Chapter 193 A close friend!
Professor Gelman felt that he, a Nobel laureate, seemed to have no dignity in front of Zhang Wei.
Fortunately, the effect of the three heart stents was still very good. Although the old man was very excited, his heartbeat only accelerated a little, and then he worked hard to calm down.
After all, there is still business to be done!
He brought Zhang Wei to an old man, who was in his seventies. He was sitting on the sofa with his hands on the armrests on both sides, looking very majestic.
Looking at the old man's appearance, he looked familiar. Except for his larger forehead and less hair, his whole face looked like a square-faced version of Lao Dengtou.
“No wonder my first impression was that this old man was quite majestic. He turned out to be the future number one brother in the United States.”
Professor Gelman introduced: “Cormac, This is the young scholar I just mentioned to you who has achieved top results in physics, biology, computer science and cryptography. Oh, by the way, now there is also a field of mathematics.”
< br>A smile appeared on the old man's face: "Hello, young man, I am Cormac McCarthy."
"Hello, Professor McCarthy, my name is Zhang Wei." Zhang Wei also introduced himself road.
However, the old man opposite laughed and said somewhat self-deprecatingly: "It seems that I still don't have much fame. No one knows me after I leave the United States!"
Gellman next to him explained; "This old friend of mine is not a professor, he is not a scientist, he is a writer."
"Sorry, looking at your demeanor, you are very scholarly, I thought you were a scientist Here." Zhang Wei quickly made amends.
Gellman continued: "This old friend of mine has written many best-selling works, such as "The Horse of the World", "Travel", "City on the Plain", and of course the most famous one, It's still "Blood Meridian"!"
"It's him!" Zhang Wei showed an expression of realization.
Speaking of his name, Zhang Wei still didn’t know who this old man was, but when it came to his works, Zhang Wei knew the name right away.
The three works "The Great Horse", "The Crossing" and "City on the Plain" are called the "Border Trilogy". Among them, "The Great Horse" once won the highest honor for American literary works. of the National Book Award.
The most famous one is "Blood Meridian". This book was selected as one of the 100 best English-language works of the 20th century by the British Library, and was selected as the best American novel of the 1980s by the New York Times.
Cormac McCarthy is the top literary master in the United States, known as the only successor of Hemingway and Faulkner.
He is best at writing western novels and apocalyptic novels, in which depictions of violence, death and the dark side of human nature often appear. These elements explore the complexity and cruelty of human nature, leaving a deep impression on readers.
Take "Blood Meridian" for example. This novel tells the story of the massacre of Indians by "scalp hunters" in the early days of the founding of the United States. The novel contains various descriptions of blood spatters, massacres, scalpings, etc. It is full of blood and has also been cited as Readers call it "bloody aesthetics", which is quite appetizing.
One of his most successful works is "The Road" published in 2006. The background of this novel is the story of a father and son who survived the nuclear war and struggled to survive. It was later adapted into movie. This book also won him the 2007 Pulitzer Prize.
After about 2010, Cormac McCarthy’s fame has reached its peak. Every year, he is a popular candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. It is no exaggeration to say that he is more popular than Haruki Murakami. Popular.
But it is a pity that Cormac McCarthy still did not withstand the attack of time. He died in 2023, and ultimately did not wait for the Nobel Prize for Literature.
In 2005, McCarthy was 72 years old. He still looked strong and energetic. Writing ten thousand words a day was not a dream!
After the two chatted for a while, Zhang Wei learned that although McCarthy was a writer, he was very interested in science, which is why he and Professor Gelman had become old friends for many years.
McCarthy is not in good health and suffers from a variety of elderly diseases, so he now lives with his son and has someone taking care of him.
So don’t say that foreigners don’t support themselves in old age. Whether foreigners can support themselves in old age mainly depends on whether their parents are rich and powerful.
The son of parents who have no money and power probably don’t want to take care of themselves in old age, but it’s different if the parents have money and power. Hunter Xiao Deng is over 50 years old, but he still hangs around Lao Deng and pretends to be a good boy.
This is probably the case with McCarthy's son. A literary figure of the old man's level earns a large amount of royalties every year, and he is still writing and has new works coming out. This is a star. This money tree must be taken good care of.
While the old man can still write, let him write a few more books. The royalties are inherited anyway. Even if the old man burps, as long as there are enough works, he can make a lot of money just by inheriting the royalties.
McCarthy’s son happened to live in Santa Fe, Western Mexico, so McCarthy often came to the Santa Fe Institute to chat with his scientist friends. If he met any interested scholars, he would also Will make some friends.
Zhang Wei, a scholar who is only twenty years old and has achieved many of the world's top achievements, obviously aroused McCarthy's interest, which is why we had this meeting.
After Zhang Wei sat down, McCarthy asked with a smile: "I heard Murray (Professor Gell-Mann) say that you are a scientific all-rounder that is rare to see in a century. You have won many awards at a young age. You have achieved top scientific research results in this discipline. Can you tell me your story?”
