I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 121 Pebbles and Activities

Regarding the young people Mikhail encountered at the university, strictly speaking, it was impossible for everyone to be a progressive youth. There were plenty of people who adhered to tradition and even those who only wanted to enter the officialdom and seek higher positions.

However, on the other hand, so-called progress is, to some extent, viewed from the perspective of later generations. After all, from the perspective of the most mainstream social concepts of this era, true progress is to devoutly believe in God and strive to become a nobleman or a landowner. Those who doubt all of this are the real minority.

Given Mikhail's current status in the literary world, he has, in a sense, become someone who can help others progress. As mentioned earlier, literature is a high-end industry these days, and once one gains fame and status, it is entirely possible to enter high society and even climb to higher levels.

The magazine "The Contemporary," founded by Alexander Pushkin, was already a prestigious brand. In addition, Mikhail and others recently revived this once bankrupt publication, making it a new top-tier literary magazine. As a result, many young writers are now vying to publish their works in this magazine.

When Turgenev was still alive, he was already boasting at various gatherings, and those who wanted to make progress in the field of literature naturally flattered him, which made our good-reputed Turgenev very happy.

Since some people are praising Turgenev for the sake of progress, there are probably even more people who want to fawn over Mikhail. After all, according to rumors, the esteemed Mr. Mikhail can get even the worst article to appear in "The Contemporary" with just a flick of his little finger.

Regarding this rumor, Mikhail could only say, "How come I didn't know I had such abilities?"
But it seems that some busybodies took this rumor to Nekrasov and Belinsky, who were also quite influential in the magazine "The Contemporary." Nekrasov hesitated for a moment before half-jokingly replying, "If Mikhail did this, he must have his reasons."

Belinsky glared at the person who asked the question and said rather agitatedly, "Mikhail would never do such a thing! He's not that kind of person! Even if someone offered him ten thousand rubles as a bribe, he wouldn't do it!"

Mikhail: “?”

But then again...
Well, let's not get back to the point. At this point, Mikhail isn't really short of money. After all, given his standards for quality of life, he's already struggling to decide how to spend the magazine's current profits.

But regardless, since this is the general consensus, there are naturally many people who want to improve themselves through Mikhail.

Mikhail doesn't usually show his face, but now that he's taking classes at a university, the chances of seeing him will undoubtedly increase significantly.

Therefore, some bolder individuals, or those confident in their work, would directly introduce their work to Mikhail, staging a Russian version of self-recommendation.

Mikhail wasn't entirely opposed to this, after all, magazines always need to discover new talent. However, some people, whether they genuinely believed the rumors about Mikhail gesturing with his little finger or truly thought their writing was flawless, simply stated when introducing their work:
"Dear Mr. Mikhail Romanovich, this is a novel based on you. We all know you are very capable, but I feel that the descriptions are still somewhat subtle, so I wanted to use the form of a novel to portray you more deeply."

Mikhail before reading this novel: "?"

Mikhail's reaction after reading it: "???"

Regarding what the other party actually wrote, Mikhail could only say that the story's credibility was extremely low, comparable to throwing a stone at someone.
Incidentally, the Americans of that era were essentially on the same side as Russia. Russia had its own serfs, and the Americans had their own slaves. Coincidentally, in 1861, Russia conditionally emancipated its serfs, and the American Civil War officially began.

American literature only began to flourish in the latter half of the 19th century.

So, getting back to the main point, Mikhail would naturally not allow a novel like the one mentioned earlier to pass, and there was no need to even have it reviewed by Belinsky and the others. If it had been accepted, they would probably have used it to ridicule Mikhail for a long time to come, and it might even have become a meme in later generations.

I, Mikhail, am truly a respectable man.

Aside from these things, the interpersonal relationships Mikhail had built up during his university years were also giving him a bit of a headache. Overall, it was alright, since he was indeed aloof before and mostly preferred to think about all sorts of random things on his own.

His closest friend was none other than Dmitry, and because of this, he had indeed attended several gatherings with Dmitry. Coincidentally, these gatherings seemed to be the precursors to the Petrashevsky Group. By now, Mikhail had a general understanding of the Petrashevsky Group.

Strictly speaking, Petrashevsky was Mikhail's senior, having also studied law at the Imperial University of St. Petersburg and now holding the rank of ninth-class civil servant. Even in secondary school, he had earned a reputation for rebellion and contempt for authority.
His group's activities initially consisted of organizing a collective library and ordering banned books, specifically those on SH (Sophist) ideology, through the St. Petersburg bookseller Luli. Later, the library gradually became "a cover for Petrashevsky and his visitors to meet."

The gatherings took place every Friday. Initially, not many people came, and the meetings had an academic nature. Those who came to discuss Petrashevsky's new book included his friends, civilians and soldiers, young officers and cadets, teachers and university students.

For a long time, this group didn't really have much of a presence until the European revolutions started, at which point it stood out, followed by the Tsar's heavy blow.

So going at this time of year allows for a more detailed understanding of the theories of Saint-Simon and Fourier.

Mikhail was somewhat interested in the doctrines of these two men, since he had never studied them in depth before. However, in the present and the future, if one's theoretical level is not high enough, it may not be enough to convince others.

Mikhail was like that, while Dmitry was more driven by a young man's yearning and enthusiasm for lofty ideals, which made him want to learn more. In his view, Mikhail was undoubtedly interested in this as well.

So when Mikhail returned to university to study for a while, he brought up the matter again, but at the same time he also said: "Dostoevsky doesn't seem to be coming much lately. I heard that he was inspired by you and vowed to write better works, so he hasn't even left the house much lately."

Mikhail nodded with relief, but upon seeing Dmitry, a man as large as a bear, he was overcome with sorrow and couldn't help but ask a seemingly absurd question: "Dmitry, do you think you could survive in Siberia?"

"Why are you asking such a question, Mikhail?"

When Mikhail asked this, Dmitry took it as a joke and immediately laughed heartily, "But if you really go, you'll probably be close to death soon. I've heard that in those godforsaken places, relying on God is the most reliable thing, because sometimes luck is more important than physical strength."

Do you know Vasily? He grew up in Siberia. His whole family was exiled there and were later allowed to return. He told us about some things that happened there, and you simply can't imagine how harsh the conditions were.

Exile to such a place, such a thing only happens in Russia.

Before Dmitry could finish speaking, Mikhail's eyelids twitched several times. After glancing around briefly, Mikhail quickly told Dmitry to stop.

Mikhail can only say that such a passive skill is impossible to defend against.

However, Mikhail was quite interested in Vasily, whom Dmitry had mentioned, and thought he might find an opportunity to meet him another day.

Mikhail, though wanting to punch Dmitry, said with a complicated smile, "Dmitry, to avoid going to Siberia, use the 'cut' technique on this group."

But upon closer reflection, this statement seems somewhat absurd. Furthermore, many members of this group are indeed rare progressive young people in Russia today, and Mikhail believes that they should be given a chance to be saved if possible.

Putting all that aside for now, although Mikhail might still go with Dmitry, before that, judging by the time, Nadya's reply should be coming soon. At the same time, it might be a long time before she goes to Panayev's house to meet up with other friends.

Besides, that's where I started getting free meals, so how can I forget my roots?

(End of this chapter)