Chapter 849 When can I win an award?
Roberto Benigni's non-standard Chinese pronunciation was transmitted throughout the United States and even many Western countries through television signals, making Lin Weimin's name and "Life is Beautiful" become hot words in many news reports in countries around the world within a few days after the Oscars.
On the night of the Oscars, the media took a photo of Roberto Benigni standing on the back of a chair with his arms outstretched, which became the cover of major American media reports the next day.
At the same time, "Spielberg's bitter smile" has become a big joke as the award ceremony spread.
As we all know, Spielberg bought the copyright of "Life is Beautiful" that year, but because he was influenced by some radical Jewish groups, he did not adapt the novel in the end. Instead, he filmed "Schindler's List", a novel of the same name written by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally.
"Schindler's List" also swept the Oscars that year, so to be honest, Spielberg is not blind.
It just so happened that he and Roberto Benigni attended this year's Academy Awards at the same time, and for the sake of this gimmick, the organizing committee specially arranged him and Roberto Benigni together when arranging the seats.
Judging from the subsequent results, the organizing committee’s goal was indeed achieved and it worked wonders.
The somewhat bumpy adaptation experience of "Life is Beautiful" has added a bit of legendary color with the joint appearance of two talented directors, Roberto Benigni and Spielberg.
For a week in a row, news about the Oscars and "Life is Beautiful" became hot topics in the United States and many English-speaking countries, boosting a significant increase in sales of the original novel.
When the news reached China, it also caused heated discussion.
In the first half of last year, Lin Weimin went to the United States to receive a Pulitzer Prize, which brought a glimmer of hope for easing the tense Sino-US relations. In July, senior US officials visited China, and subsequently the relations between the two countries gradually warmed up.
By this year, relations have basically returned to normal, and the news that "Life is Beautiful" won four consecutive Oscars naturally became the focus of many official media reports.
Although the director and actors of this film are all foreigners, it does not prevent Chinese people from feeling familiar with it, as this is a film adapted from Lin Weimin's novel.
Following "Farewell My Concubine", another film adapted from Lin Weimin's work won the Oscar.
Moreover, this time, the impressive performance of "Life is Beautiful" far surpassed "Farewell My Concubine", winning four awards in a row, and is close to "The Last Emperor" which swept the Oscars that year.
When many domestic film practitioners talk about this topic, they can only admire it. Countless ordinary people also marvel at the impressive achievements made in adapting Lin Weimin's works.
The vitality of entertainment news has never been long-lasting. The news that "Life is Beautiful" swept the Oscars only lasted for a few days.
Lin Weimin has long been indifferent to this wave of reports and continues to lead a routine life.
On the afternoon of April 11, he was holding a meeting with a room full of people.
Zhao Xin hurried into the conference room and whispered in his ear: "Wang Xiaobo passed away."
Lin Weimin glanced at Zhao Xin in surprise and asked, "When did it happen?"
"This morning. He said it was a heart problem. No one was at home and he was not found until this morning. His brother called and wanted to invite you to attend the memorial service. The memorial service will be held at Babaoshan Funeral Home the day after tomorrow."
Suppressing the heaviness in his heart, Lin Weimin nodded, "I understand."
After Zhao Xin told the news, she left the meeting room. Lin Weimin continued to hold the meeting, but he seemed distracted.
After finishing the meeting in a daze, he returned to his office and sat down, then he sighed.
Wang Xiaobo has been writing full-time for six or seven years. As far as Lin Weimin knows, he has spent most of these years staying at home and concentrating on writing.
I spent most of my time in front of the computer and loved drinking. Over time, my health started to suffer.
Lin Weimin had met Wang Xiaobo several times before, and seeing that he looked unwell, he had advised him to adjust his work and rest schedule and control the intensity of his writing, but unfortunately...
Two days later, Lin Weimin arrived at Babaoshan Funeral Home early in the morning.
When people in later generations talk about Babaoshan, their first reaction is always to think of the deaths and funerals of many leaders.
Lin Weimin came to Hall No. 1. There were not many people coming to pay their respects to Wang Xiaobo. Most of them were his relatives and friends. Apart from Lin Weimin, almost no one from the literary world came, which was in line with Wang Xiaobo's lifestyle during his lifetime.
Because of Lin Weimin, many of his works such as "Secrets of the Tang People", "The Golden Age", "The Silver Age", "The Iron Age", etc. have been published in this time and space. However, Wang Xiaobo was tired of all kinds of social occasions during his lifetime, and was not good at getting along with others. He did not join the Literary Association, nor did he mix in circles. Therefore, although he has been writing full-time for many years, he still has no friends in the literary world.
After talking with Wang Xiaobo's brother for a few sentences, Lin Weimin learned that when Wang Xiaobo died, his wife Li Yinhe was an exchange scholar in the UK. There was no one at home and his illness broke out suddenly, so he was not discovered until the morning.
After hearing what happened, Lin Weimin was helpless. This kind of emergency was indeed unpredictable.
I can only say, this is fate!
After the memorial service, Lin Weimin discussed with Wang Xiaobo's brother whether to publish an obituary in the newspaper.
Wang Xiaobo is a writer, and unlike his later works, whose works were ignored and became famous only after his death, at this time and place he had some fame in the domestic literary world. Although he has never been sought after by mainstream literary audiences due to the style of his works, in the eyes of readers who like his writing, Wang Xiaobo is a buried talented novelist.
Readers should know this news.
