Tan Mu, who was invited to attend, had just arrived at the venue. He stood in front of the backboard and admired the paintings for a while, and then said to Lin Chaoyang jokingly.

"You have to ask Huacheng about this. They spent a lot of money for today's scene."

Qin Mu continued with a smile: "They can't bear to do anything without profit. They will hug this cash cow of yours and won't let go."

Lin Chaoyang couldn't help laughing twice when he heard this.

While the two were chatting and joking, there were more and more people in the venue.

Most of them are reporters, and most of these reporters are reporters from TV stations, newspapers and magazines in South China. There are also two or three reporters who came from Shanghai after getting the news.

Among the remaining people, there were two publicity officials, several leaders of the Provincial Literary and Art Association, and the rest were some well-known writers and critics in South China, all of whom attended as guests.

The presence of so many reporters today is inseparable from the publicity outlet's support for Huacheng Press.

Seeing such a battle, Lin Chaoyang was actually a little surprised. Su Chen and Li Shifei had talked to him about the preparations for the press conference before, but the battle at the scene was bigger than he expected.

Although compared with the high-tech press conferences of later generations, today's press conference is a bit crude in stage design, but precisely because of this, it highlights the cultural attributes behind the press conference.

At 9:30 in the morning, the press conference officially began.

There were five people sitting on the podium, and Lin Chaoyang sat in the middle. He was the absolute protagonist today.

On his left are Su Chen and the top leaders of the GD Provincial Literary Association, and on his right are Qin Mu and Huang Qiuyun, two elders in the literary world in GD Province. Both of them are famous prose writers and the older generation of domestic literary critics.

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Huang Qiuyun became famous in the 1930s for his reportage "The Mine", which reported on the lives of Mentougou coal miners. In the 1960s, he published a series of critical articles on Sun Li's works, which caused considerable repercussions in the literary world.

The press conference started with an introduction by Su Chenlai, "Dear leaders, colleagues in the literary world, and comrades from the press, good morning everyone..."

Today there are dozens of reporters from various provinces in South China gathered in the audience, fully demonstrating the determination of Huacheng Publishing House to build momentum for "The Truman Show".

It was the first time for these reporters to participate in a press conference for a book, so they were extremely serious. At this time, voice recorders had not yet become popular, so the reporters were taking shorthand with pens.

When Su Chen introduced Lin Chaoyang, the reporters' eyes were brighter than before.

The biggest highlight of today’s press conference is Lin Chaoyang and his new works!

Last year, "Crossing Guandong" became popular from the beginning to the end of the year. It has been more than a year since the novel was published. You can still see reviews and research articles about this novel in many domestic literary magazines from time to time.

Not to mention the readership group, the total sales of the two issues of "Flower City" magazine that published "Crossing Guandong" exceeded 6 million copies, and the sales volume of the novel since its publication has reached 3.8 million copies.

The readership of these publications has already exceeded 10 million people. Since the publication of "Crossing Guandong", it has aroused strong repercussions among all walks of life in the country.

Even since this year, "Flower City" has reprinted the evaluation of "Crossing Guandong" by overseas media such as "Open Book", "Bafang", and "Chinese" in two issues.

"Flower City" has always liked to engage in this kind of risqué operation. In the past, it often reproduced literary works from Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States, and was highly sought after by readers.

The overseas media articles reprinted in those two issues received quite good reviews among readers. This thing is similar to people in later generations watching foreigners praising China on Douyin.

Among the many works created by Lin Chaoyang over the years, "Garland Under the Mountain" is undoubtedly unique in its influence.

However, this work is a piece of work with bugs and cannot be compared.

Therefore, if we take it seriously, "Crossing Guandong" should be regarded as Lin Chaoyang's most influential work so far.

The momentum it has generated over the past year is three times greater than when Cheng Zhongshi's "White Deer Plain" was released in 1993.

After all, when "White Deer Plain" was released, the literary craze of the 1980s had gradually died out, while "Crossing Guandong" caught up with the golden age of literature.

After writing such a work that can be passed down from generation to generation, Lin Chaoyang's status in the contemporary Chinese literary world has been greatly consolidated.

After a year and a half, his new work was published again, and reporters were naturally very interested.

Moreover, Guangdong is adjacent to Hong Kong, and Hong Kong TV stations can be seen in many places. Not long ago, Lin Chaoyang won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay in Hong Kong. Almost everyone in Guangdong knows that this news has also spread in the domestic film industry.

It further increased reporters’ interest in Lin Chaoyang.

There was nothing new in Lin Chaoyang's speech. He first briefly summarized the story of "The Truman Show" and then talked about some of his creative experiences in this novel.

To a certain extent, today's book launch is equivalent to a public symposium on the work.

The story of "The Truman Show" tells the story of the protagonist Truman who has been selected to be the protagonist of a reality show since he was born. He lives in a studio called Taoyuan Island and knows nothing about everything around him, including

His "family" and "friends" are all actors.

By chance, the unexpected appearance of his "father" made him doubt his own life, and then he gradually became aware of the abnormalities in his life.

In the end, he discovered the truth about Taoyuan Island and decided to escape from this false world and find real life.

He overcame many obstacles and discovered that the sky and sea were also part of the studio, and finally found the door to freedom.

The concept of "reality show" took shape in the United States as early as the 1940s and 1950s, but it is still a very novel concept for most Chinese people today.

Not to mention that Lin Chaoyang has taken the concept of "reality show" to the extreme in his novels to the point where it is almost comparable to the real world. Just by listening to him describe the content of the novel, the reporters felt it was very novel and had the urge to take a look.

