Font
Large
Medium
Small
Night
Prev Index    Favorite Next

Chapter 200: The Embarrassment of Beyond the Times

After more than half a month of stalemate, the Public Concession Commission judged that the magazines under Commercial Press had spread bad information, causing serious damage to Lin Zixuan's reputation, and asked him to publicly apologize in the newspaper and symbolically compensate Lin Zixuan 1,000 silver dollars as compensation.

This is the final result of the struggle between the two sides.

Commercial Press has a great business, and Lin Zixuan has no choice but to deal with it, and the lawsuit cannot be fought endlessly. This is a judgment that both parties can accept.

Bao Xianchang, the founder of Commercial Press, is from Yin County, Ningbo, Zhejiang. His father Bao Zhecai studied at Chongxin Academy in Ningbo in his early years. After graduation, he went to Shanghai to serve as the pastor of Qingxin Hall in Hunan and participated in the establishment of Qingxin Middle School.

The Qingxin Hall in South of Hu is a Christian institution, and both it and Qingxin Middle School are run by the North American Presbyterian Club.

In other words, the Commercial Press has a close relationship with American Christianity, and the church has great energy within the Shanghai Concession.

The matter was over, and the scandal about Lin Zixuan and Meng Xiaodong also disappeared from the newspaper, but it became a topic of conversation for the people after dinner.

Meng Xiaodong reappeared on the stage to sing opera, which was warmly welcomed by the audience, and even those who had not listened to opera before came to support him.

She has already gained a famous position in the Peking Opera world in Shanghai.

This is why celebrities like to hype scandals, which can greatly increase their popularity.

It was just left behind sequelae. After the scandal, those who covet Meng Xiaodong no longer appeared, and at the same time, Meng Xiaodong and Lin Zixuan were entangled.

Even if Lin Zixuan won the lawsuit, most people still think that Meng Xiaodong and Lin Zixuan are related, and this is the power of gossip.

Lin Zixuan cannot control what others are thinking, and he has no superpowers.

He received letters from the United Kingdom and the United States.

Virginia Woolf read "The Watcher in the Rye" and bluntly criticized the book's American descent, that is, compared to the elegance and beauty of British literature, American literature has a kind of impetuousness and exaggeration.

American literature initially imitated British literature, but later gradually deviated from British literature.

It was not until this era that American literature developed its own characteristics and began to prosper, and thus the differentiation of British and American literature emerged.

British literature is more traditional, and it is just the right way of writing and using words.

To put it bluntly, it is called old-fashioned, and to put it bluntly, it is called elegant.

Because the United States is an immigrant country, American culture is the result of the integration of various cultures, which is reflected in literary creation. American literature emphasizes innovation, is more ostentatious in language, and is full of personal color. It is not so standardized and slang is often used.

This is not common in British literature, so the British think their literature is more authentic.

In the book "The Watcher in the Rye", the protagonist is full of swearing, which is a major feature of American literature.

In order to express strong inner emotions, American writers do not mind using this method. Of course, it is not that American literature is the case, but this novel is more typical.

However, Woolf is also an innovator of literature and can accept the writing of "The Watcher in the Rye".

After criticizing it, she believed that the psychological description of this novel was extremely successful. Although it was not an authentic way of writing the stream of consciousness, it had the charm of the stream of consciousness, showing the empty and depressing life of the Americans.

Judging from the story, the entire American society is in a spiritual wasteland, lost itself and unable to find a way out.

This is an alienated and degenerate society, and the protagonist wants to protect the last bit of beauty in his heart, that is, the world of children.

This is close to the meaning expressed in Eliot's "The Wasteland", and it is both spiritual disillusionment in Western society.

"The Wasteland" uses symbolism. It is difficult for ordinary readers to understand. "The Watcher in the Rye" uses novel themes and is easier to be accepted by readers.

She decided to help Lin Zixuan publish the novel in the UK.

In the United States, Peterson found a publishing house for Lin Zixuan. However, the publishing house was not optimistic about this novel.

If Lin Zixuan hadn't been famous in the United States, they might have refused to publish it. They felt that using the new work of the author of "Gone with the Wind" as a gimmick should attract some readers.

They hoped that Lin Zixuan could write popular literature.

As for the comic "Superman", fewer people are interested, which is related to the fact that American comics are still in their early stages of development.

The publication of Ultracott's comic strip "Yellow Child" on May 17, 1896 marked the birth of American comic strips.

Like China, American cartoonists of this era were not a respected profession, nor had a considerable income.

At this time, the main readers of American comics were children. In order to cater to children's interest in reading, most of the comics on the market were mainly cartoon characters and cartoon animals.

For example, the image of the small crazy cat in the serialized and daily comic strip "A Family Upstairs" was published in 1910. By 1916, the small crazy cat had become a cartoon star.

Moreover, there are no professional comics and magazines in the United States today, let alone superheroes.

The publisher believes that the setting of the comic is too complicated. Although Superman was a child at the beginning, he grew up quickly. Children would not accept the story of an adult as the protagonist, and they might not understand it at all.

The readership of "Superman" should be teenagers and adults, but how many teenagers will read comics now.

It takes time to cultivate the market, so the publisher is unwilling to publish "Superman".

So, he had to publish it at his own expense, which, as Lin Zixuan expected, did not mind spending time cultivating American teenagers' interest in reading, and believed that the golden age of comics was coming.

He mainly attributes the copyright of these superheroes to his own name. If he spends some money now, he will have a great harvest in the future.

Lawyer Peterson was very puzzled by Lin Zixuan's comic complex, but he was a lawyer and just completed the client's commission. He didn't care much about other things. Anyway, he used Lin Zixuan's money.

In this way, "Watchman in the Rye" and "Superman" appeared in front of American readers at the end of 2019.

Honestly, sales are extremely bleak.

"The Watcher in the Rye" is a little better. After all, with Lin Zixuan's fame, tens of thousands of copies sold, while "Superman" has reached the point where no one cares about it.

Parents will not buy such comics for their children, and teenagers do not pay attention to comics. Only some readers who like to be curious will buy them to read with the mentality of trying them out.

This is the embarrassment that transcends the times.

This is like Lin Zixuan's novel "The Journey of Ethereal" and "The Legend of Zhen Huan" published in "Popular Novel Daily", a novel that was best-selling in later generations was coldly received during the Republic of China period.

When the novel "The Ethereal Journey" was first serialized, it caused heated discussion.

After all, the novel is set on an alien planet and there are various magic weapons. It is indeed novel to be able to fly to the sky and hide.

However, this kind of story that combines myth and science fiction quickly became a niche story because most readers cannot accept this setting.
Chapter completed!
Prev Index    Favorite Next