After obtaining the consent of Wang Xiaobo's brother, Wang Xiaobo's obituary was published in the current issue of "Guowen Daily".
Wang Xiaobo's unexpected death did not cause any waves in the literary world, but it caused quite a reaction among readers.
After the obituary was published in Guowen Daily, many loyal readers of Wang Xiaobo wrote to the editorial office to express their condolences.
A few days later, Lin Weimin heard that Li Yinhe had returned from abroad, so he made a special trip to visit her and Wang Xiaobo's home.
The main purpose of Lin Weimin's visit this time was to seek Li Yinhe's opinion and see whether she agreed to have the Guowen Publishing House publish a collection of Wang Xiaobo's works.
"I have always believed that Xiaobo should have a place in contemporary literature. His sudden death is a loss to the literary world and readers. So I think it is necessary to sort out his works so that more readers can see his talent."
Publishing a collection of works is a kind of recognition for writers. Many writers have their collections of works published after their deaths, while many writers have their collections of works published during their lifetime. However, to publish a collection of works during one's lifetime, one must have achieved a certain level of achievement to be able to convince the public.
After listening to Lin Weimin's thoughts, Li Yinhe felt sad but also somewhat relieved.
My husband Wang Xiaobo loved writing. During the past few years when he was a full-time writer, he hardly ever stopped writing for a single day.
Publishing a collection of essays is, in any case, a recognition of her husband's literary achievements. How could she, as a wife, not agree?
With Li Yinhe's consent, Lin Weimin returned to the publishing house and assigned the task of publishing "The Collected Works of Wang Xiaobo".
During lunch, Yu Hua sat next to Lin Weimin.
"Teacher Lin, have you heard?"
"What did you hear?" Lin Weimin asked while eating normally.
"It's difficult to win the Yanbing Literature Award again this year!" Yu Hua said with a gossipy look on his face.
Lin Weimin seldom pays attention to the news of the Writers Association now. He only paid attention to the selection of the Yanbing Literature Award when he submitted his works. From October 1995 to now, this year's award has lasted for more than a year. It was supposed to be announced in the beginning of spring, but he didn't expect something strange to happen again.
He asked calmly: "What's the reason this time?"
Yu Hua's face showed a bit of pride, "You can only hear this news from me..."
Seeing that he was still trying to keep him in suspense, Lin Weimin just focused on eating and ignored him.
Having been met with such disappointment, Yu Hua had no choice but to continue, "Let me tell you, this time our Chinese Literature Society has won a great victory! Didn't they select 30 works to enter the competition stage during the reading class selection two years ago? Our Chinese Literature Society also shortlisted 10 works. Let me tell you, this time the award is said to have selected 4 works, all from our Chinese Literature Society!"
Works published by Guowen Publishing House occupy all the winners of this year's Yanbing Literature Award?
That's good news.
Lin Weimin asked: "You said the award was difficult to come by, is it because of this reason?"
"Yes! Think about it, there are only a few places for each award, and they are all taken by our National Literature Press. How can the jury explain this to publishing organizations and cultural units across the country?
When the competition was first launched, everyone submitted their own confident works, but now that the awards have been announced, it has become a one-man show for our Chinese Literature Society. How will the jury explain this?"
Listening to Yu Hua's words, Lin Weimin smiled. It was indeed quite interesting.
Over the years, he and the Literary Association have been in a love-hate relationship, but their relationship has never been broken. Seeing them suffer, Teacher Lin is still very relieved.
Looking at Lin Weimin's expression, Yu Hua knew that he had flattered the right person again this time.
"Let them go." Lin Weimin said casually.
Anyway, the quality of the works of Guowen Publishing House is there, and the jury cannot remove them just because they want to. If they really go too far, Lin Weimin doesn't mind re-establishing the "People's Literature Award".
The People's Literature Award is a literary award sponsored by Guowen Publishing House in 1986. The award is limited to works published by Guowen Publishing House or published in Guowen Publishing House's publications. However, this literary award has not been held since the first one in 1986.
The main reason for the discontinuation of the People's Literature Award is that the list of winners of the first People's Literature Award and the list of winners of the first and second Yanbing Literature Awards highly overlap.
The People's Literature Award is an award given by the Guowen Publishing House, but the results have been criticized for having too high an overlap with the Yanbing Literature Award, which is really laughable.
But this award result also shows that Guowen Publishing House is qualified and capable of organizing a large-scale literary awards event.
"Teacher Lin, I wonder if our club can organize its own awards ceremony?"
Yu Hua was like a worm in Lin Weimin's stomach.
Lin Weimin glanced at him and asked, "What's the point of judging the award?"
"Everyone is doing it! Look at Da Jia and Dong Hai, their literary magazines are all holding awards. I think with the strength of our Guowen Society, there is absolutely no problem in holding an award. We can easily crush the Yanbing Literature Award..."
Lin Weimin interrupted Yu Hua's brazen remarks and said, "You are talking nonsense. The Yanbing Literature Award was established according to Mr. Yanbing's last wish. Although we don't get along with him, we must respect him."
Yu Hua immediately straightened his stance, "You are right."
Although he said this, what he was thinking in his heart was: Leaders really like to say one thing and mean another.
Yu Hua had his own purpose for saying that just now.
When his attempt to slander others failed, he began to worry again.
He claimed that he had mastered Lin Weimin's essence in literary creation, but he had not won any decent awards in all these years. If Guowenshe held its own awards, he might have a chance.
More opportunities mean more possibilities.
Oh, when can I win an award?
(End of this chapter)
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