Literary Master 1978

The small island hidden in the sea fog is full of mysterious atmosphere.

Yan Shuzhong, who tried his best to investigate the truth, felt that everyone on the island seemed to be hiding secrets. But when he tried his best to dig out the truth, the truth turned out to be so cruel.

It turns out that all this was his fantasy. His loved ones died because of his betrayal. Unable to bear the blow, he could only use fantasy to anesthetize himself.

He imagined himself as a police officer, imagining that bad people had implemented a huge conspiracy against him and his family, in order to anesthetize the pain in his heart.

But when the truth was revealed, it was like the anesthetic had ended, and the pain that came back would only get worse.

Therefore, at the end, Yan Shuzhong will fall into fantasy again after a brief period of sobriety. He cannot bear the weight of reality.

Zhang Manling feels pathetic for Yan Shouzhong's experience. He is the culprit who caused the death of his relatives, so he is pathetic; he is also using this method to punish himself, which proves that his conscience is not forgotten, which is sighing.

That night, she was lying in bed after reading the novel. There were many pictures in her mind, all pictures derived from the words, about Yan Shuzhong, about Shutter Island, about Zhang Peilan...

She couldn't sleep until finally she picked up the copy of "October" again and decided to read the novel again.

After reading the novel for the second time, Zhang Manling had a new feeling about the novel.

She discovered that the place Shutter Island was probably also imagined by Strict Guard.

Because in the novel, there is no mention of the external environment outside Shutter Island at all. Yan Shuzhong also said during his brief sobriety at the end that he had actually been in a deep fantasy.

Zhang Manling carefully searched for the detailed description of Shutter Island in the novel and found some clues. All the specific details in it were described from Yan Shuzhong's subjective perspective, while his colleague Lei Jianming did not make any statement.

Then there is the "Prologue" at the beginning. Zhang Manling believes that this is the biggest evidence that "Shutter Island is the imagination of Strictly Guard", because Lin Chaoyang did not make up an unfamiliar name, but used "Xu Lingjun", a fiction that the public is already familiar with. The character's name.

People are fictitious, so the diary in "Prologue" is also fictitious.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized that this idea made sense. But when she told her classmate Gao Xianjun about this idea, she was surprised by another unexpected idea from Gao Xianjun.

"Is there a possibility that Yan Shuzhong was caught up in a huge conspiracy? Yan Shuzhong is a psychopath. This is only what the author let us see in the end.

But if we put aside the ending, the things we experienced in the previous strict defense can be explained in a self-explanatory manner.

Look at the end, the novel only says that Yan Shuzhong woke up, remembered his true identity and past, and then fell into a deeper imagination.

Is it not possible that this sobriety itself is just an imagination to tame him? Can you overturn this statement? "

Faced with Gao Xianjun's questioning, Zhang Manling fell silent and then fell into self-doubt.

According to the logic in the novel, Yan Shouzhong's family fell into a conspiracy. This is the most superficial story, but it was easily overturned in the second half.

But if you look at what Gao Xianjun said, it is actually not a different idea, because as long as it is confirmed that the protagonist is being persecuted, no one can falsify this plot.

But in this way, the novel becomes a very ordinary detective story with a tragic ending, and its connotation and ideological height are undoubtedly greatly reduced.

Zhang Manling didn't think Lin Chaoyang had such a simple thought when he wrote this novel.

“Of course your idea makes sense, but I think it’s more of a wishful thinking as a reader who doesn’t want to see Yan Shuzhong’s heroic image collapse.

Since Chaoyang has written various angles for us to discuss and speculate, he must not have such a single plot in mind. " Zhang Manling said.

"What you said makes sense. I think this may be the reason why Lin Chaoyang left an open ending to the novel.

In this way, all of our guesses will make sense. "

Zhang Manling relaxed her brows and smiled, "That makes sense!"

She added: "Every reader will have their own understanding after reading the novel. This may be the greatest success of this novel."

Gao Xianjun clapped his hands and praised: "That's right! I think it's okay to write a review of 18,000 words."

The speaker is unintentional, but the listener is intentional. Zhang Manling thought of her unfinished graduation thesis.

It seems not impossible to use "Shutter Island" as a research object. The novel's rich ideas and various hidden possibilities can fully support a thesis.

Thinking of this, Zhang Manling expressed her thoughts to Gao Xianjun. After hearing this, Gao Xianjun pondered, "You'd better ask the teacher about this. I feel it's a bit risky."

Zhang Manling has always been bold in thinking and doing, so she ran directly to the Chinese Department office and found Hong Zicheng.

After hearing her thoughts, Hong Zicheng joked: "How courageous are you! Taking a novel like "Shutter Island" that was just published less than half a month ago as the research object, you are not worried about the quality of the paper?"

Zhang Manling said firmly: "Although "Shutter Island" has not been published for a long time, its level is unquestionable and is enough to be passed down to the world. If the quality of the final paper is not recognized by the school, it must be my problem, and It’s not about the novel.”

Hong Zicheng is Zhang Manling's thesis advisor. He has known her well for four years in college. He knows that this female student has some talent and is very confident about what she has decided on.

"Can I ask you why you have to choose this novel as the research object?"