“It seems that you not only like to write stories, but also like to listen to them! Let me think about where to start. "Get up!" Zhang Wei pretended to be thoughtful, and then said: "Let's talk about graphene first. Have you heard of graphene?"
"I have heard others talk about it. It is said that this is a very excellent new material."
"Yes, in terms of physical properties, graphene may become the king of materials. And since the 1980s, humankind has I started trying to make graphene, but I tried all kinds of methods without success. I was lucky and succeeded in making graphene, and I used a very primitive method, tearing it off with tape!”
"Tape? What kind of tape?"
"Just ordinary transparent tape."
McCarthy showed a surprised expression. He had never seen Zhang Wei make graphene. The paper, of course, did not know that graphene was torn out by tape.
Zhang Wei continued: "There is also a twists and turns story. You will never guess that I was expelled from school because I successfully made graphene."
Next, Zhang Wei He told the story of using experimental equipment without authorization, being discovered by the professor, and then being expelled. After the graphene results were published, he was invited back again.
After hearing this story, McCarthy looked surprised and looked forward to it, just like a Labrador after seeing food. The whole dog became nervous!
Just talking about tearing out graphene with tape is novel enough. There is no problem in writing a news report of several thousand words.
In addition, the tortuous and bizarre process of conducting experiments privately, being expelled, shocking the whole school when the results were published, and then being invited back, is enough to write a novel.
If you are a scientist, you may not be interested in Zhang Wei's story. If you don't have time to listen to the story, you might as well read the data in the paper.
What's more, from the perspective of a scientist, using experimental equipment privately is a mistake. No scientist will allow this to happen. But in Zhang Wei's words, it became "Don't bully young people who are poor". This is definitely in conflict with their values.
But to the writer's ears, this is a very exciting story, with novel discoveries, characters' low points, story reversals, and strong returns. It sounds like it has ups and downs, and it's almost complete. essential elements of a good story.
“I thought that the process of your discovery of graphene was the same as other scientists doing research, that is, you spent day and night in the laboratory, repeated experiments, and eliminated erroneous results one after another. It was finally successful.
But I didn’t expect that you would have such a twists and turns outside of the experiment. This is definitely the most exciting scientific research story I have ever heard!” McCarthy couldn’t help but praise.
"This story is just the beginning. Next, I will tell you the story of my research on nucleoside modification! This story starts from last summer, when I went to the University of California, Berkeley, as an exchange student."
Zhang Wei once again talked about how he exposed the fraud of Huang Yuxi's paper at Berkeley.
"It was also from that time that I became interested in biology. Then I read a lot of information and came up with the idea of studying modified RNA." Zhang Wei said.
“So you changed from a physicist to a biologist?”
“But except for our school, others don’t know that I became a biologist and thought that I became a biologist. I'm a physicist, and this almost caused a diplomatic dispute."
"Diplomatic dispute?" McCarthy's curiosity was suddenly aroused.
"You still remember Huang Yuxi I mentioned just now, right? He is the one who I exposed as a falsifier of the paper. The story started after he returned to South Korea."
Zhang Wei continued to tell the story , but this time, only halfway through the story, an assistant came in and interrupted Zhang Wei.
"Gentlemen, dinner is about to begin. Please go to the hall to eat!" the assistant said.
"Mr. McCarthy, it seems our story can only end here for the time being!" Zhang Wei decisively chose to break the chapter. McCarthy suddenly felt a little unhappy. Halfway through the story, he was enjoying the excitement, but suddenly he wanted to know what happened next. Let’s hear the breakdown next time!
"Crap! I won't give you the monthly ticket!" McCarthy cursed in his mind.
But the reason that it is time to eat is reasonable and reasonable. McCarthy can't hold Zhang Wei and prevent him from eating!
"Time flies so fast. I thought I could finish listening to this story, but I didn't expect it would be dinner time so soon. What a shame!" McCarthy sighed.
Zhang Wei said: "Mr. McCarthy, I may stay in Santa Fe for a few more days. If you are interested in my story, I can visit you and finish telling the story. ”
"Really? That's great! I welcome you very much!" McCarthy said.
The two left each other’s contact information.
……
Early the next morning, Professor Shi took a flight back to Princeton.
Zhang Wei stayed in Santa Fe City.
According to the original plan, Zhang Wei planned to go to Los Angeles to discuss the publication of "Thirst Games" with Amazon's publisher, and then go to San Francisco to meet his old friends in Berkeley.
But the plan could not keep up with the changes. Now he met Cormac McCarthy, a literary master. If he didn't get some benefits from the master, wouldn't it be in vain?
So Zhang Wei came to the hotel's business center, took out the USB flash drive he carried with him, and printed out the manuscript of "The Thirst Game".
Then Zhang Wei contacted McCarthy and confirmed that he was at home. Then he bought some gifts and went straight to McCarthy's residence.
McCarthy is very famous in the United States, but he lives in isolation on weekdays. He rarely accepts interviews from the media, rarely attends public events, and almost never talks about his works.
