Margaret's Secret

Chapter 30 Epilogue: The Ambition Behind the Suspense

Text: Zheng Hui
When discussing the current situation and prospects of Chinese suspense novels, Cai Jun is a writer that cannot be ignored.

From short stories to novels, from online writing to paper book publishing, Cai Jun, who has been working tirelessly since publishing his works in 2000, has made many achievements. The suspenseful clues of "Virus" and "Curse", "Desolate Village Series" The rudimentary form of the intellectual suspense novel, "Margaret's Secret" has a mature structure... The suspense is becoming more and more confusing, the story is becoming more and more exciting and beautiful, and the characters are becoming more and more vivid and full, covering elements such as history, religion, society, and science. , combining the characteristics of traditional literature and writing of the new generation, and gradually formed its own unique style.

Among his many works, the masterpiece "Margaret's Secret" of the turning period is the most valuable for research, and it is also China's first intellectual suspense novel with substantial significance.

The double combination of romance and treachery is a highlight of this novel.

Follow the steps of the protagonist "I", shuttle between China and France, appreciate the wonderful Parisian style, wander in the fascinating Louvre and the Seine River, and pursue the mysterious oil painting of the 16th century, the hand-painted parchment, and the Mama. The secret of Queen Gretel, the city of romance will be thrilling days and nights.

In today's words, this is an "encyclopedia of French culture in the 16th century".

In the narration that quotes from many sources, Cai Jun leads the readers into his story maze step by step.

Has the ghost imprisoned by the oil painting for 400 years escaped and become the destroyer of the world?As soon as the novel is opened, the mysteries come one after another, and the stories of strange tales of exotic lands and urban chat rooms are constantly unfolding before our eyes.Under the appearance of proficient technique, the creative heart of exploring human nature and destiny is obvious. Cai Jun is an ambitious writer, and he hopes that his writing will gain wider and higher recognition.

After reading this novel for the first time, it is not difficult to see that it has the style of Dan Brown, Navarro and other European and American intellectual suspense masters. Presumably this is the reason why Cai Jun is deeply influenced by European and American suspense novels.

Intricate clues are the foundation of suspense novels and the most attractive place for readers.

Cai Jun played very well in "Margaret's Secret". At the end of the novel, he connected the great prophet Nostradamus with the ancient Egyptian "Book of the Dead", which showed his unrestrained imagination and boldness. strokes.This is Cai Jun's usual way of writing. Clues from different times and spaces are intertwined together, and readers are immersed in it, lingering and forgetting to return.

From the cross-section of the text, even in the diversified development of suspense novels today, "Margaret's Secret" is still a relatively good work, without an absolutely westernized style of writing, without strange powers, pretending to be ghosts, and without fighting. It's not the upgraded adventure mode, but a pure, traditional intellectual suspense novel.

This is invaluable.

But such works are still in their infancy in China.As a leading figure, Cai Jun has made a good start, but we should also see that excellent knowledge suspense novels are really limited, and more suspense novels still stay in the previous stage of horror, novelty hunting, or supernatural, and have better Works of literary value and social value are rare, very few.

Yes, suspense novels are unavoidably unconventional in terms of plot mode, and unavoidably thin in ideological content.Many authors are not active in the development of depth and breadth, especially in the impetuous publishing environment and reading environment, there are many talented authors who lack perseverance and ambition.

It is not difficult to weave a story that is bizarre, twists and turns, and full of suspense, but how to make the story shocking and resonant is difficult.

This "Marguerite's Secret" is a representative work of Cai Jun's turning point and watershed. It may not be as good as his later works in terms of creative standards, but we must admit that this is a very important work of Cai Jun, and it is also An important work that provides useful experience and research value for the development of Chinese suspense novels.

I hope that through this novel and Cai Jun's works, while studying Cai Jun's creative path, I also study every bit of Chinese suspense novels, which will definitely help the vigorous development of this type of novels.

Zheng Hui, publisher, writer, suspense culture critic.Now living in Guangzhou, he works full-time in book publishing. He has planned and published the best-selling suspense horror novel series "Guidanshe" series, Shangguan Midnight's "Scorpio Forest" and so on. In 2008, she married Shangguan Midnight, a best-selling suspense novelist, and it became a good story in the suspense circle.

(End of this chapter)