Chapter 620: World Literature Masterpieces
The day before the Lantern Festival, Lin Weimin came to the Kunlun Hotel.
Every New Year, the people at Haima Studio, led by Wang Shuo, always organize a party, and this year is no exception.
The protagonists of this year's party are still Lin Weimin and Wang Shuo. Haiyan is now the manager of Kunlun Hotel. He holds great power. He sponsored this party and was directly arranged to sit next to Lin Weimin.
It is worth mentioning that today Wang Shuo also called two friends from the music circle, one is San Bao and the other is Teng Geer.
As soon as he saw Tengger, Lin Weimin couldn't help but think of "Wings of Steel".
It's so magical that I can't get rid of it even after so many years.
"You've been busy with work in recent years and have put aside your creative work," Lin Weimin said to Haiyan.
Hai Yan's famous work "Plainclothes Police" was created in 1984. In 1985, "Plainclothes Police" was adapted into a TV series. After that, he only wrote a novella "Death in Youth" about the Tangshan earthquake in 1986, which received mediocre response.
In the following years, he was busy with work and had no interest in creation.
Hearing Lin Weimin's words, Haiyan felt a little ashamed, thinking back to when he was squatting at the door of the Guowen Publishing House with the manuscript of "Plainclothes Police". If it hadn't been picked up by Teacher Lin, the novel would not even have a chance to be published.
"I've been so busy these past few years that I can't calm down and create."
"You've won the Golden Shield Literature Award and joined the National Federation of Literary and Art Circles, but you haven't published any works in the past few years. Don't you feel embarrassed?" Lin Weimin joked.
In 1986, Hai Yan won the first prize of the Golden Shield Literature Award of the public security system for his work "Plainclothes Policemen", and as a result, he joined the National Federation of Literary and Art Circles in 1987.
Haiyan immediately felt the pressure. "Since you said so, it would be unreasonable for me not to write something."
In the middle of the meal, Liu Heng came over to toast. Because of Lin Weimin's recommendation, he participated in the script adaptation of "The Wan Family Lawsuit". Now the film has started shooting and the name has been changed to "Qiu Ju Goes to Court".
Not only that, Liu Heng was also hired by Zhang Yimou as his literary planner to help him collect scripts and plan film projects.
"Teacher Lin, Director Yimou has told me about this. Thank you for your recommendation."
"Why are you being polite? You used to be a screenwriter for Director Xie. Your ability and qualifications are not a problem. I just mentioned it."
There was no entertainment circle in the 1990s, only literary and drama circles. As the upstream of the cultural industry, writers and screenwriters were at the top of the food chain, and no one dared to ignore their existence.
Liu Heng became Zhang Yimou's literary planner and was treated as a guest of honor.
The highlight of today's gathering was the singing of the singers. Tengger studied at the Composition Department of Tianjin Conservatory of Music in the 1980s. After graduation, he was assigned to the Central National Song and Dance Troupe as a sanxian player in the folk music orchestra, but he was not willing to be just a performer.
In 1986, the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe held the first Peacock Cup Youth Singer Competition. Tengger signed up for the competition and sang "The Mongols", a song he wrote and composed.
In 1989, he participated in the National Pop Song Outstanding Singer Selection Competition sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and won the first place among the top ten singers. He was appreciated by the famous composer Xu Peidong and sang the new song "My Beloved Hometown" composed by Xu Peidong.
After several years of hard work, Tengger gradually became famous across the country.
Last year, when Wang Shuo released the album “All We Play For”, Tengger was invited by Sanbao to sing the song “Die After Having Fun”. That’s how Tengger got to know Wang Shuo.
Tengger knew his mission in today's gathering at Haima Studio, which was to perform the song. Sitting at the main seats were Lin Weimin and Wang Shuo, who were big names in the domestic literary world. The others also had considerable influence in Yenching. In such an occasion, he had no choice but to work hard.
Tengger graduated from a professional singing school and participated in national singing competitions and won awards. If he were in later generations, he would definitely be a member of the national team and his singing ability would naturally be extraordinary.
After the heroic and majestic song "Mongols" was sung, it aroused warm applause from the audience.
After the party comes the Lantern Festival. After the Lantern Festival, the Spring Festival officially comes to an end and the festive atmosphere of Yanjing City gradually fades away.
At the first editorial meeting of the publishing house after the holiday, Lin Weimin dropped a bombshell.
He asked Guowen Publishing House to plan and publish the "World Literary Classics Collection". According to his description, this series of books will summarize the essence of world literary works and reflect the highest achievements of world literature.
As soon as he finished his proposal, there was an uproar in the conference room.
According to Lin Weimin, this series of "World Literature Classics Collection" will probably create a new chapter in the history of Guowen Publishing House.
In terms of high standards, large scale, strong authority and profound representativeness, there is no other publication in the history of Chinese literature and publishing that can match it.
However, planning and publishing content on a high standard and large scale is also a huge challenge for Guowen Publishing House.
Such a series of books cannot be produced in half a year or a year, and Guowen Publishing House will devote enormous energy and financial resources to this.
When people think about the fact that a series of books may span several years or even more than ten years and consist of hundreds of volumes, many of them start to get scared, especially the directors of the foreign literature and classical literature editorial departments.
