I am a literary giant in Europe

Chapter 108 Silence (Please collect, please collect, please collect!)
What kind of story is "The Father Trapped in Time"?

Actually, it’s not complicated.

Anthony is a 68-year-old man who suffers from illness and cannot live independently.

He requires the care of his daughter, Anne, and a full-time caregiver.

But he was like a naughty child and was unwilling to accept help.

Anne, the daughter, loves her father deeply but also has her own life. When she decides to move from Toulouse to Paris with her boyfriend, she is still most worried about her father, Antoine.

Anthony's reality is messy.

He kept losing track of where he was and what time it was.

He felt like he was still young, living with his wife, and was frustrated when he tried to call his family but couldn't remember the number.

As time went on, Anthony's mental state became worse and worse.

He lost confidence in himself, felt unable to control his thoughts and actions, and took medication at random, even tying himself to the bed.

In fact, he suffered from the terrible Alzheimer's disease.

It is because of this disease that he is trapped in a chaotic time and space.

He tried to escape, wandering around Toulouse, getting lost and running...

Because he doesn't want to admit the fact.

In the end, Anthony chose to accept and face it, but for him, the disease did not go away and he was still imprisoned in a disordered time.

That's the story.

But Liu Jin adopted an abnormal narrative writing style.

He used the method of film shots and constructed a chaotic and illusory world with Anthony's first-person vision.

At the same time, the real world is presented through the third-person perspective of daughter Anne.

The alternation of reality and illusion.

Anthony's apartment, Anne's apartment, the retirement home.

The three spaces and alternating narration make the narrative full of unreliability, but also enable readers to experience the changes in Anthony's illness from the early stage to the late stage.

He was wary, suspicious, and fearful...

In the future, Alzheimer's disease will be a disease that everyone knows.

But around two thousand years ago, except for some professionals, most people did not understand this.

Many elderly people suffer from illnesses, but their children think they are deliberately causing trouble, which leads to many tragedies.

Originally, Liu Jin thought that being on the bestseller list in the first week would be a victory.

But he didn't expect that he would directly make it to second place.

I guess "The Pianist" is also very panicked.

After all, they had just finished filming "Amelie" and had not yet firmly sat on the championship throne when a new challenge emerged!
I vaguely remember that "The Pianist" was supposed to be released next year and won many awards.

Liu Jin estimated that this publicity for "The Pianist" was most likely to cooperate with the award-winning competition next year.

How wonderful is the book?
It's a matter of personal opinion!
Anyway, Liu Jin felt it was just average, not as exciting as the movie.

In fact, he didn't even watch the movie, he just watched the commentary: Look, this Jewish woman is called Xiaomei, and she has a loaf of bread worth 500,000 marks...

"Father" has such a strong momentum, I guess the people behind "The Pianist" must have been scared too!

“Actually, it has something to do with your recent performance and the buzz it’s caused.

The interview with President Chirac and the provocation from the Nobel Prize judges have made many people curious about your new book.

Add to that the Angel signing and what you said on the show before, all these factors combined to create this result.”

Liu Jin smiled and said, "Do you have enough inventory?"

Meera also smiled.

"I had already printed an extra 200,000 copies before I decided to release it early."

"So, the first print run is now 300,000?"

"Let's wait and see. I guess there will be comments this week. I think there should be no problem."

Meila said, "I'm ready to continue printing!"

……

What is the outside world’s evaluation?
Liu Jin is not quite sure yet.

But judging from the school’s reaction, it was quite different.

Whether it was the teacher or the student, the look they gave Liu Jin was somewhat complicated.

Jimmy secretly asked Liu Jin, "Alzheimer's disease... is there really such a disease?"

"Of course. Do you think I made that up?"

"not me……"

Jimmy said, "I read half of your book, and then I remembered that my grandmother had this symptom before she died.

But we didn't know what was going on at the time, and I even got angry with her.

Now that I think about it, she must have been sick!"

As he was talking, Xiao Hei actually started crying.

Liu Jin could only hug him and persuade him gently to make him calm down slowly.