After Lin Chaoyang finished speaking, it was Qin Mu and Huang Qiuyun's turn to speak.

To put it bluntly, these two people were invited by Huacheng Publishing House to support "The Truman Show" today, so of course they had to say something nice.

However, these kind words are not said out of conscience. The two old comrades had already received the sample book of "The Truman Show" before. They had read it several times during this time and were very familiar with the advantages of this novel.

"To be honest, I have read a lot of Comrade Chaoyang's works, and there is no doubt about his creative level. Almost every one of his works is a top-notch work.

But I think that the novel "The Truman Show" has reached a peak in thinking since Comrade Chaoyang wrote it.

The place where Truman lives is a huge studio. This setting itself has a strong symbolic meaning, reflecting the phenomenon of human beings being mediatized, commercialized, and symbolized in modern society...

Moreover, the character Truman also has a strong literary character. He awakens from an arranged life, gradually understands himself and searches for the truth. This growth process is similar to the protagonists of many classic literary works.

But the protagonist Truman reflects more than just an awakening. In him, we can see the contradiction between reality and illusion.

His world is false, but his emotions and experiences are real. This strong conflict between reality and fiction can easily trigger readers' thinking about self-awareness and the meaning of existence.

…”

"I very much agree with Comrade Qin Mu's views on "The Truman Show." I also liked Comrade Chaoyang's "Enter Guandong" very much, but I also had a concern when I was reading the novel.

That is, after creating such a stunning masterpiece, what kind of works will Comrade Chaoyang bring to the Chinese literary world in the future?

Some time ago, comrades from Huacheng Publishing House came to my house with "The Truman Show" and asked me to read the novel and give an evaluation.

After reading the novel, my first reaction was "new", and this "new" is reflected in every aspect of the novel.

First of all, the content is new, telling stories in the form of a reality show, which is probably extremely trendy in our Chinese and even world literary circles.

Secondly, the structure is new. The play-within-a-play structure adopted by Comrade Chaoyang greatly enhances the multi-dimensionality and richness of the story.

What’s more, the style is new. According to my point of view, the literary type of this novel can be classified as absurd literature, which is still relatively rare in our domestic literary creation.

The truth and illusion, freedom and control, privacy and concern discussed by Comrade Chaoyang in the novel all demonstrate the absurdity of human existence. He also explores the essential issues of human existence through absurd methods.

…

Western literary critics believe that the philosophical basis of absurdist literature is existentialism, and "The Truman Show" explores exactly this core gist.

What I said above are all my feelings after reading it for the first time. Later, I read the novel a second time, and this time I had some new feelings.

This feeling is that compared to those exaggerated, deformed, and extreme absurdist literary and dramatic works, "The Truman Show" seems to have better completed the realistic interpretation of "absurdity".

He highlights "absurdity" as an artistic method, making the overall absurdity but the details real. He not only maintains artistic purity, but also abides by realistic logic and interest.

To put it in layman’s terms, it has reached a state where both refined and popular tastes can be appreciated, and I think this should be what Comrade Chaoyang has always been pursuing.”

Qin Mu and Huang Qiuyun each talked about their opinions on "The Truman Show" for more than ten minutes, and their evaluation was not bad.

At their age and qualifications, it was impossible for them to praise her against their will. These words were their heartfelt approval after reading the novel.

There were many spoilers about the content of the novel in their speeches. After listening to their speeches, the guests and reporters present became even more curious about "The Truman Show" and couldn't help but feel itchy.

After the top leader of the Literary and Art Association finished his speech, it was time for reporters to interview. They raised their hands impatiently. Su Chen was the first to click on the reporter from Guangzhou Daily.

"I just listened to several introductions to "The Truman Show" and they all think it is an excellent literary work.

But I have a question that I would like to discuss with Comrade Lin Chaoyang.

According to your description, is the story told in "The Truman Show" somewhat out of touch with the lives of us Chinese people at this stage? In the contemporary literary world based on realism, are you worried that your attempt is too highbrow?"

The quality of reporters these days is much higher than that of later generations.

Like "Many people are concerned about whether you can fly high or not. Are you tired from flying?", "You always say that Little Paris knows how to do it, so let me test you, do you know how to do it in English?" "Whose concert do you want to see?"

"Journalists today will definitely not be able to ask these idiotic questions. They are simply smearing the journalistic industry.

"This journalist comrade's question is on point. The story of "The Truman Show" is indeed far behind the lives of ordinary people at this stage, so I set the story in Xiangjiang.

To a certain extent, the development of capitalist society at this stage is a mirror for us. When our society is highly commercialized, human alienation is inevitable.

I write such a story. You can regard it as a warning, a worry, or a protest.

In fact, these are not important to me. What is important is that readers can like and recognize this work.

The world shown in "The Truman Show" is absurd, but the themes it explores are extremely serious.

I hope that readers can gain some insights about life and society from such works, even if it is just a trivial insight, it will be my honor.

Let’s go back to the novel. “The Truman Show” is indeed an absurd story, but behind the absurdity is a heartache for reality and a great disappointment in innocence.”

If it were more than thirty years later, Lin Chaoyang would have made such an extremely literary statement in front of a group of reporters, and he would have been ridiculed in private.

But the reporters present today listened to Lin Chaoyang's words with solemn faces and full of admiration for Lin Chaoyang in their hearts.

Such writers are the hope of the Chinese literary world and the conscience of Chinese society!
Chapter completed!