I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 206 Modernity and News from Britain

Reflections after watching the performance of "La Dame aux Camélias"

[Modern Era] Li Shutong

The girl next door to the east has a hunched back, while the girl next door to the west is still shy.

How can a cicada know spring and autumn? Golden lotus shoes and jade hairpin.

He guides all sentient beings to attain Buddhahood, and manifests his Dharma body on the singing stage.

If Meng Zhan had not followed my path, the Central Plains would have been overrun with barbarian dust.

-

Mikhail had some understanding of Marie Duplessie through biographies, memoirs, and some information he had recently gathered.

In short, her father frequently abused her mother. After her mother ran away, her father first abandoned her and her sister to be cared for by relatives, who treated her badly as well. Later, her father sold her to a wealthy old man in the area as his mistress.

It wasn't until her father died of syphilis that she came to Paris to make her way in the world, and after being groomed by many wealthy patrons, she transformed into the famous Lady of the Camellias.

Given her background, it's not surprising that she had certain values ​​and behaviors. However, many prominent figures of her time spoke highly of her. As Liszt said, "Generally speaking, I have no prejudice against people like Marion de Lorme or Manon Lesgot. But this one is truly unique. She has such a kind heart."

However, despite his words, Liszt still refused to connect his life with hers, and even disagreed with accompanying her on a trip to the East as she wished.

Of course, in this day and age, there are far too many similar tragic events. For example, if Mikhail wanted to open a larger tailor shop, he would definitely need to hire more people. Mikhail originally intended to do a simple screening, but the many experiences he heard left him speechless, and he ended up spending a lot of money on it.

It can only be said that there is a real reason why old revolutionary base areas exist.

Returning to the story of Marguerite Gautier, strictly speaking, actresses often face unspoken rules and the need for sugar daddies, but having a means of making a living always provides another possibility.

In a sense, the fact that chastity was not very important in France during this period was inevitable. In times of hardship, sex was always a survival resource. It is from this perspective that the literary image of "prostitute" has been present in both Eastern and Western literature for thousands of years, because it is a social reality that is hard to avoid.

However, in later generations, this image has been dissolved or transformed into other forms in a certain sense. After all, if it is necessary to do so due to practical problems, then it should be understood and sympathized with in any way. But it is another matter if it is for that reason.

This might lead us back to Baudelaire's seemingly absurd yet modern aesthetic statement: "We all have the spirit of republic in our blood, just as we all have syphilis in our bones. We are democratic, and we are syphilis."

Isn't saying "also has syphilis" just a form of sarcasm and pathos?

The future is not perfect; rather, it presents another kind of absurdity. If the French people of today suffer from syphilis, then what will modern people of the future suffer from? And how should modern people find a way out?
This is a major theme in modernist literature.

Of course, that's a matter for the future. Now, after getting Marie Duplessie's address, Mikhail simply left a message saying, "Looking forward to your reply," and then walked away.

Mikhail's decisiveness left both the young Theophile and Marie Duplessie, who had introduced him to Mikhail, somewhat bewildered. He just left like that? What happened next?

Theophile was most puzzled by Mikhail's behavior. That's it? Wasn't this Mr. Mikhail both talented and wealthy? Plus, with his appearance, was he really afraid of being rejected?

So it's simply that you didn't like it?
It's a bit unbelievable, but it also seems somewhat possible. After all, it's said that he tried all sorts of things in Russia, which is hard to imagine.
Mary Duplessie was also a little puzzled. She had initially thought that this was a tactic the other party used to attract her, but now it seemed that this was not the case at all.
So, regarding the script
After a moment's thought, Marie, who still didn't really take the script seriously, quickly started talking to the man next to her again. It was during this conversation that she learned that the gentleman seemed to be a very popular writer in Paris recently, and that as a Russian, he had actually written a very popular French work.

Out of curiosity, she decided to find a few to read, such as the seemingly well-known "The Necklace".
Some mysterious fate has bestowed upon her a gift, and as for its price, this time it is up to her to decide.

After achieving his goal, Mikhail quickly got busy with other things. He had a lot to do recently, but the most important thing was to find some reliable professionals.

As the saying goes, professional tasks should be left to professionals. Just like how to rehearse a good play, it's actually a very complex issue. It involves managing costumes and venues, navigating interpersonal relationships, and even handling the unpleasantness and friction among the actors.
Mikhail doesn't really know much about these things, but there's one good thing: Mikhail is rich!
Moreover, his daily expenses were really not high, much more so than those Parisian writers who were extravagant and indulged in luxury, ending up with huge debts.

With money, most of the problems could be solved. Mikhail only needed to have the actors make adjustments based on the excellent works in his memory. As for connections, some required Mikhail to work hard and make connections himself, while others were readily available.

Besides the aforementioned connection with the general, Mikhail also had many other friends in Russia who provided connections and resources—perhaps not extensive, but enough to help him resolve some minor issues. It just goes to show, in this world, you need power and connections.
Even with these things, it's still necessary to move around a bit. Mikhail plans to find some time to ask Alexandre Dumas if he has any suitable theater recommendations.

Prior to this, censorship was a major problem. In the original story, when Alexandre Dumas fils first submitted the script to the censorship department, it was not approved. As a result, Dumas fils had to revise the script, strengthening Marguerite's motivation for self-sacrifice and making her character more like a "saint who atones for love".

