1980 My Literary Era.

Chapter 386 Is This He 26 Years Old?

The two old men in their 60s and [-]s entered the door.

Lin Weimin recognized one of them at a glance. Is this Woody Allen?

He did not admit his mistake, and Arthur Miller introduced the two to Lin Weimin.

The younger Big Nose is Woody Allen, one of the famous Hollywood directors, and the other older one is Dino De Laurentiis, a well-known Hollywood producer.

Woody Allen was filming the movie "Sister Hannah" in New York during this period. In the movie, "Hannah's Parents' House" was filmed at the intersection of Riverside Road and 86th Street, not far from San Remo.

People in later generations are familiar with Woody Allen because of his great reputation in the world film industry.Since 1960, he has almost produced one film per year, and the quality of the film is surprisingly stable.

From "Annie Hall", "Manhattan" to "Midnight in Paris", his films are not only loved by thousands of movie fans, but also won numerous awards, such as Cannes, Venice, and Oscar. few.

Woody Allen first entered the entertainment industry in the United States when he was a screenwriter on Broadway.After he stepped into Broadway, he soon showed his talent in drama creation. His first play "Don't Drink That Water" was staged 598 times on Broadway for two consecutive years.

After that, he wrote, directed, and acted in many plays by himself, all of which were well received by critics and audiences. He and Arthur Miller also met on Broadway.

In the mid-60s, he began to dabble in comedy movies, and he also achieved good results. After the 70s, he dabbled in more and more styles, received more and more honors, and became more and more famous.

Before 86, it had won many awards including the Berlin Film Festival, Oscar, and Golden Globe Award several times, and was well-known.

Another Dino De Laurentiis is a friend of Woody Allen and a senior producer in Hollywood.I have been visiting New York for the past few days and was brought to today's dinner by Woody Allen.

After six o'clock in the evening, the guests gathered and the chef began to serve the dishes.

The guests sat around the long dining table in Arthur Miller's house, Arthur Miller and his wife sat at the main seat, and Lin Weimin sat on Arthur Miller's right hand.

Arthur Miller tapped his glass, and all eyes turned to him.

"Gentlemen and ladies! Let us welcome my friend, Mr. Weimin Lin, a famous writer and screenwriter from Eastern China!"

After Arthur Miller's toast, everyone raised their glasses and drank together.

The dinner officially started, everyone chatted while eating, and the atmosphere was relaxed and casual.

Sean Adam asked about Arthur Miller's new work.

In the 70s, Arthur Miller's drama creation stagnated. In recent years, only one "The Great Bell of America" ​​was released in 80. Unfortunately, the response of this drama was mediocre.

Since then, Arthur Miller has not launched a new work.

He is now in his seventies, and his body is very strong, but his creative ability is not as good as before.

The so-called "new works" refer to the works of Lin Weimin that Arthur Miller has been mentioning to import.

"I'm also discussing this issue with Lin. There are several of his works, which in my opinion are very suitable for the tastes of American audiences. Personally, I like the work "Farewell My Concubine" the most." Arthur Miller said.

Lin Weimin said at this time: "It is too difficult to move "Farewell My Concubine" to the Broadway stage without any sense of disobedience. This novel involves various aspects such as Peking opera, war, and turmoil. background, it is difficult to find a similar suitable background. If there is no adaptation, it will be difficult for the audience to understand the historical and cultural background of the story."

Arthur Miller nodded: "This is indeed a big question, and I have been thinking about it."

The conversation between the two was about Lin Weimin's works, so the others just listened and did not participate.

Arthur Miller frowned and thought for a while, then looked at several friends, "Do you have any suggestions?"

Everyone was confused by his question. They all knew that Lin Weimin was a screenwriter from far away China, but they had never seen his works. No one thought that Arthur Miller would ask such a question.

Bloomgarden and Sean Adam have seen "Untouchable", but when it comes to Lin Weimin's other works, they are also clueless.

Everyone's silence made Arthur Miller stunned for a moment, and then he realized that there was something wrong with what he said.

Lin Weimin also discovered the problem at this time. Since he met Arthur Miller, in the conversation between the two, he has been translating "Farewell My Lover" as "Farewell My Lover" instead of "Farewell My Lover", which is published in the United States. My Concubine".

The word "Concubine" is very accurate in describing "Concubine Yu", but it is difficult to be called Xinyada after being translated into English. Lin Weimin deliberately avoided this word and changed it to "Farewell My Lover", so Arthur · Miller has been using this name.

"Farewell My Concubine, have you read this novel?" Arthur Miller asked in another way.

Woody Allen said, "I've read it. Is that novel written by Mr. Lin?"

He said, looking at Lin Weimin with some surprise.

Bloomgarden also said: "Of course I have read that novel. It has been on the New York Times bestseller list for a long time, right?"

After listening to the two, everyone also showed curiosity on their faces.

They didn't know anything about Lin Weimin before they came, they only knew that this was Arthur Miller's special banquet for Lin Weimin, and he must be a friend he valued very much.

When Arthur Miller introduced Lin Weimin as a writer and screenwriter, everyone didn't think too much about it.

