I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 152: Each line is worth ten francs.

Generally speaking, when someone who has never been abroad arrives in a foreign land, they should be curious about everything new. Belinsky's illness at this stage was not too serious, so he should have been enjoying the experience. However, perhaps due to his nature, Belinsky's soul and mind had not yet left Russia, nor had they left "The Contemporary" and his circle of friends. He often talked about Mikhail.

However, as they got closer to Paris, Belinsky naturally talked more and more about France with Turgenev. As an old returnee, Turgenev knew more about Paris than many Russians, and he could certainly tell Belinsky many interesting stories about Paris.

But Belinsky was clearly not very interested in the gossip and scandals in Paris; he was more interested in asking Turgenev about the history of the French Revolution, literary developments, social conditions, and current events.

Since they were abroad, discussing politics was a perfectly normal thing. In fact, during their journey, Belinsky and his companions even found cartoons satirizing Nicholas I in a small bookstore. Nicholas I had a notoriously bad reputation in Europe due to his notorious autocracy and brutal interference in European affairs.

When Belinsky saw these things, he first gave a slightly sarcastic smile, then remarked to Turgenev beside him, "Mikhail should see these things; I'm sure he would find them very interesting. Ah, if only Mikhail were with us, he could speak freely about those things he usually finds difficult to say. I can't even imagine how brilliantly he would speak!"

Moreover, he had unique views not only on Russian issues, but also on other countries' issues. For example, his evaluation of the French Revolution. If I hadn't overheard Dostoevsky mention it by chance, and then directly asked Mikhail about it, I might have missed that passage.

Fifteen centuries later, the clouds have dispersed, yet some are blaming the thunder. Such a concise yet powerful expression reveals, in my opinion, Mikhail's many words actually express his truest thoughts: revolution is justified!

“If it’s Mikhail, I’m not surprised he would say something like that.”

Even as a moderate liberal, Turgenev's heart trembled several times upon hearing such a comment, and it took him a while to recover from the shock.

The French may have different opinions on this assessment, but there will certainly be some more radical people who will like it very much, and even be inspired by it.

Is this Mikhail? Wherever his writings go, radicals begin to proliferate.
Shortly after this conversation, Belinsky and Turgenev, who had changed modes of transportation several times along the way, finally arrived in Paris. Although their purposes differed, Turgenev first settled Belinsky in before rushing into a Parisian salon, ready to boast for a while before finishing up his work on Mikhail's serialized novel.

Although the last experience went relatively smoothly overall, Turgenev must have faced a lot of doubt and even ridicule during the process. At the time, Turgenev was not very confident, so he could only pretend not to hear these comments.

Later, due to his forced return to his homeland, Turgenev did not have the chance to retaliate against those gentlemen. Now that he has returned, he is naturally going to start a thorough reckoning!

Perhaps because the previous incident had left a fairly deep impression on the gentlemen of Paris, Turgenev integrated himself into the salons quite easily this time. Unlike before, he was no longer a complete nobody; instead, he sparked considerable discussion.

"Hey, that Russian who was making quite a splash the other day is here again. Could it be that he's brought a new piece this time?"

"I have to admit that the works I brought before were really good, but I don't know if this one can be as good as the last one."

“God, I even mocked his wishful thinking to his face before. I hope he has forgotten about it.”

"I'd much rather meet that Russian writer who hasn't shown his face yet. With his talent, I reckon he could achieve something even if he came to Paris to make a name for himself in the literary world."

"Come on! The amount of discussion he caused a while ago was already surprising enough, and now I can't believe I'm still hearing this kind of talk. If you ask me, he's just riding on his status! Without such a gimmick, how could he have attracted so much discussion and attention? If he really came to Paris to make a living in the literary scene, I dare say he wouldn't even be able to afford bread."

Now that Turgenev has reappeared in Parisian cultural circles, the Parisian publishers who had previously enjoyed Mikhail's articles have also been intrigued and have been approaching him to see if he has brought any new works by that author this time.

If so, then the payment for the article is indeed negotiable, and the price can be almost double that of the first time, since the popularity of those articles in the market has fully proven their commercial value.

To the great surprise of these publishers, the Russian brought a new work, which turned out to be a novel he wanted to serialize in a newspaper.

Hmm? Aren't the difficulties of writing short stories and novels in French vastly different?
Not to mention expecting such a serialized novel to be popular with Parisians!

It's worth noting that even many Parisian writers who are already somewhat famous can't do this, let alone a foreigner.

It seems that his previous success has blinded the young man in Russia, or he has simply gone mad, otherwise how could he dare to do something so bold and almost impossible?
In short, as soon as Turgenev announced his intention to serialize his novel in the newspapers, most of the publishers who had come to see him dispersed, some even losing interest in taking a look at the manuscript he had brought.

Such an absurd matter is not worth wasting any energy on, especially since for a Parisian newspaper, a good serialized novel can almost determine its survival!
Such an important position is not even reliable enough to rely on great writers, let alone a foreigner.

