I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 144 A Mr. Carl and the New Plan
Regarding the poem "The Only Day," its language is indeed simple in a certain sense, without excessive embellishment. Instead, it uses a rather gentle tone to gradually build up the poetic meaning. When the emotional intensity reaches its peak, the last two lines, "A day is longer than a hundred years, an embrace without end," will undoubtedly be even more shocking.

Can a day really be greater than a hundred years? Can the embraces between people really go on forever?

This treatment of time and eternity is undoubtedly refreshing in today's Russian literary scene, and it is enough to leave many poets present speechless.

Aside from the most breathtaking part, the rest, such as the reverberation of everyday language and philosophical contemplation, the unexpected sensory descriptions, and the bold linguistic innovations and experiments, are undoubtedly worthy of careful understanding and analysis by contemporary Russian poets and critics.

After all, in Russia today, apart from Mikhail's poetry, it is rare to see these things in the poems of other poets. From this perspective, Mikhail is certainly a rebel in the poetry world. He seems unwilling to follow the current popular methods of poetry creation in Russia.

Logically speaking, such unconventional behavior would certainly attract a lot of criticism, but anyone with an achievement in poetry would find it hard to deny from the bottom of their heart that Mikhail's unconventional poems do indeed have a very strong appeal.

Therefore, there are many critics, but there are also many people who secretly study his work. After all, since he can write poetry so beautifully and movingly, it means to some extent that the path Mikhail has taken is indeed correct, and it is very likely that his poetic style will be the future trend of Russian poetry.
In short, after Mikhail finished reciting the poem, he could eat and drink as usual. However, many people at the banquet savored the poem and gave Mikhail a warm round of applause before starting a passionate discussion about it.

Because Russian winters are always exceptionally long, there is a wealth of art forms, including poetry, music, and painting, related to winter. In the realm of poetry, the last poet to write so well about winter was Alexander Pushkin, but even Pushkin's famous poem, "A Winter Morning," is remarkable.
"What a beautiful day it is, with both the cold and the sun!"

Are you still half asleep, my beautiful friend?

It's time, my beauty, wake up.

In some respects, it doesn't seem to be as stunning or impactful as Mikhail's poem.

To some extent, this is not hard to understand. After all, Pasternak completed the poem "The Only Day" in 1959, so it was far ahead of its time, and there is naturally a lot of content for analysis and research in this era.

Incidentally, Pasternak is undoubtedly better known for the persecution he suffered because of his book "Doctor Zhivago," whereas before that, he had a good relationship with the Georgian and maintained some correspondence.

The reason for this connection is that the Georgian had a very strong passion for literature. One day, he approached Pasternak, who was a great poet at the time, and said, "I have a friend who is writing poetry. I would like to hear your opinion on these poems."

A few days later, he sent the poems to Pasternak, who immediately understood that they were written by Iron himself. Even so, he still found the poems rather monotonous and boring.

So when the other person’s phone rang again, Pasternak decisively said to the Georgian, “Your friend is not good at writing poetry, so he’d better do something else that is more suitable for him.”

The person on the other end remained silent for a moment before saying, "Thank you for your frankness. I will convey your message as such."

Of course, this Georgian did not launch a "Great Purge" against Pasternak because of this.

So, getting back to the main point, while some people were discussing it enthusiastically, others were deeply moved by the poem itself. Therefore, on New Year's Eve, some of Mikhail's friends couldn't help but give him a hug.

During this time, Belinsky embraced Mikhail with deep affection, thanking him for everything he had done for him throughout the year. He also whispered passionately in Mikhail's ear, "Mikhail, if you have time, write a collection of poems! There are so many new things in your poems. Don't forget to clearly discuss some of them. I think this will definitely bring about a new poetic trend, just like the Romanticism before it!"

Mikhail: “?”

Let's not talk about work when we're having a banquet, shall we?
Aside from this little incident, the banquet undoubtedly continued in a lively atmosphere. Although Mikhail was only interested in eating and drinking, people kept approaching him during the banquet, wanting to have a drink with him.

It's impossible to have a drink with everyone, otherwise Mikhail would probably die of alcohol poisoning before he even gets to experience the Siberian chill.

But no matter what, you should at least have a cup of tea to show your appreciation.

So when the banquet ended, Mikhail was indeed full, but to a large extent, he was just full from drinking.

Mikhail, who felt his stomach making a thumping sound, thought, "..."

Well, there's probably no other way. After all, everyone who had a drink with Mikhail seemed quite happy and excited. In order not to disappoint others, Mikhail really had no choice but to suffer himself.

And so the banquet came to a close in a lively atmosphere. In the first few days of 1845, Mikhail gave himself a short break. Apart from shoveling snow and trying the new dishes that the family maid had learned from Panayeva, he basically just lay around all day.

It's worth mentioning that Panayeva's cooking skills are quite good. Whether it's stewed beef, cabbage soup, or fish soup, she makes them all very well. Therefore, although Mikhail has attended many banquets, his favorite food is undoubtedly the Panayeva family's, which is truly authentic.

As for how well the young maid Mira was learning, Mikhail could only say that her future was promising. Meanwhile, during the days Mikhail diligently shoveled snow and lay down, the poem "The Only Day" quickly spread through certain circles. The social activities of the nobility were already frequent in winter, and the writers belonging to the "Modern Man" circle were sparing no effort in praising Mikhail. And frankly, they didn't seem to be acting out of self-interest, but genuinely trying to make Mikhail famous.

