Chapter 331 Mr. Holmes explodes!
If you don’t open the door again, Godie won’t be able to hold on any longer.
Fake, who must be the stupid clerk with an underdeveloped cerebellum and left arm, went to the bar again yesterday.
Godie maintains a gentlemanly demeanor, so it is definitely impossible to say slanderous words.
The legendary British gentleman also shares the same principle with the lazy people: the principle of proximity. Therefore, even if there was a better and more comprehensive bookstore a few hundred meters ahead, Godie would not choose this way.
The store opened ten minutes later than usual, and the stupid clerk didn't look stupid either. He was wearing a black baseball cap from Waterstone's, with a big "W" sewn in the middle of the hat shell. Unlock the door, put out the sign, and at the same time carefully push the bookshelf at the door to where it should be.
As the largest bookstore chain in the UK, Waterstones has obtained a permanent license from London and purchased public liability insurance, so the bookshelves can be placed in the open space in front of the store.
The movement was really slow, and Godie couldn't wait to help, even though he didn't.
If the clerk is not wearing clothes, you can see that his right hand looks like a shriveled loofah. Compared with the working left hand, it is like a baby's arm stuck in the arm, and the labor force is basically zero.
Another twenty minutes passed, and Godie pursed his lips tightly. He was probably thinking that he should have gone to the coffee shop for breakfast if he had known better, and he was madly scolding the Chinese writer Gu Lu and the clerk in front of him. Because Godie sometimes looked gloomy and sometimes stared at the clerk with strong dissatisfaction.
The other two female clerks from the bookstore arrived late.
"A copy of "Mr. Holmes."" Godie took off his hat and picked up his target from the new book recommendation shelf in the bookstore. It was heavier than a sandwich and more expensive than tea.
Earl Gray tea only costs 4 pounds, but now he actually has to spend 8 pounds for this book that he is not satisfied with at first sight.
Why is Godie not satisfied even before reading it? Because the cover shows the silhouette of Sherlock Holmes wearing a top hat, not the familiar deerstalker hat.
Puffin Books wanted to hire a new artist to design the cover and illustrations, but Gu Lu requested that they remain unchanged. Thinking that the Little Prince was similar, the editor of Puffin Books agreed.
But the difference is a bit big. Gu Lu made the little prince himself, while Mr. Holmes hired the painter "Featherless Chicken". Mr. Chicken - Oh no, it’s very rude to call him that. Mr. Mao wouldn’t have thought that he could get money from overseas for his paintings.
"Sir, do you want to buy a package?" the clerk asked, "The package is 11 pounds, and you will get a bookmark for your work."
The "silly" clerk took out the bookmark, one of which It is the pattern of a plant (calamus), and the other three are distinctive Sherlock Holmes.
"No, thank you." No wonder I can only work as a bookstore clerk for the rest of my life, without thinking at all. Godie kept a smile on his face, but he had a lot of opinions in his heart.
Holding the book, Godie decided to let his stomach suffer again.
When he finds the loopholes in his work, think about how good his appetite will be at that time!
With the book tucked under his arm, Godie put on his hat and left the bookstore. As he left, he vaguely heard, "I heard that the second Sherlock Holmes work by a Chinese writer is on the market today. Is it available?"
Godie even felt that the people behind him were hostile to him, so he could only speed up his pace.
Maybe he was starving and dizzy after not having breakfast, and Godie was starting to have random thoughts.
After returning home, the hungry Godie couldn't wait to open "Mr. Holmes", as if he wanted to eat the book alive.
[Thankyou, Zhang YuDong, forgiftingme "TheSign of Four", IthasallowedmetoonceagainexperiencethecharmofSherlockHolmes.]
Who is zhangyudong? Regardless, he has more important things to do.
I have recounted the plot of Mr. Holmes many times before, so I will omit it here, but it is worth mentioning that the perspective of reading this book in authentic old London is very different.
The book attracted Godie's attention at the beginning. As mentioned earlier, he started writing because of "Sherlock Holmes", as are many mystery writers in Europe and the United States.
So Godie has been very familiar with Holmes since he was in junior high school. In his heart, Holmes is a god, even Napoleon "Professor Moriarty" in the criminal world is no match.
So what if I fall from the Reichenbach Falls into the abyss? You can also dress up as an old man selling books and come back.
But Sherlock Holmes in this book——
"How could Sherlock Holmes be old? At that time, I..."
At that time? Godie realized that even he himself, who was reading, seemed to have grown up.