It’s just crazy!
As a result, Parisian publishers not only stopped vying for the novel, but some even began to ridicule the foreign author's overestimation of his abilities. Meanwhile, some writers who had long harbored jealousy and resentment towards the Russian author's previous success openly declared within certain circles:
"If a work attributed to Mr. Dumas is worth five francs per line, and a work attributed to an unknown author is worth seventy-five centimes per line, then I estimate that this gentleman who actually wants to serialize his novel in a French newspaper should only be worth ten centimes per line, and even then, perhaps no newspaper would want it!"

Frankly, Turgenev had anticipated such criticisms, but he certainly hadn't expected the backlash from his peers to be so fierce.

Perhaps a large part of the reason for this is that Mikhail's previous works were quite successful. If a foreign writer can succeed in Paris, doesn't that mean that many people in Paris who dream of literature are not as good as a foreigner?
This may have genuinely stirred up xenophobic sentiments among some writers in Paris.

Faced with so much negativity, Turgenev, who is normally mild-mannered and not particularly strong-willed, would have already begun to sulk and even start to doubt whether there was really a problem with the manuscript in his hands.

But then I thought, you guys, this is Mikhail's manuscript!

Moreover, I've read it two or three times and I'm still amazed by some of the book's ingenious ideas. Anyone who has read it carefully would give it a positive review. How can you make such a hasty judgment without even reading it?!
Of course, if one were to insist on an explanation, Turgenev could understand the mentality of these gentlemen in Paris. If he were a French writer, he would probably also find the whole thing utterly absurd.
But since it's Mikhail, there's nothing we can do.

In short, after mingling in Parisian social circles for a while, despite not receiving any positive feedback, Turgenev was not discouraged and continued to act in his own way.

The most urgent task, besides finding some newspaper editors willing to read and judge carefully, is perhaps to gain the support of some authoritative figures. After all, Turgenev's visit this time is not just about getting the novel published in the newspaper and considering everything settled. It would be best to secure a decent price for such a serialized novel, otherwise it would be too much of a loss.

So who is the most authoritative person in Paris when it comes to serializing novels in newspapers?

Most writers in Paris would probably give the same name: Alexandre Dumas.

However, Turgenev had not visited this great writer during his last visit, and it would certainly not be easy to make contact with such a writer and obtain his help. Just as Turgenev, who was having a bit of a headache, began to think about which salons and which people he could contact, someone took the initiative to approach him.

It was at a salon of a gentleman who had some connection with Dumas that Turgenev was in the mode of socializing and cultivating a relationship with him when a man claiming to be a servant of Mr. Dumas suddenly appeared and approached Turgenev, then began to rattle off a long string of words.

In summary, Mr. Dumas was very curious after hearing about this, but because he had some things to attend to and couldn't leave for the time being, he asked his servant to borrow the Russian writer's novel to read, and then apologized for doing so in this way.
To be honest, Turgenev almost thought the other person was a fraud after hearing his words, since fraudsters were all too common in Paris at that time.

So what are these people doing? Are they just trying to scam manuscripts?
Before Turgenev could question the other party, he first saw astonishment on the face of the gentleman in the salon who had some connection with Dumas. Upon realizing this, Turgenev's heart started racing. After confirming the servant's identity with this gentleman, Turgenev almost jumped up.

OK!

The previous announcements seem to have been effective; at least they've raised some awareness!

Otherwise, how could it have directly attracted the attention of a great writer like those in Paris?

Furthermore, for Turgenev, he was here to boast, and he really didn't want to be subservient if he could avoid it. Now that he could get things done in one step, he no longer needed to cultivate relationships with wave after wave of people and treat them to meals.

Upon realizing what had happened, Turgenev immediately returned to his residence, retrieved a manuscript, and handed it to the servant.

Then there was no news for several days, but despite this, Turgenev still had faith in Mikhail. Even when Mr. Dumas finally invited Turgenev to his home, Turgenev "accidentally" revealed the matter to some people, even though the other party did not give any opinions or views in his message. This attracted a lot of attention to the day when Turgenev went to visit Dumas.

In order to get firsthand information, many people chose to visit Mr. Dumas on this day, so when the day actually arrived, the Dumas family was unusually lively.

That's why, when Turgenev was invited to Dumas's home, although he had prepared himself mentally, he still couldn't help feeling a little nervous when the moment actually arrived.

However, if Mikhail were to come in person, he probably wouldn't take this occasion seriously at all. Even if Mr. Dumas gave a negative answer, Mikhail would probably just smile slightly and then go about his business, letting the facts prove everything.
Thinking about these things, Turgenev's mood quickly relaxed a lot. When he entered Dumas's living room, the great writer was talking to someone in a daze, and at first glance, he seemed to be preoccupied.

However, upon seeing Turgenev, the rather portly writer seemed to perk up considerably. As if knowing what Turgenev wanted to hear and what those around him also wanted to hear, Dumas went straight to the point, and under everyone's gaze, his eyes gleaming slightly as he spoke:
"I've been completely captivated these past few days! I don't think I've ever seen a novel like this before! If this novel were to be serialized in a newspaper, each line would be worth at least ten francs!"

(End of this chapter)