Novel Notes - Sujiao Library (English-Chinese Contrastive)

Author: Jerome
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: One evening, after returning from a wind instrument party at my friend Jefferson's house, I told my wife that I planned to write a novel. Hearing my idea, my wife was delighted. She said she had always wanted me to write a novel. She then added, "You see, all these novels these days are terrible. I believe you can write a real novel." (I know, Essebeza meant to show praise; it was just that her expression was often scattered, making her meaning unclear.) However, when I told her that my friend Jefferson would be working with me, she exclaimed "Oh" with a tone of skepticism. I continued to explain that Brown and McShanass would also be collaborating, and she said, "Oh!" Her tone wasn't one of doubt, but it was clear that her original interest in the matter, her sense of its feasibility, had completely vanished. I thought that, in Essebeza's eyes, the likelihood of success in our collaboration with them was low, partly because they were both scholars. She held a strong prejudice against scholars. She believed that men of that class did not have enough desire to get married, and even if they did, they lacked the willpower. She thought they were either intellectually deficient or naturally decadent; the former was unlikely to help others, and the latter was unsuitable for writing novels. I tried to make her understand the unique advantages of our plan. "You see," I explained, "in most novels, readers can only access one person's thoughts. But in our novel, there will be four smart people working together. Readers will only have to spend the price of one book to get the ideas and opinions of all four of us. If British readers understand business, they will quickly order this book; otherwise, they will regret it. Such an opportunity is hard to come by." Essebeza agreed, saying it might be so. "Moreover," I continued, the more I thought about it, the more enthusiastic I became, "on the other hand, this is a genius deal. We're not just putting in our everyday thoughts. In this novel, we will include all the wisdom and talent that a book can carry. Once we finish this novel, we won't write any other books. In fact, we won't be able to write another one; because we've written everything there is to write. This book will have a significant sales potential. We will put everything we understand into this book." Essebeza pursed her lips, muttering something under her breath, then loudly said that this would be a huge undertaking. I was hurt by the sarcasm in her words. I pointed out that there are now a large number of professionally trained critics who are hired specifically to criticize writers and their works—such a duty, in my view, seemed to require no help from amateurs. I also implied that by the fireplace, a literary person breathes a more sympathetic air. Of course, I understood what Essebeza meant by her response. She said she wasn't referring to me, and that Jefferson was also sufficiently sensitive (Jefferson was professional), but she didn't agree with involving herself in writing this book.