Chapter 288 287【Rise to Fame】
The life of André Malraux was far less exciting and just than what he described. The so-called Buddha head snatched from the colonists was actually stolen by him from a small abandoned temple near Angkor Kiln. He was also prosecuted by the Phnom Penh court for "theft of cultural relics" and sentenced to three years in prison.
It was his wife, Clara, who returned to France to connect with the literary world to carry out rescue activities, which made Andre commuted to one year in prison and suspended.
Andre didn't stop, and went to Saigon to start a newspaper, slamming the high-level colonial government. As a result, the printer was threatened by the governor of Saigon and stopped helping with printing, so Andre went to Hong Kong with his wife to buy printing equipment and do it himself.
Today, André is Director of Art at Gallima Press and writes regular literary reviews for the New France Review.
The guy was hypocritical, but he was a true leftist, with the revolution on his mind all the time, and seeing himself as the savior of France.
In the latest issue of "New France Review", André wrote under the title "The Great Masterpiece of Oriental Literature":
"Although the novel "Goddess" is bizarre and obscure, it reveals the social changes in China in the past 20 years. It can be called the Far East version of "Human Comedy". Mr. Zhou Hexuan is to China what Balzac is to France. is a great writer of critical realism...
Regardless of these external factors, it is also an incredible masterpiece to discuss "The Goddess" from an artistic point of view. Although his works reflect reality, they pursue a dream world, with fragmented plots, jumping thinking, and grotesque styles. Under the indifferent words, there are volcanic and intense emotions...
In recent years, the European literary circles have been keen to discuss Kafka, and France even gave birth to the "New Novel School". The style of "The Goddess" is very similar to Kafka's works, often using symbolic techniques to provoke thought-provoking amidst absurdity. But what I have to say is that compared with Zhou Hexuan, Kafka's structure is too small. The former focuses on the individual, while the latter reflects the entire era... If you want to understand Chinese society, you only need to read " "Goddess" and "Dog Officer" will suffice. "
Andre bragged Zhou Hexuan to the sky in his commentary, saying that he crushed Kafka and was comparable to Balzac.
In fact, it is easy to understand that art reviews often carry the subjective color of the author. As a staunch leftist, Andre must have disdain for Kafka's pettiness, and prefer Balzac's works that reflect the great era and satirize to expose the darkness of reality.
Like André, Jean Faial also recommended "The Goddess" in the "Avant-Garde Literature" magazine, but his tone is much more objective:
""Goddess" undoubtedly has the nature of artistic exploration. The author creates a magical and realistic grand world, which makes it difficult to distinguish the difference between fiction and reality. In other words, there is no need to distinguish at all. Readers only need to wander in the In that dream world, just follow the heroine’s adventures one after another. River god, mountain god, land, city god, fox fairy, ghost... Strange and mysterious oriental legends appear one after another, they seem to be the heroine’s imagination, And it seems to have really existed... "Goddess" is a masterpiece representing the peak of world literature today, with shocking artistic power and ideological power. The author tries to combine the heroine's experience with illusory and absurd folklore, with a heart With a sad heart, go to find the lost warm spiritual home in China."
What really made Zhou Hexuan famous was Romain Rolland's review article: "I read "The Goddess" and was deeply moved. I only remember reading Hugo's "Les Miserables" and Balzacca's "Human Comedy" in my youth. ", I had such a shocking reading experience. Mr. Zhou Hexuan's work "Goddess" has both Hugo's romance and Balzac's criticism and irony. Calling for justice amidst absurdity, this is a rare and great work."
Romain Rolland settled in Geneva at this time. He had long been abandoned by France, and was even ridiculed as a hypocrite by the mainstream French literary circles. But his influence is huge, with countless fans and admirers, his high praise instantly made "Goddess" famous throughout Europe.
On the contrary, "The Dog Officer" is not so popular in the French literary circle because it is written too straightforwardly, although readers also have a high evaluation of "The Dog Officer".
1929 was the last year of prosperity in the French publishing industry before World War II.
The sales of "Goddess" reached 30,000 copies in the first week, increased to 110,000 copies (total sales) in the second week, and finally slowed down in the third week. The total sales just exceeded 150,000 copies. 70,000 volumes.
Never before has a work by a writer from the Far East achieved such dazzling results in the French book market, and "Goddess" even brought about an "Oriental craze" in France.
Even Zhou Hexuan's academic monographs "The Rise of the Great Powers", "Guns, Bacteria and Steel", and "The Chrysanthemum and the Knife" all became hot sellers. In particular, the first two historiographical works, because they conformed to the critique of "new historiography" in the French historiographical circle at this time, and received great attention from the French historical, anthropological, and sociological circles with their academic viewpoints and methods that transcended the times.
It happened that Feivre and Bloch's "Annals of Economic and Social History" was launched, and many scholars who tried to overthrow the "new historiography" joined the academic discussion. This magazine instantly became the frontier of the French historiography revolution.
How should I put it, it is equivalent to the "New Youth" of the May Fourth era in China. This "Yearbook" magazine has become the banner of the historiographical revolution.
And Zhou Hexuan somehow became the standard-bearer of the French historiographical revolution. There is no way, his two books are too advanced. Others are still calling for exploring new historical research directions, so he directly threw out two great works of modern history.
It's as if scientists are studying mobile phones with analog signals. Zhou Hexuan directly produced smart phones, which can't help but shock people.
Lucien Favere said bluntly in the "Yearbook" magazine: ""The Rise of the Great Powers" and "Guns, Germs and Steel" undoubtedly lead the trend of world history research, like a lighthouse in the vast sea, guiding the world history. The way forward. Mr. Zhou Hexuan is undoubtedly the greatest historian, anthropologist and sociologist in the world today, and his works are irreplaceable and groundbreaking."
Well, Zhou Hexuan, the "father of modern historiography", is definitely the one.
Zhou Hexuan's several works caused a sensation in the circles of French literature, history, anthropology and sociology at the same time, and instantly became the most dazzling scholar star.
Various French newspapers and magazines have joined in the discussion on Zhou Hexuan, calling Zhou Hexuan "the greatest thinker and writer in the East after Tagore and Gu Hongming".
And this kind of famous reputation is rapidly spreading to the whole of Europe with France as the center.