From this perspective, after such a winter, the probability of Mikhail's works appearing in the homes of upper-class gentlemen has greatly increased. But to be honest, whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, Mikhail feels that it's hard to say for the time being.

Furthermore, since the poem has already been circulated, the evaluations of it are naturally varied. Among them, the most interesting is the general's reaction as described in Nadya's letter: "You know, I have never been particularly fond of poetry, not even Pushkin's poems can move me, but since this poem was written by Mikhail, I can certainly guarantee that it is a good poem."

Mikhail: “?”

General, I don't issue rubles here.
Of course, the general's fondness for Mikhail didn't come out of nowhere. Aside from what had happened before, this winter, the publication of Mikhail's novel in French in a French magazine spread the word. In addition, the general did know more about Mikhail, and so, as he boasted, he ended up having quite a few conversations with some nobles he hadn't been able to get close to before.

Although he was a general, in the rigidly hierarchical Russia, there were always people above him. Even if he reached the position of Tsar, he would still face considerable constraints and obstacles.

For the general, such a thing might seem ordinary, but it could very well become an opportunity for advancement one day.
In this way, the general held Mikhail in a double regard.

This is perhaps the advantage of gaining recognition in Europe. If one were only famous in Russia, in the current environment, it might not make the Russian nobility feel that one is particularly remarkable.

But if one could become famous abroad, especially in powerful countries like France and Britain, that would be a completely different story.

In that case, if Mikhail does something less aboveboard, even the Tsar might have to consider his public image and change his heavy blows to a more ordinary one.

To this, Mikhail can only say that you guys are really good at worshipping foreign things.
In short, continuing to expand the gains in Old France is indeed a relatively important task for Mikhail in the new year. And soon, Belinsky, who has already been packing up and handing over his work, will take Mikhail's new manuscript to Old France.

Speaking of which, we must mention the issue of royalties in France. Due to the high degree of commercialization, French magazines and newspapers have reached a stage where they place great importance on the author's reputation.

To give an example of Alexandre Dumas, he once helped a young author revise the beginning of a novel that was being serialized in a newspaper. Dumas did not mind having his name listed alongside the young man, but the newspaper that published the serialization firmly disagreed: "The serialization signed by Dumas is worth three francs per line, while the one signed by Dumas and Marquet is worth only thirty sous per line."

Thus, although Dumas only revised the beginning, the novel was serialized in newspapers under his name and achieved fairly good results.

In this market environment, the French magazine industry has indeed seen many similar ghostwriting incidents, and Alexandre Dumas was once implicated in one of them, but we'll have to talk about the rest later.

In short, given this market environment, although Mikhail published his novels in Parisian publications, the royalties he received were significantly lower than those of other French authors. The sum of several of his novels was only enough to afford a place to stay in Paris for a while.

However, since this is his first attempt, he can accept the loss in order to gain recognition. With this foundation, Mikhail's next science fiction novel will undoubtedly have some room for negotiation, and he may be able to propose some unconventional things like a performance-based agreement in the contract.

Incidentally, since the payment was in France, Mikhail didn't intend to have the French magazine send it all the way there. Instead, he simply left an address based on his memory and information he had gathered from Belinsky and Herzen, so that the French magazine could send it directly to a Mr. Karl.

The amount isn't large, but it can serve as a prelude. Besides, international transfers are incredibly troublesome these days. As for the rest, we'll probably have to wait until Mikhail's science fiction novel is serialized in French newspapers.

Before officially leaving, Belinsky couldn't resist having a small meeting with Mikhail and the others. Besides worrying about what might happen to the magazine after he left, Belinsky believed that the more important topic was how the magazine "Modern Man" should grow bigger and stronger and achieve new glory in the new year.

Building on this foundation, how should *The Contemporary* magazine denounce the dark social reality, and how should it awaken more and more people to understand the depravity of serfdom, to see clearly the extent of oppression suffered by every individual in contemporary Russian society, and how such oppression has distorted their minds?
In short, the goal is to push the boundaries higher and harder, and ideally, spread new ideas as well.

Nekrasov and Panayev were not surprised by Belinsky's suggestion. After all, they had gradually become accustomed to the magazine's positioning. So, faced with Belinsky's solemn expression, they quickly nodded in agreement.

As for Mikhail, seeing that the chief editor and his right-hand men of the magazine "Modern Man" all agreed, he naturally nodded and said, "Alright, since you've all done it, then I'll do it too."

And so, the group briefly discussed the specifics, including but not limited to the magazine's future direction for manuscripts, what new ideas should be disseminated, and who should temporarily take charge of the new section on literary criticism, and so on.

After everything was basically discussed, Belinsky finally grasped Mikhail's hand tightly and said:
"Mikhail, as everyone knows, you are the true core and best helmsman of our 'Modern Man,' so in the new year, please lead this great ship to continue its voyage!"

All I can say is that I try to do as much as possible, but it seems like I can only offer suggestions occasionally.
Although that was what he truly thought, in order to reassure Belinsky during his recovery, Mikhail naturally put on a smile that seemed to put Belinsky at ease, and then replied:
"This ship can't function without anyone, but we'll hold it together for a while. Don't worry, we'll be waiting for you to return from your convalescence."

(End of this chapter)