I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 223 Realist Painting and France's Greatest Poet

Hey, you enigmatic person, who do you love the most? Your father, mother, or your siblings?
I have no father, no mother, no sisters, and no brothers.

Where are my friends?
You used a word that I still don't know the meaning of.

What about our motherland?
I don't know where it is.

Is it beautiful?

I truly want to love it; it is a goddess, an everlasting flower.

Where's the gold?
I hate it as much as you hate God.

Sigh! So who do you love? An unusual stranger?

I love clouds. The clouds of the past, those wondrous clouds over there! — Baudelaire, *The Stranger*

Life is not as good as a line of poetry - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Although Mikhail was an outsider to Paris, his continued success there has attracted many people in Parisian cultural circles who want to learn his secrets to success. Some more pragmatic young people have even expressed their desire to become his protégés and advocate for him in Paris.

It's pretty much the French version of "If you don't abandon me, I'm willing to become your godfather."

The reason, in short, is that an established author represents a wealth of resources. They can recommend a work to publishers, personally endorse it, write recommendations, and even provide insights into their writing techniques and leverage their network.
This kind of thing is actually beneficial to Mikhail. After all, in the cultural world, many things are essentially about vying for a voice. Whoever has more followers and more disciples and descendants often has more influence and can, to some extent, ensure that they are not forgotten by the cultural world.

Mikhail was rather cautious about this, given the rapidly changing situation in France and his reluctance to allow anyone to use his name for shady dealings. Therefore, he mostly refused such requests for visits.

But when Mikhail asked, "What is his name?"

Turgenev's mention of "Charles-Pierre Baudelaire" immediately captivated Mikhail.

Regarding Baudelaire's place in the history of French literature, simply put, if one had to choose the greatest poet in French history, and could only pick one name, then that person would most likely be Baudelaire.

As a pioneer of Symbolist poetry, a founder of modernism, and the progenitor of prose poetry, Baudelaire's talent is beyond doubt. However, in 1845, Baudelaire had just attempted suicide.

The most direct reason for his suicide was that his biological father left him a large inheritance, which Baudelaire then began to squander. His enormous spending shocked his mother and stepfather, so they applied to the court to establish a "financial committee" to take over his property, and Baudelaire could only receive a certain amount of living expenses each month.

On the surface, it seems to be an economic reason, but if you delve deeper, it can be said that Baudelaire, who was naturally sensitive, melancholic and self-important, always longed for a free and elegant life as an artist, and this kind of real-world control was a devastating insult to him.

After all, this kind of control is undoubtedly telling him: you have to obey reality and order, and you don't have enough ability to live independently.

While this was indeed the case, for a poet like Baudelaire, facing the vulgar and cruel reality was enough to break him. Coupled with increasingly strained family relationships, he staged a suicide that was essentially a performance.

It's fair to say that sometimes it's really hard to understand the thought process of some great poets.

However, for Mikhail, since such a poet, worthy of immortality in the history of French literature, wanted to personally visit him, Mikhail simply nodded and said:
"Sure, I'm free these days. If he has any friends who want to come along, that's fine too."

"I will pass it on to him."

Seeing Mikhail agree so readily, Turgenev was slightly surprised, but he didn't think much of it and added:
“His friends will definitely come along, after all, they are the young artists I just told you about who are passionately discussing your literary views and theories. As far as I know, some of them have even started to try it out.”

Mikhail was not surprised by this, since some of the literary propositions and theories he put forward came from his analysis and summary of Baudelaire's poetry.

At the same time, Baudelaire had many painter friends in his circle, including two painters named Champfleury and Courbet. These two would, ten years later, set off a wave of realism in the French painting world, advocating for a focus on real life and creating works based on the principle of truth.

Undoubtedly, the realist school of painting was another major innovation in the history of Western art and had a profound influence on later generations. Famous works of this school, such as "The Gleaners" and "Barge Haulers on the Volga", later appeared in Chinese textbooks.

From this perspective, Mikhail is about to have a connection and collaboration with his younger self.

Just as Mikhail was feeling quite puzzled, Turgenev, after confirming the matter with Mikhail, excitedly chatted with him about some recent gossip in the Paris literary circles and his upcoming plans.

It's worth mentioning that Turgenev has been doing increasingly well in Paris lately. After all, given his relationship with Mikhail, Mikhail's success in Paris is, in a sense, his success, and Turgenev's boastful anecdotes are undoubtedly becoming more and more authoritative.

Of course, Turgenev wasn't entirely exaggerating; he did provide Mikhail with considerable assistance at times, such as his recent claim that Mikhail was only interested in the most beautiful women.
At the same time, he had undoubtedly become a guest of honor at the singer Vialdo's place.

Mikhail can only say that it's hard to comment on Turgenev's relationship. Although he did talk to Turgenev about it and gave him some reminders and advice, the final decision was ultimately up to Turgenev himself.

Furthermore, it must be said that compared to Mikhail, Turgenev was undoubtedly more deeply involved in Parisian social life, and over time, he naturally developed his own set of views on Parisian writers, as evidenced by his increasingly negative feelings towards Hugo.
“Mikhail, I must say, Mr. Hugo and some of his admirers are increasingly embarrassing to me. He…”

To be honest, Turgenev never really liked Hugo throughout history, simply because Hugo was, in a sense, a narcissist. For example, in his later years, Hugo once declared at a gathering that "Goethe's best work is *The Maid of Orleans*," and as he was about to continue, Turgenev, also in his later years but still true to his nature, interjected: "But *The Maid of Orleans* wasn't written by Goethe, it was written by Schiller."

