Writer 1879: Solitary Journey in France

Chapter 61 An Extraordinarily Noble Friendship

Flaubert's summary, like a resounding bell, shook everyone present. He elevated Lionel's technique to a new theoretical level—"the imprisoned perspective."

This accurately summarizes the situation where the young waiter, as a product of his environment, has his perceptions limited and shaped by his environment.

Even Lionel was surprised when he heard this. It was only after the birth of 20th-century modernist novels that writers and researchers began to systematically study the complexity of "narrative perspective".

While the other writers present were still immersed in the metaphysical creative concepts and moral values ​​of "The Old Guard," Flaubert was able to summarize a methodology that could guide creative work and even give it a name through his own fragmentary exposition.

This level of insight and ability to summarize is astonishing.

He nodded: "Yes, the environment not only determines what we do, but also profoundly shapes how we see, think, and feel the world. 'A confined perspective' is one of them."

Maupassant listened intently from the back of the crowd, his breathing becoming rapid; Professor Hippolyte Taine looked at his student with a complex expression, his doubts about him largely dispelled.

Publisher Charpentier, however, keenly sensed the emerging literary trend. He leaned close to Goncourt and whispered, "Edmond, do you hear that? 'The imprisoned perspective,' 'learned numbness'..."

This will be a new trend! This Mr. Sorel not only writes great stories, he may have...defined a new way of writing!

He then stood up and extended his hand to Lionel: “Mr. Sorel, I am George Charpentier, owner of Charpentier Publishing House, and a good friend of Mr. Flaubert and Mr. Zola.”

Your "Old Guard" and what you said today... I was really impressed by the exciting vocabulary.

Lionel was a little confused, but still shook hands with him politely.

Georges Charpentier smiled, his delicate mustache twitching: "Lional, I recently started an illustrated newspaper called Modern Life, with Émile Bergela as editor-in-chief and Pierre Renoir as illustrator."

They would be very happy to receive your work!

Before he could finish speaking, Lionel felt several burning gazes on his back—from the young, fame-seeking writers in the room: Huysmann, Paul Alexis, Léon Ennick, Henri Céar, and Guy de Maupassant.

If there is one kind of friendship that is more precious than others for a writer, it must be the close relationship with their publisher.

Georges Charpentier, not yet 40 years old, took over his father’s publishing house, Charpentier’s Shelves, in 1872 and began publishing the works of adventurous contemporary writers, especially those who were considered advocates of naturalism.

In addition, he was one of the major collectors of Impressionist painters. Not only was Pierre Renoir, a stalwart of Impressionism, a close friend of his, but Paul Cézanne was also a frequent guest of his.

Lionel has gained the appreciation and friendship of Georges Charpentier today, and tomorrow he will gain francs!

Émile Zola, an established writer, naturally wouldn't be jealous. Instead, she sincerely stepped forward and embraced Lionel, patting him affectionately on the back: "Lionel, you are the most remarkable young man I have ever met."

If you're interested, when the weather gets a bit warmer, you can come to my villa in Meitang with Guy, Paul, and Huysmann. I'll have the most delicious food ready for you.

Flaubert smiled as he watched the two of them, and only after Zola and Lionel parted did he speak: "I will be here again next week at this time to welcome you."

Georges Charpentier reciprocated with an invitation: "Every Tuesday evening, on the third floor of 'Charpentier's Bookshelf,' if Leon could show up, it would surely excite everyone."

The other young writers were green with envy—who could have imagined that a previously unknown Sorbonne student would become the darling of the Paris literary salon in just one afternoon?

Most of them were overjoyed at the prospect of having a few lines of poetry published in the newspaper.

Maupassant's emotions were more complex than those of Huysmann and the others—there was some jealousy, but more of a sense of relief.

This probably left Lionel with no time to attend those parties with wealthy women and rich kids? Most of the "Leonard's impoverished legend" short stories he fabricated originated at these parties. But why did Lionel end up being kept by a wealthy woman first?

However, Maupassant also knew that with Georges Charpentier's invitation to write, Lionel's time to perform had come to an end.

The topics of the salon are usually not centered around a single work, a single question, or a single person.

"No matter how eloquently you speak, you only have one 'The Old Guard' after all! Now it's my turn!" Maupassant murmured to himself.

Having patiently waited for so long, he finally found his opportunity. While everyone was still reeling from the shock of the new theory, he squeezed from the back of the crowd to the front, then pulled out a thick booklet with a plain cover and held it high:

"Gentlemen, a strange book has recently appeared on the market in Paris, titled 'The Decadent City'! It's currently being snapped up by the citizens."

I finally managed to get my hands on a copy, and after reading it, I felt deeply that although some of the content violated morality, its depiction of worldly human nature was quite valuable…

Before he could finish speaking, Lionel coughed violently a few times on the sofa next to him, perhaps because the cigarette Huysman had given him was too strong.

------

Holy Father, Your faithful servant reports to you with a heart heavy with sorrow and anxiety:
Paris, the holy city once hailed as the 'capital of faith,' is now suffering the most severe and insidious spiritual attack in two centuries! A book titled "The Decadent City" is like sulfurous fire erupting from the depths of hell, frantically burning away the moral defenses and pure faith of believers in this land!

……

This book vividly depicts how sacred priests are bought off by worldly money, and how solemn sacraments are exploited by despicable lies... The words are filled with a deep-seated hatred for the church and its servants! The wickedness of its intentions and the despicableness of its methods are unprecedented in two centuries!

……

This book not only promotes lust, but also openly glorifies bribery, fraud, blasphemy, and other evils! It distorts the definition of success, making the satisfaction of personal desires and the trampling of rules the guiding principles! Its pernicious influence has reduced the spirit of the lamb to ruins!
Now, the air in Paris is filled with an atmosphere of lewdness, danger, indulgence, and contempt for all holiness and authority!
……

Your humble servant has done everything in his power, using all the legal means of the world to fight back, but you know that the secular Parisian government has been corrupted by liberal ideas and is incapable of acting with overwhelming force.

Therefore, Your humblest and most faithful servant humbly beseeches the guidance and divine intervention of the Father!

An elderly man with a full head of white hair, dressed in a magnificent white silk robe, looked at this place with a puzzled expression, and then looked at the simple, thick book on the table.

It arrived with the letter, using the fastest postal system in Europe today, traversing the vast distance from Paris to Rome in just 60 hours.

However, while the old man didn't dismiss the letter's claims outright, he did think the writer was exaggerating.

However, what he said next made him put aside his contempt and start to take it seriously:
Your humble servant dares to speak out, for the unprecedented crisis facing the Paris parish profoundly reveals the serious lack and inability of secular power to oversee the spiritual realm.

This may be an opportunity… We earnestly request the Holy See to express the Church’s deep concern to the French Republic government at an appropriate time, and to convey this idea in a tactful yet firm manner:
Only by restoring the church to a clearer and more proactive right to participate and speak in moral education and cultural education can we effectively resist such demonic spiritual erosion and safeguard the souls of believers and the morality of society.

Your humblest servant, Guibert Guillaume Merme de Beauan.

The old man put away the letter, pondered for a while, and then rang the bell on the table.

The bell rang clearly and long, seemingly louder than the bells of an ordinary church.

(End of this chapter)