Chapter 874: Sensation in the United States
November passed quickly, and at the end of the month, Lin Weimin received a package from the United States, which contained a book and a letter.
The book is a sample of "The Nanjing Massacre: The Forgotten Catastrophe of World War II". The letter was written by Zhang Chunru, thanking Lin Weimin for his help in the creation of this work.
Lin Weimin opened the book and found that except for the preface and conclusion, the whole book was divided into two parts with ten chapters. The five chapters in the first part described Zhang Chunru's interview process and the restoration of the Nanjing Massacre. The second part described what happened after the massacre.
The fact that the entire book is in English did not affect Lin Weimin's reading, as he carefully read every word in the book. Although he knew a lot of the contents in the book, when they were summarized in such a book, the shock it brought was still extremely strong.
It is like everyone in later generations knows about the aggressive crimes committed by the Japanese invaders against China during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, but when people actually visit the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre, they will still be shocked, saddened, and angry.
Distance creates beauty, but distance also dilutes feelings.
After spending three days reading the book, Lin Weimin called Zhang Chunru with a heavy heart.
At the beginning, he did not say any polite words, but directly asked Zhang Chunru: "Ms. Zhang, I hope your work can be introduced to China."
Zhang Chunru was a little surprised and explained: "I wrote this book for Americans and foreigners who don't know about the Nanjing Massacre."
“I know your original intention. In fact, I had the same idea as you at the beginning, and I also thought that this was a book written for foreigners.
But in recent days, I read this book carefully and found that I had overlooked a problem, or I had fallen into a wrong thinking.
The country has never relaxed the national popularization of the history of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Nanjing Massacre. Our children have been exposed to these things since junior high school.
But it is precisely because of this that we have problems.
When I recall the education I received, apart from those historical academic research materials that few people care about, the knowledge in history textbooks and literary works that describe the Anti-Japanese War period, I have seen very few real records of that era, and there are even fewer works specifically talking about the Nanjing Massacre.
So I think it is very necessary to introduce your work to China so that domestic readers can also read it. "
After listening to Lin Weimin, Zhang Chunru understood what he meant and said, "I don't have any problem with that. This is also a good thing."
"Okay, it's settled then."
After talking about the introduction of works, Zhang Chunru said, "Mr. Lin, thank you."
Zhang Chunru had previously mailed a sample copy of "The Nanjing Massacre: The Forgotten Catastrophe of World War II" to Lin Weimin. This book has not yet been released in the United States, but Zhang Chunru recently discovered advertisements and soft articles for her novel in some well-known American literary magazines and newspapers.
At first she thought that the publishing house was promoting her, but later when she talked with the editor she found out that the publishing house did promote her but was reluctant to spend the money, and the media that the promotional funds could cover were far less than what is currently shown.
If the book had already been released, Zhang Chunru might have thought that this was the impact of the book itself, but her book is not on the market yet?
Confused, Zhang Chunru inquired with several media outlets and found out that these were all done by FSG Publishing.
FSG Publishing is a leading publishing house in the American literary world and is very famous, but Zhang Chunru had no connection with it. She immediately thought of the fact that FSG Publishing had published many of Lin Weimin's novels.
Although she had not confirmed it with FSG Publishing, Zhang Chunru was certain that it must be Lin Weimin who was behind it.
"Compared to what you have done, these are just insignificant helps," said Lin Weimin.
Seeing that Lin Weimin did not deny it, Zhang Chunru thanked him again.
"There's no need to thank you. I just want to remind you that your book is likely to cause some attacks from right-wing forces after it's published. You must be on guard."
"Thank you. I'll keep an eye on that."
Lin Weimin could tell that Zhang Chunru didn't seem to realize the impact this incident might have on her, but he didn't know how to persuade her anymore since it hadn't happened yet.
"If you need any help, feel free to contact me."
Lin Weimin gave one more reminder before hanging up the phone.
After communicating with Zhang Chunru, Lin Weimin held a special meeting on the introduction of "The Nanjing Massacre: The Forgotten Catastrophe of World War II", requiring that the translation, review and editing of the novel be completed as soon as possible while ensuring quality.
A separate meeting was held to introduce a book, and it was chaired by the president. This level of attention is rare in Guowen Publishing House.
Everyone didn't understand at first, but they understood after reading the manuscript of "The Nanjing Massacre: The Forgotten Catastrophe of World War II".
Such a book that tells the history of suffering of the Chinese people during the War of Resistance has been published in foreign countries. How could China not publish it?
Guowen Publishing House has an unshirkable responsibility in this regard.
While Guowen Publishing House was busy planning the domestic publication of "The Nanjing Massacre: The Forgotten Catastrophe of World War II", the book had already been released in the United States.
Zhang Chunru is not well-known in the United States. Before "Kim", she published "The Father of China's Missiles - The Mystery of Qian Xuesen" in the United States, which received some praise, but only in a small circle.
However, the situation after the publication of "Gold" was very different from that of Zhang Chunru's first book "Zhong". Thanks to the publicity campaign before the publication of the work, this book was placed in the most conspicuous position on the bookshelf after it landed in major bookstores in the United States.