Then Hugo replied, "Is that so? Perhaps I haven't read Goethe or Schiller, but I should know Goethe and Schiller better than you do! Because I know them without reading them!"

Then a round of enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience.
To be honest, the number of die-hard fans of great writers is far more exaggerated than many people imagine.

Of course, this was a joke Hugo made in his later years, while what Turgenev is talking to Mikhail about now is undoubtedly some recent events.

To be honest, Mikhail found it quite amusing; he respected these great writers, but some things were just too difficult to handle.
After the gossip session was over, Turgenev, having had a good chat, told Mikhail with satisfaction about his next plans: "Mikhail, you're planning to go to other countries next, right?"

With your current reputation in Paris, you're sure to be treated well in other European countries as well; your name should already be known in many places. Just enjoy your upcoming trip.

As for me, I plan to stay in Paris for a while longer. On the one hand, I have some things to do, and on the other hand, someone has to defend what you've accomplished in Paris.

I believe that what you've proposed will have a lasting impact on Paris, but over time, someone might absorb and tamper with your ideas, then pretend to be the one who first proposed them. I need to keep an eye on that.”

Regarding Mikhail's upcoming travel plans, Turgenev assumed that Mikhail simply wanted to experience the people and landscapes of various parts of Europe, and that there probably wouldn't be anything more. Surely, Mikhail couldn't possibly cause a literary frenzy wherever he went?
Moreover, Mikhail has not yet demonstrated literary talent in another language. In short, Turgenev felt that Mikhail probably wanted to continue traveling around and seeing more of the world, and that was about it.

Faced with Turgenev's plan, Mikhail smiled and nodded, replying, "Ivan, then everything is in your hands. I hope you have a pleasant time in Paris."

Strictly speaking, Mikhail's roots in Paris are still shallow. If he had enough familiar people there, many things would be much easier for him. And if nothing unexpected happens, Turgenev, who loves the culture of Western Europe, will most likely live in France for decades.

After a brief chat, Turgenev took his leave, and he was indeed very efficient. Almost immediately, the young Baudelaire and his friends received Mikhail's reply.

"He actually agreed to let us all go?"

Upon hearing this news, both Baudelaire, who was pursuing his own unique path, and his friends felt a little dizzy for a moment.

If we were to ask why, we could only say that Mikhail's literary propositions and theories brought these young people so much shock and surprise, as if someone had pointed out those vague things in their hearts and written them in a way that was even more perfect than they had imagined.

This is why, even though the mainstream literary magazines in Paris are mostly criticizing Mikhail's literary ideas, they have been stirred by a certain emotion and are trying various ways to meet with him.

Things are going much more smoothly than they imagined.

After all, rumors say that some wealthy women are willing to pay a lot of money to meet him, but they have never been able to.
In short, shortly after learning the news, the young Baudelaire briefly discussed it with his friends, and then the group headed towards where Mikhail was.

Although they had seen Mikhail from afar at the theater before, when they actually got close to him, Mikhail's excessive youth still made these young people look at each other in surprise for a moment.

He's even younger than us, how come he's already made a name for himself in Paris?
While they were somewhat stunned, Mikhail was also observing these young people who would one day have a place in Paris. What he looked at most was undoubtedly the young poet in the crowd who had a unique style of dress, and who looked extremely melancholy, extremely particular, and had a touch of gloomy aristocratic air.

As he looked, Mikhail's gaze involuntarily drifted to the top of Baudelaire's head, and then he thought, "How come Baudelaire is already balding at such a young age?"
After paying his respects to the living Baudelaire, Mikhail smiled and said, "Gentlemen, hello."

His words jolted the others in the room awake, and they all introduced themselves to Mikhail. Among them, Mikhail indeed heard the names of Champfleur and Kuber.

Due to his personality, Baudelaire, who actually wanted to see Mikhail the most, remained silent after introducing himself and instead displayed a calm and aloof demeanor.

Mikhail was not surprised by this attitude, after all, Baudelaire had considered himself a genius from a very early age, far surpassing the mediocre people of his time, and he had almost absolute confidence in his judgment in art and aesthetics.

So, while he often appeared polite, he actually didn't respect others at all. Moreover, he was sharp-tongued and often sarcastic when making art criticisms. Even though he felt both sympathy and anxiety after reading Mikhail's literary manifesto, and his inner emotions were quite turbulent, he still wouldn't show too much enthusiasm when they actually met.

Seeing this, Mikhail didn't care. He simply waved his large hand and pointed directly at Baudelaire, saying, "You must be Mr. Baudelaire? I've seen your work, and without a doubt, you are a genius."

Baudelaire: "!"

At this stage, Baudelaire had gained a little fame, but he was nothing special in the Parisian literary world.

So what has happened to him now?

Faced with the affirmation of Paris's most famous genius and the astonished gazes of his friends, Baudelaire, despite his cold demeanor and desire to maintain his elegance and composure, couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Baudelaire, realizing what he had done: "."

(End of this chapter)