So why can’t Sherlock Holmes grow old?
I saw that Holmes was still brave enough to fight against everything, but this time his opponent was aging and Alzheimer's disease.
It seemed that someone was playing a few tricks in Godie's heart. He was a little confused and panicked. The last time he had a similar feeling was when the toad he had raised for a long time died.
Using an analogy that is easier for Chinese friends to understand, it is that Doraemon is broken and Nobita dies of old age.
Before watching, Godie was thinking about how to find loopholes in the plot and the case. He never expected that this insidious Chinese would actually play the emotional card!
Godie continues to read——
"The most important thing is that it is an honor to spend my young years with such a man. He can always detect the thrilling flavor in the most ordinary cases, and can always use his humor, patience and Loyal and tolerant of my fiery-tempered friend with many eccentricities."
"But no matter what, Holmes always regarded Watson as someone closer than a relative, so his sudden death added to the pressure. Meeting the recently departed Mrs. Hudson made Holmes feel as if a door had been slammed shut in front of him, locking away everything that had shaped his life."
"Feeling someone's. To disappear, in a sense, is to feel his presence."
...
Holmes died alone, Watson, his brother, and the landlady were all dead.
After reading the novel of more than 100,000 words, Godie shed tears. Maybe it's for Sherlock Holmes, or maybe it's for my childhood self.
But this guy is like someone who has learned the trick of changing faces in Sichuan Opera. He is sad one second and angry the next!
"How could a Chinese writer write such a work?"
Look carefully at this man named Godie, his expression seems to say: Are you cheating!
Very good, Godie has lost his appetite even more. If you ask whether to save money, he is no longer hungry.
For the British, Sherlock Holmes is not a fictional character. Various institutions have awarded him honorary titles, which is the pinnacle of fictional characters.
As a well-known anecdote, Conan Doyle wanted to kill Sherlock Holmes because serial writing was too painful (The Last Case), but the opposition from readers was so great that he had to return (Empty House) .
"Mr. Holmes" is only a small hit in China, and even touches Lao Fu's aging at most, but in Great Britain...
"Fuck, a stupid, stinky, disgusting bitch "Why can you write so well?" Godie was depressed and had to go to her boyfriend's house to calm down.
Knocked on the door and waited for a long time for her boyfriend to open the door. His eyes were also red.
The two looked at each other for a long time before they said, "Did you read it too?"
"You too?"
Gordie's boyfriend is a die-hard mystery novel fan, otherwise he wouldn't be able to Succeeded so quickly.
Tonight's London belongs to "Mr. Holmes", and tonight's Britain belongs to the elderly Sherlock Holmes.
For that scene, it was a credit to Gu Lu that he never agreed to come to London to hold another "Mr. Holmes" book signing.
"The Weymouth series on the left sanctioned Kane, and the 90-year-old Holmes on the right sanctioned us."
"I declare that he is the foreigner who knows Holmes best."
"Red wine It was all over the floor. I just had a fight with my wife.”
“At the Mountains of Madness” is so desperate and “Mr. Holmes” is so elegant and beautiful. "Did you write it?"
"Oh my God, this is so crazy. It's so crazy. I've seen many of Sherlock Holmes's second works, and I actually think this one is the best one. Yes! Someone kick my ass hard and wake me up."
"I am very grateful to this work, which brings a perfect ending to Sherlock Holmes. I am also grateful to Mr. Zhangyudong who thanked you on the title page for "Four Signatures"."
The reputation is overwhelming.
Spread is fast.
On Earth, "Tricks of the Mind" can sell a million copies in the UK (second in the year). In the parallel world, the momentum is slightly weaker, but it is 89%. Because the early publicity for Puffin Books is good.
The people who scolded me earlier and didn’t believe that Gu Lu could write well made a huge reversal. Although the British forum is not popular in such behaviors as "if he ****, I will chop it" and "if he ****, I will eat the answer". But there are also more abstract remarks, which are the same among netizens all over the world. Just consider that 80% of the breast milk jokes were invented by British netizens.
[I can already foresee the failure of "Mr. Holmes", just like I am sure that my daughter is my biological child], [We have the Golden Dagger Award, we have Agatha, Anthony, Josephine, China What's there? How could we lose? ], [I received a message from God yesterday. He told me that if "Mr. Holmes" is good, I will go to hell. ] Wait for a message.
What a slap in the face. Although many readers still argue with their reasoning after reading it, they point out that the reasoning element of this book is simply insufficient.