Zhang Manling said thoughtfully: "When I read novels before, I always like to look at the plot conflicts, character creation, and literary structure, and I also imitate the direction of what I think is a good work.

After so much practice, I think many works can be imitated. Such works are like a photo. If you paint it, as long as you are careful, you can always draw a three-quarter image.

Recently, "There is a Beautiful Place" and "Cloud" were published in succession, which also caused some repercussions. I also felt a little complacent, thinking that my level could be on par with those well-known writers.

But after reading "Shutter Island", I felt that I was really far behind. Such works are like the works of Van Gogh or Monet, which are difficult to imitate."

Speaking of this, Zhang Manling's face, which has always been full of confidence, rarely showed a bit of self-deprecation.

"A classic literary work is first of all good to read and look good, but more importantly, it has the quality to withstand the discussion and even scrutiny of hundreds of millions of readers. This is the reader's perspective.

As a creator, what I saw in "Shutter Island" is a kind of conception and creative ability that is beyond my reach.

I thought I had jumped out of the limitations of focusing on words, paragraphs, and writing style, and had made some progress in creation.

But after reading "Shutter Island", I understood what a good writer should do. I don't know how to express this feeling..."

When Zhang Manling said this, she was unable to make an accurate description to express her feelings.

Hong Zicheng could probably understand her thoughts from her attitude and words. He had a deep study of literary theory and found the crux of Zhang Manling's thoughts in just a moment.

"Hemingway once expounded his views and practice methods of literary creation in his documentary work "Death in the Afternoon". He believed that:

The reason why the iceberg is so majestic is that we only see one-eighth of it above the water, while the remaining seven-eighths are hidden under the water, invisible but supporting the overall shape of the iceberg.

In literary creation, this principle means that the author only directly shows "one-eighth" in the textual expression, that is, the surface storyline, dialogue and direct description.

The emotional depth, complex thoughts, background information and other "seven-eighths" behind the story are left to the readers to feel and speculate through the hints between the lines.

This view of his is of course a personal opinion, but it is very insightful.

If a literary work wants to touch people's hearts, it should have many excellent elements, some of which can only be understood but not expressed in words.

But in summary, , there are still rules to follow.

Use concise and refined language, remove all redundancy and embellishment, and pursue the purity and strength of language.

Use indirect hints rather than direct statements to convey deep meanings, so that readers can actively participate in constructing the complete meaning of the story during the reading process.

Although emotions and thoughts are not directly displayed on the surface of the text, they are deeply contained in it through the subtle handling of plots, character actions and dialogues.

Even if the text is concise, vivid and vivid images should be created so that readers can imagine rich scenes and characters through limited descriptions.

Encourage readers to use their own experience and imagination to fill in the content that the author did not directly write, so as to establish a deeper connection with the work..."

Zhang Manling listened to Hong Zicheng's words, and it seemed that every sentence was no different from what she had heard in class before, but at this time, she just felt a sense of enlightenment.

"Teacher Hong, you said it very well. This 'iceberg' theory is the summary of my feeling when I watched "Shutter Island", and the rules you just mentioned.

I never thought about it seriously before, but now I seem to understand it a little bit."

Hong Zicheng raised his eyebrows. What a teacher hopes to see most is that students can be enlightened by his teaching.

"The theory is easy to understand, but it is a long road to combine it with practice. Many people may not be able to master it in their entire lives. You are so young now, and you have achieved good results. You have to keep up the good work in the future." Hong Zicheng encouraged.

Zhang Manling nodded and asked Hong Zicheng, "Teacher Hong, what do you think about the thesis..."

"I think it can be written. I have also been reading "Shutter Island" recently. This novel does contain a lot of indirect information and richer levels. Whether it is from the narrative or the structure, there are many places to explore."

After getting Hong Zicheng's affirmation, Zhang Manling felt more confident and had more expectations for her graduation thesis.

The teacher and the student discussed the topic of the thesis.

A few days later, Hong Zicheng met Lin Chaoyang in the cafeteria and told him that Zhang Manling planned to write a graduation thesis based on "Shutter Island".

"At present, people around me have given very high evaluations of your novel. You have written another well-received work!" Hong Zicheng said to Lin Chaoyang in a congratulatory tone.

Lin Chaoyang said politely, "Why doesn't Zhang Manling come to discuss with me if she wants to write a thesis? I am the author and I can definitely provide her with some first-hand creative ideas."

Hong Zicheng looked at Lin Chaoyang with a strange expression, "What does our research work have to do with you as an author?"

This statement is a classic among classics, leaving Lin Chaoyang speechless.

I worked hard to write a book, and you took it as a research result, and it has nothing to do with me?

He~tui!

Literati are really shameless, if you have the ability, you can write it yourself!

When Lin Chaoyang returned home in the evening, he saw Liu Xinwu sitting on the sofa with a happy face. When he saw him coming back, he immediately jumped up excitedly.

"Chaoyang, you have made a great contribution to our "October"!"

His words were incoherent, but Lin Chaoyang immediately understood why he was so excited.

"It seems that the magazine sales are good?"

"More than good?" Liu Xinwu was excited and flushed, "I only knew that you had a strong appeal among readers before, but I really didn't expect it to be so strong."

He asked with a bit of boasting in his tone: "Guess how much our magazine sold this week?"