Guowen Publishing House is going to compile a "World Literature Classics Collection". According to Lin Weimin's requirements, the foreign literature section should include works from Homer's epics to the end of World War II, and the Chinese literature section should include selections from the Book of Songs to the eve of the founding of New China.
It can be said that such a requirement is equivalent to placing the burden of the "World Literature Classics Collection" entirely on these two editorial offices.
The two directors struggled with their thoughts for a long time, and finally looked at each other, deciding that they couldn't just sit there and wait for death.
"Editor-in-chief, aren't we taking a step too big? We want to create a world-class library right away, and it is beyond the capacity of just one or two editorial offices!" said Chen Jiangen, director of the Classical Literature Editorial Office.
"Yes, editor-in-chief, this project is too huge. It is launched so suddenly that I'm afraid our comrades won't be able to adapt to it all at once." The director of the foreign literature editorial department also echoed.
“I know this is a very difficult task, but I think it is our unshirkable responsibility and obligation.
In the forty years since its establishment, our Guowen Publishing House has enjoyed unique innate conditions in the Chinese literary world. With so many years of accumulation of human, financial and literary resources, our Guowen Publishing House has the foundation to do this well.
Of course, the most important thing is the determination of our entire company.
The editing and review of the "World Literature Classics Collection" is by no means a task that can be accomplished overnight. It is a long and arduous task.
But at the same time, the achievements that completing this work will bring to our National Literature Society will be unprecedented.
You should realize that a series of books like the World Library can only be produced by developed countries worldwide, and it is also the first of its kind in our country.
The World Literature Collection will become the 'Great Wall' of China's publishing industry, and all editors involved in the editing and review of this series will also be remembered in the history of Chinese literature and publishing."
Having said this, Lin Weimin looked at the two directors of the Classical Literature and Foreign Literature Editorial Departments.
"I know that to complete this task, the two editorial offices have a very heavy task. Don't worry, if the agency wants to let the horse run, it must be well fed.
I have discussed this matter with the president and secretary. We will spend two months to prove the feasibility of the project, and then we will provide the money and people once we are sure to start construction."
Chen Jiangen said: "I think it's still too risky. For such a large-scale project, the investment may not be rewarded."
His words represent the voice of some people. The biggest problem with Lin Weimin's plan to create a "World Literature Classics Collection" is that the investment is too huge. Not only will everyone be exhausted, but if it turns out not to be as popular as everyone expected, it will be a waste of time and effort.
"Comrade Jiangen, you can't just look at the surface of things.
Let me give you an example. The American Library has been published since 1979. The cost of publishing the library is huge, and the publisher must have lost money in the early days. But they still insisted on doing it and even went to foundations to raise funds.
The United States is different from us. They live in a capitalist society where profits are the key in everything. However, they made a breakthrough when developing the library and completely ignored the issue of efficiency.
We in China are a socialist society. Are we not as good as the Americans?
The United States, Britain, France, Germany, the Soviet Union... every one of these countries has completed their own "World Library" projects sooner or later.
Everyone should have heard of the French Seven Stars Library. They have been in business for half a century with meager profits, but they still persist in doing it.
Why? Don’t the French know that this thing is not that profitable?
Of course, they know that this is not that profitable, but they also know that the "World Library" project is a reflection of a country's highest publishing achievements and can also bring unlimited nourishment to the country's literary lovers.
Everyone should remember that we are the National Literature Publishing House, the highest temple of a country’s literature!
If we don't do this kind of thing, who else will do it?"
At the end of his speech, Lin Weimin's expression was serious and his tone was sonorous and powerful. His last rhetorical question was so thought-provoking that it made many people who opposed it reflect on themselves.
Yes, everyone knows that projects like the World Library are difficult to carry out, but if the National Publishing House doesn’t do it, who else can do it in our country?
Even if we take a step back and say that a publishing house really did carry out this project, I'm afraid everyone at Guowen Publishing House would be so ashamed that they would want to commit suicide.
As a publishing house of such great stature as the National Literature Publishing House, how could they face the founding fathers of the publishing house when a project like the World Library was taken over by other publishing houses? How could they face the huge readership that has supported the National Literature Publishing House for decades?
After Lin Weimin finished speaking, the conference room fell into a brief silence, and everyone had different thoughts.
Lin Weimin was not interested in convincing these people one by one. He had already explained all the reasons that needed to be explained. He had done Cheng Zaochun's work in advance, and the secretary had also been informed. Everyone had to execute the plan whether they understood it or not.
"Some time ago, I had people purchase catalogs of books from various libraries. They should be mailed back in the next month. The Foreign Language Department and the Ancient Chinese Language Department will have the heaviest tasks. You should select the best and brightest to familiarize yourself with the catalogs first and use them as references for argumentation."
The two editor-in-chief nodded with difficulty. Lin Weimin insisted on doing it and had already informed the other two giants, so it would be of no avail even if they objected.
After the meeting, the two directors involuntarily came together.
"Alas! It's really true that the leaders just talk and the soldiers run themselves to death!"
"I can't help it. I have such a young editor-in-chief. I'm really afraid that my old arms and legs will fall apart!"
The two of them were complaining, feeling that they were in the same boat and were in the same boat.
(End of this chapter)
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