But what most people think is good is generally good, and the booming sales of "Mr. Holmes" can prove everything.
In two days, it rushed to the first place in the Nielsen weekly book list.
On the third day, according to the news that broke on the BBC website, "Chinese writer Gu Lu's new work "Mr. Holmes" has become the most popular work in the book market today. Because of its existence, wives' housekeeping work has doubled."
Why is a novel connected with housekeeping?
Following this is a street interview.
The interviewer is a housewife, and she is a very standard full-time housewife.
"Jerry just read that book (Mr. Holmes) and likes to spill red wine on the floor when he drinks. If you don't scrub it right away, it will be very difficult to clean up after a while." said the stay-at-home woman. .
The scene cuts back to the expert that BBC TV is looking for, a professor from the Institute of Asian Culture. The professor responded: "The Chinese action of spilling wine on the ground has a special word to describe it, called leijiu (慹wine). Because Chinese culture maintains the habit of respecting heaven and earth. Sprinkling wine represents the earth, and people look at the sky. In this way, between heaven and earth You can communicate with anything that has passed away. Such as ancestors, such as gods.”
“Oh, so Holmes is trying to communicate with Watson and many deceased people.” The host suddenly joked, “That sounds like it. It's like an evil ritual."
"Please don't belittle a country's culture that has been passed down for thousands of years." The professor from the Institute of Asian Culture did not join in the joke, but stopped it seriously. .
It can be seen that this professor has a lot of skills, because if you want to study the civilization of a region, you can only gain something with a respectful attitude.
Well, that's not the point.
The key point is that with the popularity of "Mr. Holmes", ale wine actually became popular in a small area in the UK.
Why? Didn’t I say it at the beginning? Gentlemen and lazy people have the same habits.
The traditional method of paying homage to the deceased in European and American countries is simply to go to the church after the funeral and be led by the priest to pray and read the Bible. Or simply a memorial service organized by relatives and friends. But these actions have time limits and require multiple people to complete them.
If you are alone, you can only go to the cemetery and place a bouquet of flowers.
They are all too "troublesome". For example, a husband suddenly thinks of his deceased wife while eating, and rushing to the cemetery is too time-consuming. And a glass of red wine is enough to express your feelings.
Back on Earth, the author wrote about neon people using stones to commemorate the dead. As the work sold well, it also became popular on a small scale. A Hollywood film adaptation was released and spread throughout Europe. The structure of European houses has small yards, and it is convenient to place stones. Of course, drinking wine is more convenient...
When Gu Lu modified this small detail, he didn't think about it at all.
Is it considered cultural export?
"Congratulations Mr. Tom, your writer is completely popular in the UK." Portman, the editor-in-chief of Puffin Books, called, "I have a bottle of very good champagne for Mr. Tom to celebrate. ."
"Mr. Portman, do you want the work to be reprinted a second time?" Yao Xiaoju saw the essence of the congratulations.
"Of course, I thought that people would no longer be so crazy after the advent of "Sherlock Holmes" more than a hundred years ago." Portman said, "I didn't expect that there would be such a huge market."
Because It took more than a hundred years for Sherlock Holmes to become a household name in Britain before such a miracle could happen. But Yao Xiaoju said something else, "Gu Lu likes Sherlock Holmes very much, so he created this work very carefully. Careful creation can always arouse people's resonance."
"Of course," Bo Terman said, "The second printing quantity has been decided at 100,000 copies. I once again congratulate Mr. Gu Lu for becoming a best-selling British author."
"The Little Prince" has only sold a total of about 150,000 copies, while Mr. Holmes There were 100,000 copies in the initial printing, and another 100,000 copies were printed, which is enough to prove that Puffin Books has full confidence in this book.
Yao Xiaoju hung up the phone, "I used to be contacted by the editor and deputy editor, but today the editor called me directly. Capitalism is really as realistic as before, and it hasn't changed at all."
After saying this, Yao Xiaoju felt like he was losing his temper. How could capitalism get better? It was only possible for other doctrines to become capital.
“The cultural and historical differences between countries have a great impact on book sales.” Yao Xiaoju once again felt it personally.
It is a small hit in China and has a strong atmosphere of neon reasoning, but I would rather publish fairy tales and science fiction works than read this book. The difference is huge.
"Mr. Holmes" is selling like hotcakes, but some people are unhappy.
For example, Kane, who was secretly planning something, originally thought he could see Gu Lu fall down, but... what does it mean to receive good reviews across the board?
