I am a literary giant in Europe

Chapter 482 Siggs' First Day

On his first night in the little white building in Sigs Town, Liu Jin couldn't sleep!
Carmen Balces treated him with such high regard that he found it almost unbearable.

They arranged a school, accommodation, and even provided transportation...

Liu Jin even felt that if he made the request, it wouldn't be impossible for him to give her a woman... What right did he have to do that?

If Liu Jin doesn't produce an excellent work within a year, he'll feel ashamed.

Perhaps this is nothing to many Western writers.

They're shameless!
In fact, many writers are indeed like that.

They enjoy top-notch treatment, yet they can comfortably delay their work.

This is something that is very difficult for a writer who has come from the online literature circle to do.

It's like your readers have been subscribing, tipping, and voting, but you just abandoned the project... Even though you did that a lot in your past life, you still can't quite get over it. It's the same now; Liu Jin feels a little apprehensive.

The unseen guest...

It seems a bit unfair to receive such treatment.

At three o'clock in the morning, Liu Jin got out of bed.

I turned on my computer, connected to the internet, and stared blankly at the screen.

If all else fails, I'll go to the bookstore tomorrow; maybe I'll find some inspiration.
He sat on the sofa, closed his eyes, and tried to recall the Spanish novels he knew.

Forget about novels like Don Quixote!

Among the Spanish writers from before the 20th century, he only knew one: Cervantes.

Aside from Don Quixote, I can't think of any novel or masterpiece that can compare to The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

I still haven't accumulated enough experience!
There must be.

France lost Hugo, England lost Dickens, so why shouldn't Spain be missing one?
The problem is that he knows very little about Spanish-language works.

Besides Don Quixote, there's also One Hundred Years of Solitude.

If you ask him to speak again, he really can't come up with many.

He did have a very deep impression of modern novels, though.

"The Time in the Hour" and "The Land of the Silent"... are actually quite good, and I could write them.

The needle of time sits on a woman...

It's not like he hasn't written novels about women; "Amélie" is one example.

Moreover, the original author, Maria Duenas, published this work in 09, and it is highly likely that she has not yet started writing it.

However, they may already have an idea.

That novel is about Morocco during the Spanish Civil War and World War II.

Morocco... is it a Spanish novel or a French novel?

However, this book tells a story about female independence and strength, and it later had a great impact, even being adapted into a TV series.

Liu Jin opened his eyes and wrote "The Stitches of Time" in his notebook.

Make it a backup option!
Another one, "The Silent Kingdom," is also pretty awesome.

Moreover, it was published in 2016, so the original author was 100% not even conceived of it yet.

The novel focuses on a certain organization in Spain and southern France. After its publication in Spain, it remained on the bestseller list for 112 weeks, almost a year. It should be considered a very outstanding work.

However, its influence is limited to the Spanish region.

It definitely can!
After all, it was a TV series adapted from a pornographic and violent show.

But I always feel like something's missing!
Write this down first, keep it as a backup plan...

Liu Jin scratched his head.

……

After daybreak, Liu Jin did not go to sleep.

I felt a little sleepy, but not particularly tired.

He first went for a morning run on the beach, then practiced the Rejuvenation Stance in the morning sun, then did a round of Baguazhang, and practiced boxing for a while.

The beach gradually became more crowded.

An old man was walking two Canary Mastiffs on the beach.

He was quite enthusiastic and even greeted Liu Jin.

Upon inquiry, it turned out that the old man named Iliza was actually Liu Jin's neighbor, living in a building just one block away from Liu Jin's.

"Um, you're the writer Mrs. Balses was talking about?"

"Uh, yes!"

What books have you written? What's your pen name?

"My pen name is Amos..."

"Wait, Amos?"

The old man suddenly perked up and pointed at Liu Jin, saying, "The Old Man and the Sea, Notre Dame de Paris, Father Trapped in Time, and that book, The Crucible?"

