1980 My Literary Era.

Chapter 517 Belongs to His Name
From its birth to 1989, FSG Publishing House has won 20 Nobel Prizes for Literature. Of course, this is not Roger Strauss boasting. Although his tone is loud, his words are realistic.

FSG Publishing House has achieved brilliant achievements in the Nobel Prize, even Gallimard Publishing House, which has swept across Europe, has less influence on the Nobel Prize than them.

Such an achievement is naturally not due to luck. In the 60s and [-]s after the end of World War II, the international influence of the United States reached its peak. FSG Publishing House, as a member of the publishing industry in the United States, grasped the post-war era of continuous fermentation of culture and art. condition.

They are actively looking for new authors and valuable unpopular authors around the world, and have attracted a large number of outstanding writers such as Brodsky, Edmund Wilson, Susan Sontag, etc. Basic conditions of the award.

In the trend of American culture constantly eroding Western countries and regions, FSG Publishing House has successfully hitched a ride and built their unique influence on the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Lin Weimin had already guessed Roger Strauss' purpose from the moment he opened the topic.

In the 80s, domestic information was relatively closed, but it was not isolated from the world. Lin Weimin cooperated with Random House all the year round, and his works were sold overseas. Naturally, he knew FSG Publishing House, an authoritative publishing house in the American literary world.

American Jewish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978. At that time, China was in the initial stage of reform and opening up, and "World Literature" and "Foreign Literature and Art" paid attention to foreign literary works The magazine has just resumed publication, and immediately introduced this latest Nobel Prize news to China.

In the following year, Singer's works were introduced to China.

Singer, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, is the most shining star among a series of Jewish writers created by FSG Publishing House. He has established cooperation with FSG Publishing House since the 60s, and most of his works since then have also been published. It was compiled and published here, and successfully won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

In terms of the number of publications and sales of works, FSG Publishing House cannot be called the leader in the American publishing industry.

But if we only look at the publication of literary works, in the US publishing industry in the past few decades, there is no existence that can compete with FSG Publishing House.

Even the behemoth Random House can't do it. Random House's business is too complex, at least in the subdivision of literary works publishing, it is not yet the opponent of FSG Publishing House.

You must know that FSG Publishing House not only has a huge influence on the Nobel Prize for Literature, but also has a profound influence on the selection of major mainstream literary awards in the United States. This is the influence that has been managed for decades.

The atmosphere of silence in the room lasted for a while. As the hostess of today's salon, Annie Lipowitz said with a smile: "Roger, I think you should just write a book about the glorious history of your publishing house." !"

Roger Strauss laughed and said: "Annie, don't be joking, these words can only be said together when we in the industry get together."

The two chatted relaxedly with smiles, and other people also joined in, and the topic gradually became lighter again.

After dinner, today's salon drew to a close, and Annie Lipowitz got up to send everyone out.

Lin Weimin and Tao Huimin were going up in the elevator, and she suddenly said, "Weimin, have you noticed?"

"Found what?"

"Anne and Susan have an unusual relationship."

Lin Weimin said disapprovingly: "It can be seen that they should be very good friends."

Tao Huimin shook her head, "That's not what I meant!"

Lin Weimin looked at her, "Then what do you mean?"

Tao Huimin gave him a blank look. Her husband is indeed a bit slow in this regard.

"It's... our kind!" Tao Huimin said after deliberation.

The expression on Lin Weimin's face finally became surprised, "Is it real? How did you find out?"

"You don't understand, that feeling is very subtle, I can see it at a glance."

Lin Weimin felt that the more Tao Huimin talked, the more mysterious it became, but this topic is quite exciting, Lily!
It's a pity that both Susan Sontag and Anne Lipowitz are a bit older, both in their 50s and [-]s, which is almost meaningless.

"Tell me the details!"

Teacher Lin inherited the fine tradition of the Guowen Society, sticking to Tao Huimin's side and whispering to her.

The next morning, Lin Weimin met David Morris, a reporter from The New Yorker, a Jewish reporter in Dakota's apartment.

David Morris is middle-aged and has worked for The New Yorker for more than 20 years. He is a senior reporter for the magazine and has interviewed many heavyweights in the American cultural circle.

Seeing Lin Weimin, David Morris' first reaction was to be surprised at Lin Weimin's age.

Before the interview, he had collected a lot of information about Lin Weimin, and he knew Lin Weimin's age, but he was still very surprised at Lin Weimin's youth when he met him.

Lin Weimin joked: "This is probably a genetic lottery for Asians!"

David Morris laughed. With just one sentence, he judged that the writer to be interviewed today was different from the Asians he met in the United States.

Confident and determined, take your time.

After being seated, Tao Huimin helped bring a cup of tea and coffee. David Morris thanked them. After taking a sip, he looked around at the layout of the apartment out of a reporter's instinct.

"My wife and I plan to come to New York for our honeymoon, and a friend rented this place for me."