At the same time, the role of Armand's father was slightly softened, making him appear less cold and more like a father whose love stemmed from helplessness.

But frankly speaking, the reason it was ultimately approved was because a powerful figure known to Alexandre Dumas fils pulled strings behind the scenes.
Mikhail is currently figuring out how to make connections, but before that, he first submitted a script that he had revised to some extent. After all, it must be said that he could be considered a "foreign master" in France at this time.

So audacious! Don't you want to give foreigners any preferential treatment?!
After confirming some parts of the script, Mikhail took the time to send it to the Lady of the Camellias.

While waiting for a reply, Mikhail received some unexpected news one day. However, despite the surprise, Mikhail still went to the office of Ditak, the owner of the newspaper "The Century," as promised.

As soon as Mikhail entered, the enthusiastic Ditak rushed over and tried to give him a big hug, his large stomach pressing against his abdomen. At the same time, Mikhail felt a violent impact on his stomach and heard Ditak's passionate voice:
"Oh, oh! Mr. Mikhail! You are a true genius! I don't even know how to praise you! What kind of genius can create one big news after another in Paris? There is no one else but you! Is there anything you are not good at?"

In retrospect, those previous rumors are outdated! Fortunately, Mr. Turgenev has recently brought us a new version!

Is it true that you can hit a bird a hundred meters away with a single shot? Your story of outsmarting and outmaneuvering a brown bear is even more exciting! And…

Mikhail: “???”

Old Butcher, when will you get rid of your old habit of bragging?
As a well-traveled Parisian, Dietak certainly wouldn't easily believe any boastful stories, especially in Paris where there are far too many such exaggerations. However, if the protagonist of the story is this Mr. Mikhail, then Dietak might actually be willing to believe half of it!
After all, how did a Russian manage to write a bestselling book in France? What does it mean to be fluent in more than a dozen languages? What does it mean to write poetry in French? And what does it mean to be able to amaze Chopin musically?
These seemingly exaggerated little stories are actually true!
So Ditak chose to give it a little more credit.

The reason he had this attitude towards Mikhail was naturally because the attention Mikhail had attracted had made The Century incredibly wealthy. It could be said that the biggest beneficiaries of the series of news stories Mikhail had created were, besides himself, The Century.

However, at the same time, Dietak was also very clear about some things, namely that the price of Mikhail's next book would never be the same as it is now. It would definitely rise a lot, which is why he was able to achieve the same success as Mr. Dumas so soon after appearing on the Paris literary scene.
Looking back now, Dumas's statement, "Besides you and me, there are no other writers in Paris," actually makes some sense.
After exchanging pleasantries with Mikhail, Ditak couldn't help but point to his clothes and say with a smile, "To be honest, I wasn't really comfortable wearing this outfit out a while ago, but things are different lately! I've heard quite a few people are asking about it. Do you have any updates?"

When Ditak spoke to Mikhail, there were already two gentlemen sitting in his office, and their appearance and demeanor seemed slightly different from those of Parisians today.

Indeed, after witnessing Ditak's performance, the two Englishmen, though still smiling, inwardly felt some disdain for his behavior.

He's just a young writer, is it really that big of a deal?
The French literary scene is truly in decline; it's become the domain of a Russian!
As for the fact that his novels sell very well in Britain, that's another matter. If he hadn't featured British people as the main characters, he might not have achieved such success!

However, making money is certainly not something to be ashamed of. Although they harbored such thoughts to some extent, when Mikhail actually arrived, they still shook hands with him quite warmly and then said:
"Dear Mr. Mikhail, your work was published in the UK a few days ago and has sold quite well. You weren't in Paris when we last discussed collaboration, but you rushed over as soon as you heard you were here. At the same time, we would also like to discuss your new work with you."

At this point, the two British booksellers still found it somewhat unbelievable that a French book could sell so well in Britain, to the point that pirated copies of this gentleman's books are still readily available in the British market.

Strictly speaking, they didn't want to pay for the collaboration; pirating directly would have been much easier. However, the young man's book was indeed quite to the British liking, so obtaining a portion of the manuscript from him for early publication would be more profitable.

That's why they're sitting here today to discuss cooperation and see if the other party can send a portion of the manuscript to England ahead of schedule.

Of course, the prices aren't as high as in France. They're lucky if they don't just steal your book! You want high royalties?
However, Mikhail didn't pay too much attention to this issue, as long as it was within the normal price range for that time of year. What Mikhail was most interested in was undoubtedly the state of the British literary scene and how serialized books in Britain were divided up. Therefore, he asked the two British booksellers many questions.

Although the two British booksellers were somewhat surprised, and even secretly scoffed at him, thinking, "What? Does he want to write something in England? Does he even have the ability? What's the point of asking such detailed questions?"

However, they still answered Mikhail's questions properly on the surface.

At the end of the conversation, they shook hands with Mikhail quite politely, and then added a polite remark:

"Welcome to visit the UK again."

Mikhail simply smiled and then clearly stated, "I will."

As Mikhail dealt with these matters, time passed, and the script for *La Traviata* was finally to be opened by the French censors and Marie Duplescy.
(End of this chapter)