The novel "Farewell My Concubine" has been on the American book market for nearly four years, and the first two years were not a big splash. Occasionally, it could touch the tail of the "New York Times" bestseller, but it was quickly squeezed off the list.

However, in the past two years, it has gradually started to exert its strength. It has been maintained for nearly a year from not being on the list to the end of the list, and then to the middle of the list. The results are extremely stable. This kind of sales curve is rare in the US book market. See you.

When a new book is released, there are probably several situations.

The first one is that there is no splash, let alone the list, you may not see many in bookstores, and you can’t rush any more. This is not only related to the quality of the book, but also to the distribution channel.

The second is to become a bestseller for a while, the most typical ones are books about success or skills, with good marketing and strong distribution channels, it is easy to sell well in a short period of time.But this kind of hot sale is difficult to last, usually not more than half a year.

There is another kind of best-selling books that really dominate the list. Except for the special case of a book becoming famous, most of these books are works of famous authors, and their quality is outstanding, with many fans and great influence.

The above three situations belong to the vast majority of the US book market.

And there are very few such cases as in "Farewell My Concubine".

The results in the first two years were not very good, but they also helped the publishing house earn money.Generally, books are said to have sales potential. It is impossible for books to be sold all the time if they are placed in bookstores.

Under such circumstances, many publishing houses will be cautious about republishing books, because once the sales potential bottoms out, publishing houses are likely to face the risk of unsalable books.

However, Random House operated against the wind. Two years after the publication of "Farewell My Concubine", it began to republish and publicize it with great efforts. In the end, they really got the bet.

The sales volume of "Farewell My Concubine" has been rising again and again, and the upward curve is stable, without any decline. Today, it has sold nearly one million copies in the United States alone. If counting the countries in the English-speaking world, it has already exceeded the million-copy mark .

Four years is enough time for "Farewell My Concubine" to cultivate a group of readers in the United States, not to mention its excellent sales performance in the past two years.

Woody Allen and Bloomgarden are both engaged in theater-related work, and usually read a lot of novels. "Farewell My Concubine" has achieved excellent sales in the United States in the past two years, so they have naturally read it.

After Bloomgarden finished speaking, Woody Allen's eyes became more excited, and he asked, "Lin, is that novel really your work?"

Arthur Miller said at this time: "Lin's works are not only published in the United States, but also works such as "The Man on the Horse", "The Lover", and "Chasing the Murderer". I remember that the publisher is Random House. right?"

Lin Weimin nodded, "That's right."

Woody Allen suddenly picked up the napkin on the table, dipped his fork in the sauce and wrote on it: "So, your pseudonym is WeiMin Lin?"

This pinyin name is the author's name used by Lin Weimin's works published in the United States. It seems that Woody Allen has really read his own works, Lin Weimin nodded with a smile.

Lin Weimin's affirmative answer made Woody Allen's face even more surprised, "My God! This is really a coincidence! Do you know? I love your "Pursuit" so much! You are simply a Genius! Only a genius mind can come up with such a wonderful narrative trap!"

Woody Allen's praise made Lin Weimin very happy, "Thank you!"

Everyone became more curious after hearing Woody Allen's praise. Among these people, only Bloomgarden has read the English version of "Farewell My Concubine", and the others have not even read a single novel by Lin Weimin.

Listening to Arthur Miller's introduction, Lin Weimin actually had four works published in the United States. This kind of treatment is obviously not available to ordinary new writers. What's more, Lin Weimin is a writer from a foreign country, and it is difficult to publish four works. One can imagine.

Dino De Laurentiis said excitedly: "Hearing what Ivy said, I'm really curious about Lin's works. I'm going to buy all these books and take a good look at them when I go back."

"Of course you have to read it, my old man! Lin's novels will never disappoint you, he is a genius novelist!"

Arthur Miller also said at this time: "Lin is indeed a genius. His works have a wide range of styles. I think few people can do it."

Woody Allen and Arthur Miller's continuous bragging made Lin Weimin a little overwhelmed, but the others suddenly became interested.

In the past, everyone's enthusiasm for him was more of a kind of politeness and etiquette. Now that we know that Lin Weimin's works are so popular in the United States, everyone really pays attention to him.

Lin Weimin became the focus of the dinner party, and everyone kept asking him questions.

At first everyone asked about the works, but finally Li Baoyu couldn't hold back and asked Lin Weimin a question.

"Mr. Lin, may I ask your age?"

"I was born in 1960, and I am 26 years old this year." Lin Weimin replied.

26 years old?

Woody Allen suspected he had heard it wrong, and he repeated, "26?"

Lin Weimin nodded.

Woody Allen looked at Lin Weimin's face again. It's not against his face to say that he is 26 years old, but everyone has seen Asians in the United States and knows that these people are born with baby faces.Lin Weimin made friends with Arthur Miller, and everyone subconsciously didn't think his age was too young.

Not only Woody Allen, but everyone in the room, except Arthur Miller who was familiar with Lin Weimin's situation, including his wife Inge Moras, were stunned.

Everyone was completely shocked.

Earlier Arthur Miller reported the names of a bunch of works, and now you tell me that the authors of these works are only 26 years old?
There is only one thought in everyone's mind.

So, how old was he when he wrote these works?

(End of this chapter)