Even the top media in the United States, such as the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, find it difficult to interview him.
The reason why Zhang Wei was able to visit McCarthy at his residence was because he was a broken dog.
McCarthy invited Zhang Wei into his study. The two drank coffee while Zhang Wei finished telling yesterday's story.
After listening to the story, McCarthy asked: "What happened to Hwang Woo-suk in the end? Didn't he receive sanctions?"
"The investigation of academic fraud does not take a short time. If there is any result, it may take two or three years before we know whether Huang Yuxi has been sanctioned. Of course, the most important thing is whether his country is willing to protect him!" Zhang Wei replied.
"I see." McCarthy nodded: "Although I haven't seen the ending of the story, your experience is still very exciting! It's a pity that I don't write documentary literature, otherwise I would definitely put this part of your story Experience, write a book."
"Speaking of writing books, Mr. McCarthy, have you written any new works recently?" Zhang Wei asked.
"I did write a novel recently. I have already negotiated with the publisher. It is expected to be published soon. Do you want to take a look?"
"Of course, I can do it in advance. It's my honor to see your new work!" Zhang Wei replied immediately.
McCarthy took out a stack of manuscripts from the drawer, handed it to Zhang Wei, and then said: "This book has not been published yet, so you can only read it here and cannot take it away."
Zhang Wei nodded in agreement, then took the manuscript, looked at the title, and was slightly surprised.
“It’s not “The Road”!”
Zhang Wei originally thought that what McCarthy showed him was the Pulitzer Prize-winning apocalyptic novel “The Road”.
However, what he saw was not "The Road". The title of the book was "no country for old men"!
The Chinese translation is "No Country for Old Men"!
"It's "No Country for Old Men", how could I forget this work!" Zhang Wei thought to himself.
The story of "No Country for Old Men" takes place in a border town on the border between the United States and Mexico in 1980. Hunter Moss accidentally discovered a gunfight scene while hunting, where a large amount of drugs and huge amounts of cash were left behind.
So he decided to take the money home, but this move led to the pursuit of hired gangsters. At the same time, policeman Bell was also investigating the case, so it was a cat and mouse game. here we go.
This novel is also a relatively excellent work, but it did not win any valuable awards.
However, this novel was spotted by the famous Hollywood directors Coen Brothers and adapted into a movie. At the 80th Academy Awards, it won the Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film. It won four awards for adapted screenplay and best supporting actor, and was nominated for four more.
Among them, the character of the mushroom-headed killer who won the Best Supporting Actor award was cruel, sinister, and unconventional, and has become a classic image in film history.
Seeing that this work turned out to be "No Country for Old Men", Zhang Wei immediately had a new plan in mind.
He pretended to be very serious and began to read the draft in his hand. From time to time he would show an anxious expression, as if he was really getting into the novel.
But he read very quickly, and he would turn to the next page in about ten seconds.
McCarthy did not show surprise at this. In his view, genius scientists must have many extraordinary qualities, and it is natural for them to read faster than ordinary people.
Finally, Zhang Wei finished reading the last page, then sighed deeply, pretending to be unfinished, and said: "Mr. McCarthy, your work is really great. This is simply a classic case of chaotic narrative! You The depiction of objects and the narrative mode are all related to the essence of chaos theory. I have never seen such a wonderful butterfly effect!"
"Oh? It seems you like this work very much!" McCarthy smiled with satisfaction! stand up.
Zhang Wei secretly called the devil: "Brother Devil, give me a review of "No Country for Old Men" in exchange for it!"
The devil did not respond!
"Devil? Where are you? Is business coming?"
The devil still didn't respond.
"Failed?"
"You just died!" The devil finally said: "You have to redeem a book review? There are a lot of these things on the Internet, you can Can't you exchange something valuable?"
"Don't worry, I'll use your lifespan at worst!"
"Five minutes of lifespan!" The devil quoted directly.
"Deal! I don't want the physical version, just read it to me." Zhang Wei said.
The devil began to read the book review. In the real world, Zhang Wei repeated: "Hunter Moss got into trouble because of his greed for money. I think this character represents the universal desires of mankind, and also There is pain and fear experienced because of desire.
No one can escape temptation in this world, and everyone must face temptation. The tragic ending of this character is to inspire people and serve as a guide. Those who walk on the edge of desire sound the alarm!
And the killer seems a little unreasonable. Killing is as casual as tossing a coin. He is like a god of death, constantly chasing. He takes the money and runs away with the hunter Moss, but at the same time he is expressing his views on life and death.
I think this work, in addition to raising life and death to the level of philosophy of life, is also about it. Think about how humans should face huge temptations, their own greed, how to face external evil, and internal fear..."
Zhang Wei said a lot, and McCarthy's expression on the opposite side gradually changed from an indifferent smile to a look of surprise!
“This young man’s literary literacy is so high and he can read such profound things.
What’s more important is that he really understands what my work wants to express. Connotation!
This is a close friend!”
(End of this chapter)