“I didn’t watch the rest…”

"why?"

"I can't bear to look!"

Jimmy said: "Especially the part where Anthony says 'I want my mom, I want her to take me away from here'... Damn Amos, I fucking cried. And I cried so hard in the cafe. I just couldn't watch it anymore."

The Father is different from the Angel.

Angels are cheerful and bright.

And my father...

In his previous life, Liu Jin also watched the movie twice before he finished watching the entire movie.

In 2021, "Father" was released in China. However, due to various reasons, the box office was only more than million.

But the word of mouth is really explosive!
"By the way, there's one more thing."

"what?"

"I heard from others that Teacher Julie is leaving next semester."

"what?"

"It is said that because of your book, she wants to go home to take care of her parents. She is the most beautiful female teacher in our school."

Is Julie leaving?

Liu Jin, I had expected this.

But when this moment came, Liu Jin still felt a little uncomfortable.

He couldn't give her the life she wanted.

What Julie wants is stability, a simple life, and a lifetime.

Fortunately, I didn't provoke him again after my rebirth.

I also hope that she can be happy...

That night, Liu Jin dragged Jimmy and Matthew to the bar and got drunk.

……

"Liu, something's wrong!"

As the weekend was approaching, Mela called unexpectedly.

Liu Jin was typing at home, and the work was almost finished as the sun rose as usual.

Sixty-eight thousand words was not very difficult for Liu Jin.

The reason why he was crazy before was more because he wanted to make some changes, he wanted to experience that kind of emotion.

But the theme of the book The Sun Also Rises is still anti-war, but it is presented in a way of feasting and revelry.

Liu Jin has seen it, but he was definitely not as moved as he was when he watched "The Old Man and the Sea".

He lazily held the phone and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Over 50,000 copies were sold in three days last week, so it stands to reason that there will be feedback soon.

But it’s almost the weekend, and there’s no movement at all. What’s wrong with those critics, those journalists, those readers?”

“What about sales?”

"Based on the rough information I gathered, my father's sales this week may exceed 70,000 copies."

“So, sales have not been affected?”

"no!"

Liu Jin stood up from his chair and walked out of the study.

"That's a bit odd indeed."

He lit a cigarette and asked, "Did Chloe find anything on the Minitel?"

"Have!"

Meila said: "The feedback from Minitel is good. Many people say it is a good book and they are very moved."

“Are there any negative reviews?”

“Yes!” Meera said. “Some people think you’re making this up, that there’s no such thing as Alzheimer’s.”

After saying that, she couldn't help laughing.

Liu Jin also laughed.

There will be many people with dementia like this on the Internet in the future.

For many things, you can get a general understanding by just opening Baidu and searching.

But this kind of person will never do that.

They only follow what they believe in their hearts and then spew venom unscrupulously without caring about facts and truth.

There are some in France, some in the UK, a lot in the US, and quite a few in China too!

Of course, the majority of them are probably stealing the country.

After all, the thieves wouldn't think so...

After hanging up the phone, Liu Jin sat back in front of the computer and stared at the document in a daze.

Lately, I feel like the enthusiasm has waned a bit.

Probably because he wrote too much, Liu Jin felt a little tired.

In the past, even if he didn't like the book The Sun Also Rises, he would still think about it and write it very carefully.

This time, he was just doing it to get by.

Liu Jin thought about it, saved the document, and turned off the computer.

I picked up the drawing board, walked to the balcony and started painting.

Not Wall-E, though.

Wall-E is not in a hurry, just draw slowly!

He now needs to regain some passion for writing.

On the drawing board, there is a man who looks very similar to Ge You, but his temperament is completely different from Ge You. He has a little bit of Shanghai man's temperament. He is wearing prison clothes, a skirt, and a headscarf on his head. He is escorted by a soldier holding a Type 38 rifle and walks past a trash can.

The man put on a funny show, raising his arms and legs high.

In the crack of the trash can, there was a pair of innocent eyes looking at him...

Liu Jin slowly stopped writing and looked at the man on the drawing board.

"Hey, hello, beautiful life!"

……

(End of this chapter)