Take a look at the UK's largest forum for reasoning works, the Deductive Reasoning Forum.
[I apologize to Mr. Gu Lu. Although Mr. Holmes is not a good mystery work, it is definitely a good second work of Sherlock Holmes. I like it very much], [Dear Gu Lu, I was wrong. I was really wrong. I shouldn’t doubt a genius’ creative ability, just like I don’t need to doubt Weymouth’s evil], [I really want to say against my will that this is not a good work, but I can’t. Anyone who likes it No Sherlock Holmes reader will reject it. It is the most perfect ending, allowing me to see a different Sherlock Holmes]...
"A bunch of dogs that bark when given a bone!" Kane did not give up, he turned the page Find the leader.
Yes, it was Godie who fired the first shot of "counterattacking the Chinese talents".
Currently, Godie’s account in the forum has not posted anything. There was nothing new in the newspapers.
"Godie is a writer, and he certainly cannot have so much time. He needs to create, so criticism of "Mr. Holmes" will definitely have to wait for a while."
He believes that Godie will continue to charge, Kane I think it’s totally fine to play support on my own.
Come on Godie.
Come on, Dae-young’s only hope!
There are a lot of stories about "lazy people" abroad, let's talk about the lazy man King Gulu in China.
I can't say I'm lazy, I just stay in the bedroom and don't want to move.
"Gu Lu, Gu Lu, tell me, you don't have diamonds, how can you do porcelain work!" King Gulu was criticizing Gu Lu.
Under Professor Xiahou’s solemn request, Gu Lu agreed. Because he remembered that there was an article in "When Humanity's Stars Shine" that seemed to be written about Norway. This is why he subconsciously left clues when talking about Norway when talking to club members a few days ago. I am interested in Norwegian, so it is normal to be interested in Norway and write works.
King Gulu scratched his head, otherwise he would have to wait. Anyway, there are still several months until the deadline, so there is no rush.
Is the article "The Battle for Antarctica" in "When Humanity's Stars Shine" awesome? That must be awesome, even one of the two most exciting articles in When Human Stars Shine.
The direct evidence is that three years later (2016), the excerpted version was renamed "The Great Tragedy" and was selected into the second volume of the seventh-grade Chinese textbook published by the People's Education Press. Post-95 and post-2000 generations may have an impression.
The story told in this article is also simple. The Norwegian Amundsen team and the British Scott team are both preparing to conquer the South Pole. The winner is the Norwegian Amundsen!
But look, the name was changed in China to "The Great Tragedy", and the protagonist is the failed Scott Team. Indeed, ninety percent of the original text is about Scott. Amundsen, the Norwegian, was the first person to reach the Antarctic pole. Wasn’t he just a supporting character?
The key is to write an article for cultural exchange in Norway, not for Britain, don’t make a mistake!
Wait, something seems to be wrong...
Zweig is not British, and his writing language is German. There is no need to use the British to trample the Norwegians.
Gu Lu, who has learned a lot of knowledge, if he remembers correctly, the original name of this chapter is "derkampfumdensüdpol". The German literal translation is "Battle of Antarctica", and the winner is the Norwegians.
Gu Lu read it in his brain again and discovered the problem. The theme to be expressed in the excerpted version of the text "The Great Tragedy" (more than 3,000 words) and the full translation (more than 10,000 words) are somewhat different.
“I would say that Zweig is a literary giant after all, so this shouldn’t be the case.” Gu Lu murmured.
How does he determine whether a writer is a literary giant? He has been in textbooks in more than one country, and his works have been translated into multiple languages. Students in most countries know his masterpieces.
If you understand "The Battle for Antarctica", you will definitely be able to write articles!
"Bang bang——"
His thoughts were interrupted, Gu Lu suddenly raised his head and looked outside, there was a knock on the door.
Although the new home has a doorbell, visitors still choose the original method of knocking on the door.
Is it possible that Jiayu didn’t bring the key? That's not right. In the entire Fog City No. 8 Middle School, he was the only student who could get home at six or seven in the evening.
A cat's eyes can see people far away, it's Professor Xiahou who he hasn't seen for a few days.
"Professor." Gu Lu introduced people into the house. Strictly speaking, Professor Xiahou was the first guest to come to the new home.
Why haven’t you returned to the Magic City yet? It’s been so many days since you’ve been in the Fog City. Is it possible that the professor you turned in to me is so idle?
(End of this chapter)