"I know, Mr. Arthur Miller." After David Morris said something, he prepared his paper and pen, and took out a Sony recorder.

Today, the voice recorder has just been released for a short time. It is different from the digital recording that is common in later generations, but tape recording.

"This is my best friend." David Morris smiled and introduced the recorder to Lin Weimin.

"Technology has changed life!"

The two smiled tacitly, and after a few pleasantries, the interview officially began.

Lin Weimin and David Morris sat opposite each other, and David Morris said, "Why don't we start our interview today with Mr. Arthur Miller. How did you and Mr. Arthur Miller meet?"

"It took a long time to talk about this matter. My teacher is Mr. Wan Jiabao, a Chinese playwright. He and Mr. Arthur Miller were old acquaintances. Mr. Wan visited the United States a few years ago. Arthur Miller Mr. received him at that time.

Before the end of the visit, Mr. Wan invited Mr. Arthur Miller to visit China. In 1983, Arthur Miller went to Yanjing People’s Arts for a visit and exchange. I accompanied Mr. Arthur Miller for a few days, and we became very good friends. friend……"

"Just now you talked about your teacher Wan Jiabao. I am very curious about your learning experience and how you embarked on the creative path. These are very few in my materials." David Morris flipped through the materials in his hand asked.

"My learning experience is very simple, that is, a junior high school education. You should know about the turmoil in the past few years. My studies were forced to be interrupted, and then I went to the countryside to jump in the queue.

Life in the countryside is relatively difficult. I started writing purely to improve living conditions.

At the beginning, my writing was terrible, and I would receive rejections from magazines every few days. After about a year, my novel was finally published in a literary magazine and won a national award .

Therefore, I received an invitation from the Institute of Literature to conduct a short-term literature training..."

"I'm very interested in this Institute of Literature, can you talk about it in detail?"

"sure……"

David Morris's interview style is not the aggressive type, but his thinking is rigorous and careful, and he often keeps asking questions about a sentence in the answer.

The interview was carried out in an orderly manner, and everything went smoothly, but David Morris couldn't change the old habits of American journalists.

Chatting and chatting, you can't help but extend to the political aspect.

"I think we can expand the topic a little bit, you just talked about your studies being interrupted because of that movement, can you talk about how this has affected you?"

Lin Weimin said: "I don't think this is in the content of our interview."

"That's right, but why can't you talk about it? Is it because you don't want to talk about it yourself? Or is there some reason you can't talk about it?"

David Morris's words obviously meant something, and gradually became sharper.

Lin Weimin shook his head, "It's not that I don't want to talk about it, and it's not that I can't talk about it, it's just that this occasion is not suitable for talking."

"Why?" David Morris demanded.

Lin Weimin gave an example of a group of writers visiting France last year, saying: "I am relatively pragmatic. The government is not impossible to criticize, and history is not impossible to evaluate, but I hope that my words will have some positive effects, not It's only used as a complaint, or to show others the excitement."

"You might get some solidarity through our reporting!"

"Why should you Americans support our Chinese affairs?"

One sentence from Lin Weimin stopped David Morris. When he was pondering, Lin Weimin said: "Let's talk about literature!"

Lin Weimin hit a soft nail. David Morris has no good entry point for the time being, so he can only give up the idea of ​​extending to the political direction.

Returning to the theme of literature, Lin Weimin is a very good interviewee. He is humorous, knowledgeable, and broad-minded. David Morris couldn't help but sigh. At the end of the interview, he couldn't help but sigh: "Lin Weimin , it would be great if you were an American writer!"

Lin Weimin laughed and said, "God treats you Americans so favorably, but you are always greedy!"

David Morris did not feel unhappy because of Lin Weimin's teasing, but he laughed freely. After more than two hours of interviews, he understood that this is Lin Weimin's consistent style, with a bit of sharp irony in his humor .

This is the standard for great writers!
"Let's ask one last question. Let's end our interview with this question." David Morris looked serious, looked at Lin Weimin and asked, "When do you think you will win the Nobel Prize for Literature?"

Lin Weimin looked at David Morris indifferently, "David, your question is too cliche and nothing new."

"New ideas are not important, what readers want to see is more important."

With a joke, Lin Weimin replied sternly: "Your question has been asked by other media in interviews. In all honesty, as the most influential literary award in the world today, the Nobel Prize for Literature may not be given to many writers." Not looking forward to this award. But..."

"It would be really sad if I had written a book all my life and was only named as a Nobel Prize winner in the end!"

When Lin Weimin said this, he looked out of the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sky was high and the earth was wide.

David Morris looked at the world outside the window following Lin Weimin's eyes, and couldn't help feeling a surge of pride in his heart following Lin Weimin's words.

Yes, if the most famous name called by a writer in his life is only one "Nobel Prize Winner" and there are no classics left in the world, what's the point?

He withdrew his gaze, looked at Lin Weimin again, and an inexplicable thought came to his mind.

The young Chinese writer in front of him will definitely leave his name in the world literary world.

(End of this chapter)