1980 My Literary Era.

Chapter 519

Now Lin Weimin's reputation in the mainstream literary circles of the United States is very famous, but he lacks a formal recognition.

In later generations, China Central Television had a program called "Hundreds of Lectures". Through this program, many professors who teach in colleges and universities became popular.

One of them, Yu Dan, who lectured on "The Analects of Confucius", was nicknamed "Academic Super Girl" by the public.

This nickname is a good illustration of the influence of "Hundreds of Lectures" on Yu Dan. He is an unknown professor who has devoted himself to learning in colleges and universities. It is exactly the same as "Super Girl" which was popular all over the country many years ago.

Lin Weimin's experience is somewhat similar to Yu Dan's. He is obviously a writer of serious literature, but his works sell well.

Such a monstrous writer has caused many people in the mainstream literary circles of the United States to have very complicated perceptions of Lin Weimin.

In terms of works alone, Lin Weimin's works are indeed very good. Whether he won the National Book Critics Association Award or the Goncourt Literary Prize, most people in the mainstream literary circles recognize it.

But when it comes to the sales of his works, complex emotions come.

In the history of American literature, there are not no writers whose works sell well. Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Scott Fitzgerald, Joseph Heller, the sales of these writers are all very good.

For example, Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" sold 21000 copies in the first year of its publication. The sales volume in the United States has already exceeded 1925 million copies, and it has sold tens of millions of copies worldwide.

There is also Joseph Heller, when his "Catch-22" and Richard Yates' "Revolutionary Road" were shortlisted for the National Book Award of the United States at the same time, Richard Yates lost, this "Catch-22" "Catch-Up" achieved a sales volume of 3 copies in the year it was launched, and now the cumulative sales volume worldwide has exceeded 600 million copies.

Looking at Lin Weimin again, his earliest and best-selling work "Farewell My Concubine" in the United States has exceeded the sales volume of 200 million copies. According to the popularity of this book, breaking the figure of 500 million copies is estimated to be in within ten years.

How long was "Farewell My Concubine" published in the United States?If it is calculated according to the estimated time for this work to break through 500 million copies, it will be up to 25 years.

However, the number of 500 million copies is the road that "The Great Gatsby" has completed in half a century.

The sales volume of "Farewell My Concubine" is of course related to the unprecedented prosperity of the publishing industry in the United States in recent years, but it is undeniable the popularity of this work.

Selling better than "The Great Gatsby" does not mean that "Farewell My Concubine" has more influence in the United States than "The Great Gatsby". The classic "The Great Gatsby" was published in the United States For half a century, the impact on American society has reached a subtle level.

But what if we give "Farewell My Concubine" another 50 years?
You must know that Lin Weimin is a foreigner. He is not an Anza, nor a Jew, but a Chinese.

Every time this topic comes up, the mood of this group of people is naturally extremely complicated.

Roger Strauss is a Jew. He was born in a family married to two famous German-Jewish families in the United States. His mother is from the Guggenheim family, his father belongs to the Strauss family that owns Macy’s, and his wife is The heir to Rheingold.

As a rich second generation born with a golden spoon in his mouth, Roger Strauss plunged into the publishing industry and achieved brilliant results, worthy of the surname of the Strauss family on his head.

But Roger Strauss also has troubles. FSG Publishing House has been established for more than 40 years, and its authors have won 20 Nobel Prizes for Literature alone. As a publishing house known for literary works, FSG Publishing House has already Be top in your field.

Because of this, the development of FSG Publishing House seems to have reached a bottleneck.

In recent years, Roger Strauss has been seeking to bring FSG Press to a higher position, thinking hard but at a loss.

According to the historical trajectory, after several years of fruitless efforts, he will sell the FSG Publishing House he founded to Germany's Holzbrinck Group in 1993, and bid farewell to the publishing industry.

But in today's timeline, Roger Strauss met Lin Weimin, just like King Wen met Ziya and Uncle Huang met Zhuge. How could he miss such an award-winning and book-selling author?
Roger Strauss even had an absurd idea in his mind that Lin Weimin might be the golden key to the transformation of FSG Publishing House.

Faced with Lin Weimin's refusal, Roger Strauss was not discouraged at all.

When he founded FSG Publishing House, he was able to attract many powerful writers not by paying them huge remuneration, but by caring for these writers meticulously and planning their careers carefully.

In other words, as long as he licks comfortably enough, no writer can escape his clutches, and Roger Strauss believes that Lin Weimin is no exception.

Roger Strauss was communicating with Lin Weimin about the publication of his works. Because Random House was the first to get there, Roger Strauss could only pick up leftovers from Random House. He felt that You should take the initiative to change this situation.

"Lin, have you ever considered that your plays are actually very popular and can be recreated as novels?"