Many readers who come to the bookstore to buy books can see it at a glance. Some readers picked up the book and opened it, and found the preface written by Lin Weimin, which aroused the interest of these readers.
"On December 13, 1937, Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China under the rule of the GMD, fell into the hands of the Nihong invaders. For Nihong, this was a decisive turning point in the war between the two countries and the most glorious victory achieved by the Nihong army in the Yangtze River Basin after fighting with Chiang's army for half a year. For the Chinese army, their heroic battle to defend Shanghai ultimately failed, and their most elite troops also suffered heavy casualties, and the fall of Nanjing was a painful and even fatal setback..."
Lin Weimin's preface does not start by loudly denouncing and condemning the brutal acts of the Mud-Bombing invaders, but rather narrates the war events in China in 1937 in a straightforward manner. Following his narration in the preface, the readers are gradually brought into that war-torn era.
It was not until the second half of the preface that Lin Weimin brought out the profound disaster that this war had brought to the Chinese people. The shocking figures he listed made readers shudder with fear.
It is difficult for Americans, who have never experienced a large-scale war on their own soil, to understand the cruelty of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. They are also unable to understand the perversion and brutality in the bones of the Mud-Bearers. Just a preface has shocked countless readers.
The deep feelings brought by the preface also gave these readers the motivation to read the book "Jin".
In its second week on the market, "King" successfully made it onto the New York Times non-fiction bestseller list and was widely welcomed by American readers.
As a Chinese-American female writer, before "King", Zhang Chunru was not very famous in the American publishing industry, but the publication of "King" attracted the attention of the American publishing industry to Zhang Chunru in a short period of time.
At the same time, an article titled "Humanity Should Not Forget" was quietly published in the New York Times.
“…Generally speaking, mainstream American society is very familiar with the history of Jews being persecuted by the German Nazis during World War II, but knows little about the history of the Japanese invasion of China and its neighboring countries during World War II. This can be attributed to the indifference of Western countries such as the United States to Asia’s World War II history.
"The Nanjing Massacre: The Forgotten Catastrophe of World War II" is the only book so far that uses English to specifically discuss the Nanjing Massacre. The book not only narrates the tragic history of the past that is unknown to Western countries, but more importantly, it profoundly reveals the ugly humanity of the invaders, criticizes the phenomenon of racial discrimination among humans, and explores the human rights issues of the survivors, reflecting Chunru's enthusiasm for safeguarding human rights and justice.
This book will have a great contribution and far-reaching impact on the United States and other Western countries to understand the history of the Japanese invasion of China in the Asian battlefield of World War II. The Asian people have not forgotten that history, and mankind should not forget that history. It is a scar on human civilization. May there be no more war in the world, and may the world be peaceful! "
The New York Times' layout is known for its serious and conservative style. The gray color of the page is why it is called the "Gray Lady" by American readers.
"Humanity Should Not Forget" was published on Page A of the New York Times, which usually publishes daily news, mainly major political and social events. "Humanity Should Not Forget" is a book review, and putting it here is not in line with the New York Times' usual style.
But many readers understood when they saw the author's name - "Lin WeiMin".
In the United States, there are many words related to Chinese culture, such as Kongfu, Confucianism, and General Tso's Chicken.
But in recent years, a word composed entirely of Chinese pinyin has frequently appeared in the American media and has become a name known to countless Americans.
As a foreign writer, Lin Weimin's popularity in the United States is no less than that of most well-known American writers, and is catching up with those internationally renowned great writers.
Over the years, there have been many news reports about Lin Weimin in the U.S. media, but he has published very few articles in the U.S. media. He only wrote a few book reviews to promote the works of his good friend Richard Yates.
For the vast majority of American readers, even if they have not read Lin Weimin’s books, they must have heard of his name.
For such a world-renowned writer to publish his article in a newspaper, he naturally needs to receive worthy treatment, so it is not surprising that the article is placed on Page A.
The New York Times is one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the United States. Seeing Lin Weimin publish an article in it naturally aroused the interest of many readers.
What exactly made this famous writer write an article in the newspaper? In this way, "The Nanjing Massacre: The Forgotten Catastrophe of World War II" came into the sight of more American readers.
Starting from the third week on the market, "King" has once again risen in the ranking of The New York Times bestseller list and is now at the top.
In less than a month, the sales of this book exceeded 100,000 copies, becoming one of the best-selling non-fiction works in the US publishing industry in 1997.
With the hot sales of "Gold", Zhang Chunru's fame in the United States also expanded rapidly, and the publishing house began to arrange for Zhang Chunru to travel around the United States with the book for signing and speaking sessions.
As the first book written in English to specifically introduce the Nanjing Massacre, "The Nanjing Massacre" has also caused a great response in the American historical and literary circles. More than half a month after the book was on the market, discussion articles about the book appeared in many newspapers and magazines.
One month after the release of "King", the response it has caused in the United States is gradually becoming a sensation.
(End of this chapter)
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