of literature, but also creative freedom.
Don’t classify literary creation as politically correct, that is also very dangerous! ”
When Lin Weimin said this, his face was serious and Christian Salmon vaguely saw a master's demeanor in him.
Christian Salmon again asked to film the manuscript of the novel, and Lin Weimin readily agreed.
The interview, which lasted more than half a day, ended. This was Christian Salmon's third interview with Lin Weimin. He had come to China with great difficulty, so his interview would not end so hastily.
The next day, he went to the Guowen Society again and visited the working environment of Lin Weimin.
When colleagues heard that foreign reporters were coming to interview Lin Weimin, they were very curious. Christian Salmon also took the opportunity to chat with everyone, and the topic of the conversation was of course about Lin Weimin.
Through everyone's words, Christian Salmon gradually pieced together a complete impression of Lin Weimin in his mind.
Young, talented, capable, sincere and friendly, well connected, kind and generous...
To sum up, Christian Salmon was a little dazed. Is this a human being?
He inexplicably thought of discussing the sacredness of literature with Lin Weimin. Yes, literature is not sacred, but you are sacred.
Christian Salmon was a little suspicious. Logically, the interview with Lin Weimin should have ended, but the doubts in his heart drove him to get to know Lin Weimin more deeply.
"Lin, I would like to visit the people around you again, is that okay?" Christian Salmon made the request.
Lin Weimin was slightly surprised. "Of course, do you need me to take you there, or can I just give you their information?"
Christian Salmon said: "Just give me their information. I want to visit them in person."
"good."
Another day passed, and Christian Salmon knocked on the door of the Shichahai courtyard with an interpreter. It was Cheng Ximi who opened the door.
Cheng Ximi was not surprised to see the foreigner Christian Salmon, because Lin Weimin had already called them last night to inform them.
Christian Salmon was somewhat moved when he saw Shi Tiesheng coming out in a wheelchair. There are many writers with strong wills despite their disabilities in literary history, but Shi Tiesheng was the first one he had come into close contact with.
After a brief greeting, Christian Salmon's interview style was always to start with small talk. He asked about how Shi Tiesheng and Lin Weimin met, and Shi Tiesheng started talking with a smile on his face.
"The year I met Weimin, he was still studying at the Institute of Literature. I wanted to attend classes there, so another friend, Qu Xiaowei, brought him to pick me up..."
"It seemed to be the winter of 1981. He bought his first motorcycle and couldn't wait to show it off to me. He even wanted to take me for a ride. For this, he even prepared a leather coat and leather pants.
It was really cold that day, I sat on the back seat of his motorcycle, the north wind was blowing..."
"In the summer of 1983, Contemporary held a writers' conference in Yantai, and he carried me on his back to the train. At that time, he was already quite famous in China. Maybe someone heard us chatting, so everyone gathered around to see him..."
"There is an open-air basketball court in Dongshan Hotel. During that period, we would go there to play basketball when we had nothing to do at night. Even though my legs were not good, Weimin pushed me on the court and I was invincible, haha!
But we were also criticized afterwards. Everyone gave me, Weimin and my wheelchair a nickname, "The Suicide Squad on the Stadium"..."
"The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics was the first time our country had a fully-organized delegation to participate in the Olympics. That day Xu Haifeng won his first gold medal and happened to buy Weimin his first car..."
"Which year did you visit Hong Kong? Yes, in 1985. Many writers went with you. Weimin bought me a wheelchair at that time. I still use it now. The quality is really good. He has a good eye for choosing things. They are good quality and inexpensive..."
"He made a great contribution to Ximi and I's love. One was when we established a romantic relationship, and the other was when we got married. The time we got married was when Weimin came up with a bad idea to trick Ximi to come to Yanjing. Afterwards, Ximi told me that he was a really bad person, but he had one good thing: he was very good to his friends..."
Christian Salmon listened to his narration and couldn't help revealing an expression of longing on his face.
"What an enviable friendship! The years you spent together were so wonderful!"
Shi Tiesheng smiled and said, "It is a blessing in my life to know Weimin."
"I think he thinks so, too."
Christian Salmon asked again, "I just heard you say that he missed your sister's wedding and later gave her a big red envelope. He should be one of the richest writers in China, right?"
"He's not the first one, he should be the richest. Every year, his income from overseas publications alone is several million US dollars, and there is also income from drama adaptations. In the past few years, everyone called him Lin Baiwan, and later it became Lin Qianwan. Last year, he launched the Hope Project and donated 10 million US dollars to it. Everyone gave him a new nickname, Lin Bancheng."
"Donated 10 million Midao?"
Christian Salmon's face was full of surprise. When he visited Lin Weimin before, he only mentioned that he had donated some money but did not say the specific amount.
"This number is astronomical even in the United States. I can't imagine that a writer can donate so much money!" Christian Salmon said in a tone of amazement.
He then asked, "He likes to do charity, right?"
“Charity is still a new term in China, but this is certainly not the first time that Weimin has done something like this.
I remember that a few years ago, the Writers Association wanted to set up a foundation and asked Weimin to beg for donations. Not only did he donate hundreds of thousands of dollars himself, he also went to Hong Kong to find a group of wealthy businessmen to raise several million Hong Kong dollars. For this matter, he also helped people raise funds for the filming of a TV series.
That’s right, it was the year we visited Hong Kong.”
At this point, Shi Tiesheng sighed: "We Chinese have an old saying: If you are successful, you should help the world. This is what people like you are talking about."
After listening to the translation, Christian Salmon showed admiration on his face, "His deeds deserve praise and be remembered!"
"He is destined to be remembered in the history of Chinese literature, and the reputation of doing good deeds is nothing to him."
Christian Salmon couldn't help but recall his visit to Lin Weimin. When talking about certain issues, he occasionally felt that Lin Weimin was bragging. According to Shi Tiesheng, Lin Weimin has been practicing what he said.
As he thought about it, Christian Salmon's heart was filled with question marks again.
Doesn't he have any shortcomings?
(End of this chapter)
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