Wow, this old gentleman knows it all by heart!
Liu Jin was somewhat surprised, but still smiled and nodded.

"I bought your furnace!" "Thank you so much!"

"However, I didn't see it; it was burned."

"what?"

"I heard from someone that this book is a work that exposes the darkness of the Korean people."

As you know, our great Spanish team got robbed by them back then, and in a fit of anger, I bought a copy and then went to the South Korean consulate to burn it..."

So that's how they achieved that record of 800,000 books a day!

Liu Jin finally resolved a question that had been troubling him for two years.

He was very happy when he achieved the record of selling 800,000 copies in a single day.

But not long after, he heard from Mela that book sales in Spain were not as large as in the French book market.

Well, to put it simply, the Spanish read far fewer books than the French.

In France, a bestselling book has sold eight million copies.

Liu Jin's previous book, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," is now approaching that record, having reached 7.4 million copies sold.

However, in Spain, the record for a single bestseller is less than three million copies.

As I recall, both "The Time in the Hour" and "The Silent Kingdom" sold around two million copies back then.

Who obtained the records after the millennium?

I remember now, The Shadow of the Wind!
It sold 3.2 million copies when it was first published, and by 2016, the book had sold 15 million copies worldwide.

Unfortunately, this book, like the one about the Bartleby Syndrome, was published in 01!

You should know that The Shadow of the Wind is a four-part series!
The four books combined sold 40 million copies in 2024!

……

We've gotten off-topic, let's get back to the point!

Liu Jin never knew how the 800,000 copies of The Crucible sold.

Now he understands!

I bet many people haven't looked at it carefully.

This is a typical example of impulsive consumption, and the purpose of buying the book was to burn it in protest.

However, it's strange.

You're protesting against Koreans, so why are they burning my books?
But it's cooked perfectly!

Liu Jin couldn't help but feel secretly pleased.

Why didn't so many people subscribe like this in my past life when I was writing? I've been writing for twenty years and haven't even been among the top twelve authors. What a failure!
However, because of this, Liu Jin and Iliza also became acquainted.

Although the old gentleman burned "The Crucible," he had read several books of "The Old Man and the Sea" and liked them very much.

He was very happy to learn that Liu Jin would be studying here for a year.

Before parting, I made an appointment with Liu Jin to have dinner at his house another day, where he would cook his specialty, seafood risotto.

Liu Jin readily accepted.

Having an acquaintance is definitely a good thing.

You see, he learned a lot of secrets from Iliza that only old Barcelona residents knew.

For example, the best Chinese food isn't in Chinatown, but in the Badalona area of ​​Barcelona.

It was a huge warehouse district, mostly filled with Chinese-owned stores, supermarkets, restaurants, and entertainment venues.

The discount stores and Chinese supermarkets in Barcelona all source their goods from the warehouse district.

Yes, the owner also offers home delivery service.

Iliza said: "Arriving in Badalona felt like arriving in another country."

However, the area isn't particularly safe, so try to avoid going at night, but it's generally safe during the day...

In addition, there are many options if you want to go shopping.

For example, Barcelona has a famous shopping line.

Starting from the port, walk along La Rambla to the Gothic Quarter and Plaça Catalunya, then turn onto Tiagonal Avenue, where you can buy all the international brands you know, as well as Spanish local brands.

Hmm, this line feels like I walked it in a past life.

Beyond shopping, you can also admire many of Barcelona's famous churches.

Liu Jin had this impression!
However, what he most wanted to know was where the largest bookstore in Barcelona was.
Iliza thought for a moment and said, "It should be Casa del Libro, I remember there are many stores there."

“Book House is a chain store; he was asking about the largest bookstore.”

A passerby pointed out Eliza's mistake.

"Monta, then tell me, which is the biggest bookstore?"

Monta was a middle-aged man in his forties.

Upon hearing Iliza's question, he answered almost without hesitation: "La Central del Raval, it must be La Central del Raval."

……

(End of this chapter)