Lin Weimin looked at Roger Strauss in surprise. Do capitalists really have no conscience?
"You mean 'The Untouchable' and 'The Kite Runner'?"

Roger Strauss nodded, "That's right!"

Among all Lin Weimin's works, only "Untouchable" is a pure drama, while other works basically have novels first and then dramas.

"The Kite Runner" is a special case. It first became a novel, then became a drama, and was exported to the United States. It has evolved twice.

According to Roger Strauss' idea, he also wants to evolve a third time.

This is too doggy, right?
A person with high moral character like Mr. Lin can't do this kind of thing.

he~tui!

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Lin Weimin categorically rejected Roger Strauss' insane proposal, you Jews, how shameless you are!

Roger Strauss deeply regrets Lin Weimin's attitude. Lin Weimin disagrees with his show operation, so he really can only pick up leftovers.

Lin Weimin gave him a lot of books, "Latent", "The Cliff", "The Wind", "Speak Well", "Da Ming Dynasty 1566", and one more, huh?
Roger Strauss pointed to the title on the book list that was crossed out by Lin Weimin, and asked, "Lin, why did you write this novel and then cross it out? Could it be that this novel was also signed by Random House?" Exclusive agreement?"

Lin Weimin glanced at the position pointed by Roger Strauss, and explained: "That's not true. The main reason for this novel is that it caused a lot of controversy after it was published in China. I decided not to publish it within ten years."

After listening to Lin Weimin's words, Roger Strauss' eyes lit up, "A good work is a controversial one. Can this novel be published in the United States?"

"This……"

Lin Weimin was really questioned by Roger Strauss.

He also chose to hide "Hunting" in the country for a period of time because he was concerned about the impact of public opinion on law enforcement.

Seeing Lin Weimin's hesitant expression, Roger Strauss said again: "We are the country of America, not your country, so there won't be much controversy."

Lin Weimin agreed with his words, and asked, "You haven't even learned about the novel in detail, so you want to publish it?"

Roger Strauss laughed, his face full of confidence, "Lin, making a writer decide not to publish within ten years is a very big gimmick in itself, do you mind me Is it time to use this as a publicity?"

Lin Weimin looked at Roger Strauss silently.

It's not for nothing that you Jews get rich.

"It's okay to publish this "Hunting", but you must publish one of these three novels." Lin Weimin said, pointing to the book list.

Roger Strauss froze for a moment, what do you mean?Want to engage in bundle sales?
His eyes were on the names of the three novels, "Latent", "The Cliff", and "The Wind", and he immediately realized keenly that since Random House did not select these three novels, Lin Weimin wanted to emphasize that among them There must be a reason.

Lin Weimin didn't hide anything from him, and said directly: "These three works tell the story of the spy war invading China during World War II."

His brief explanation directly pointed out the possible taboos of these three novels in the United States. In the 80s, Nihong's economy was so developed that it claimed to "buy the United States", and Niihong's capital rushed into the American market.

Mitsubishi Estate bought Rockefeller Center in New York, Sony bought Columbia Pictures for $34 billion, Panasonic bought Universal Pictures for $60 billion...

The influence of Clay Bombers in American society is deepening and growing.

With Lin Weimin's current popularity in the United States, if the three works "Latent", "The Cliff", and "The Wind" are published, they will definitely attract some attention, and they may cause attacks from the mud bombing R-wing forces.

If Lin Weimin was an American or British, and Xiao Nihong dared to protest or make trouble in the United States, the United States would just slap him in the face, which is not what he is used to.

But the problem is that Lin Weimin is a Chinese, and he has neither a powerful motherland nor arrogance of capital behind him, so he only has some fame. When encountering such a situation, publishers generally choose to avoid it based on the principle that one thing more is worse than one thing less. kinds of works.

"I understand!"

Roger Strauss pondered for a long time, and seemed to be experiencing a struggle in his heart.

Lin Weimin didn't feel any worries because of his expression and posture, and sat there looking at him indifferently.

Roger Strauss performed for a long time, seeing that Lin Weimin was not in a hurry, he sighed slightly in his heart, what a little fox!
Who is Roger Strauss?American Jews, and not just ordinary Jews, are Jews who really have fame and capital in the United States.

If his publishing house wants to publish works about Nibo's invasion of China in World War II, will it be afraid of Nibo people's protest?
This is like two younger brothers fighting to grab a woman. They are both the younger brother of the boss, but there is always a relationship. The boss must choose the younger brother who has a good relationship with him, and Ni Hong is the younger brother who has a good relationship with the boss of the country.

The problem is, Ni Hong is just the younger brother of the American country, but the Jews are the father of the American country!
(End of this chapter)