Chapter 131: Listen to the wind sing
Takeda Takako is a little strange.
The little bastard Ryukawa Toru said a few days ago that he was not welcome in this youth award and that government officials were arrogant and bossy towards him.
But today
"Why are you sitting here?"
Toru Ryukawa sat in the main seat in the middle of the crowd. Mrs. Takeda looked around and then bravely sat down next to the young man.
I originally planned to whisper a few words to him, but he was sitting in such a conspicuous position, which made Mrs. Takeda a little embarrassed.
"I don't know."
Ryukawa Toru was smiling, but he was still shameless towards Mrs. Takeda.
"Someone asked me to sit down."
As the boy spoke, he pinched Mrs. Takeda's black stockings that felt good.
Takeda Takako's face turned red, and Imamura Yukawa, who was sitting on the other side of Ryukawa Toru, twitched his eyelids.
"Everyone also knows about the Akutagawa reward."
I don’t want to see Toru Ryukawa teasing a beautiful woman from a good family again.
Imamura Yukawa, an official from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology stood up and said.
"This time I come here to ask you to publish a work."
The middle-aged man went straight to the point and asked the assistant next to him to distribute the next manuscript.
"Novelette?"
Different from the previous face-to-face interviews with one author and one editor, a manuscript is open to several of the largest publishing houses on the market.
Shinchosha, Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan.
Except for Xinchaoshe, which only focuses on pure literature, the others are comprehensive publishing houses.
Comprehensive publishing house refers to not only pure literary works, but also popular works and comics. The other three publishers are involved.
An editor from Shueisha raised his glasses and looked at Imamura Yukawa.
"Let's take a look first."
Imamura Yukawa did not mean to explain, but said as if giving an order.
Everyone was not dissatisfied. Instead, they opened the manuscripts one by one and read down as if they were used to it.
The structure of the novel is loose and almost prose.
"Have you changed your style?"
After reading a little bit, Taro Ono, the representative of Shinchosha, asked a question.
Longchuan Che's eldest brother frowned, feeling that the young man he was optimistic about was fooling around.
A writer's writing style is a skill that has been honed over a long period of time. "Snow Country" is gorgeous and beautiful, but the manuscript I have now has a relaxed and playful style, and the lines are full of humor.
It is a novel for young people to read.
Ono Taro thought so in his heart.
"Yeah."
Longchuan Che nodded without saying anything.
"These three protagonists."
An editor asked with a frown.
The influence of the Akutagawa Shang is already known to everyone, and everyone knows why they were invited.
It is nothing more than trying to launch a work that is enough to comfort young readers during this turbulent time, but look at what Toru Ryukawa wrote.
An ‘I’.
'I' am only twenty-one years old, but I have already slept with three girls. The first one was a high school classmate who disappeared after graduation.
The second one was a hippie girl I met by chance during the 'student unrest'. She stayed in 'my' dormitory for a week and then disappeared, leaving a note saying 'You are a nasty guy'.
The third one was a girl majoring in French whom he met in the university library. She later ended her life in the woods.
When 'I' learned the bad news, "I was smoking the six thousand nine hundred and twenty cigarettes."
Absurd, confusing, and in line with current reality.
"I thought you would write something more positive."
Ono Taro smiled bitterly after watching half of it.
Only the first protagonist is so depressed, not to mention the four-fingered girl who later gets an abortion because she thinks she might like her, and the rat who curses "rich people are all bastards" as soon as they appear.
The three protagonists are absurd and confused, clearly describing the current sense of youthful decadence.
"Keep reading."
Ryukawa Toru did not explain. The novel only has 40,000 words, and you can read it to the end soon. "This writer has appeared several times here. Is there an American author like this person?"
In the novel, in addition to the "I" who just graduated, the "rat" that symbolizes the age of "I" in my twenties, and the four-fingered girl he picked up, the one who appears most often is the American writer Hatfield.
"It's fictional."
Ono Taro said firmly, and then looked at Ryukawa Tetsu hesitantly.
"This author."
"You can also think of him as 'I'."
The first protagonist of the novel is undoubtedly the 'me' who returns to his hometown for vacation, but there is also a metaphor between the lines that the 'rat' who is a good friend is also the 'me'.
The writing is weird, and there is a sense of illusion and confusion in time, but the author of that illusion is also ‘me’.
Ono Taro's scalp felt numb.
This is a novel in which ‘I’ and ‘I’ deal with each other.
Check out the 16-9 book bar to see the correct version!
It is the self-healing journey of a depressed young man.
The three protagonists are depressed, self-obsessed, and lonely.
But Hatfield, the illusory writer inside, said:
——
There is no need to worry about me, I am just the wind/We are wandering in time, from the birth of the universe to the time of death. So we don't care about life or death, it's just the wind.
"You didn't say anything and just let those young people experience it for themselves?"
Ono Taro was silent.
The biggest feature of Listening to the Wind is that it describes the confusion and helplessness of young people under the current social situation.
Ryukawa Tetsu seemed to be saying, ‘Are they really broken? ’ ‘They’re just a bunch of confused people’.
Just like the protagonist ‘I’, just like the protagonist ‘rat’, just like the protagonist ‘four-fingered girl’.
Who will take them out of their confusion.
It might be Toru Tatsukawa, it might be the fictional writer Hatfield, or it might be themselves.
"Do you rely on yourself to wake up?"
Ono Taro smiled and said, ""Listen to the Sing of the Wind" will be published in this issue of "New Wave"."
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology only cooperates with various publishing houses.
It is up to the editor-in-chief of each magazine to decide which page the work will be published on and in what format.
"New Wave" occupies the largest pure literature market, and Imamura Yukawa breathed a sigh of relief.
"Shueisha's side"
The two editors-in-chief of Shueisha whispered to each other.
"Can be published in "Novel Pleiades"."
Whether it is due to pressure from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, "Hear the Wind Sings" is indeed satisfying enough.
Shueisha also gave a good layout.
"This side of Shogakukan"
The editor-in-chief of Shogakukan shook his head. They mainly publish youth comics and women's literature magazines, and "Listen to the Wind Sing" is not suitable for them.
This publishing house is a crowd problem. Imamura Yukawa said nothing and turned his attention to the remaining one along with Ryukawa Toru.
"Kodansha, Kodansha"
How does Mrs. Takeda know whether something is good or not?
She will definitely sign it, but what space will it be given and in which magazine will it be published?
Mrs. Takeda was running around anxiously.
"Miss Takeda."
Toru Ryukawa, who unexpectedly put on a fitted suit today, stood up from the conversation table.
The bomb casually dropped by Monk Hongping made the Japanese youth explode.
To calm down this storm, we need to gain more market share.
Kodansha's several editions of the magazine are the largest in Japan.
Ryukawa Tetsu picked up the contract on the table and took his wife's slender wrist.
"Please come with me, please."
Ryukawa Che pulled his wife towards his room.
(End of chapter)