I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 254 German Language and Commentary on Newton's Hegel

After learning several languages, I'm convinced that a gifted person could learn English in thirty hours (excluding spelling and pronunciation), French in thirty days, and German in thirty years. Clearly, German needs a downsizing and some revisions. If we're going to leave it as it is, then let's carefully shelve it and treat it as a dead language, because only the dead have enough time to learn German!

—Mark Twain

As a seasoned Parisian and Londoner who had gradually become well-versed in the literary world, Mikhail's expression of admiration for Schopenhauer immediately drew the attention of many booksellers to this aging philosopher.

Although at this moment their main focus was on entertaining this young genius, a few publishers did show interest in Schopenhauer.

After all, just using that young man's words as a recommendation would be enough to sell a lot of the philosopher's books. If the philosopher is truly talented, then this would definitely be a very good business opportunity.

Of course, Mikhail's recommendation was not misleading, after all, Schopenhauer was not far from becoming famous at this time. In 1851, his "Appendix and Supplement" finally attracted the world's attention, and after that, his reputation became more and more prominent.

It is worth mentioning that Schopenhauer was, to some extent, a beneficiary of the failure of the European Revolutions of 1848.

In short, before the failure of the European Revolution, there was a generally optimistic atmosphere in European culture. Even the Hegelian philosophical system, which flourished in the field of philosophy, showed an optimistic tendency as a whole. Hegel regarded history as the inevitable process of the self-realization of the absolute spirit and believed that the development of human society followed objective laws and would eventually achieve a higher level of rationality and freedom.

Schopenhauer, on the other hand, believed that the world is a blind, unconscious will, and that history is full of suffering and conflict, with no progress or rationality whatsoever.

The failure of the French Revolution inevitably cast a shadow of defeat over Europe, which in turn contributed to the formation of a culture and social sentiment that was more receptive to Schopenhauer's philosophy.

In addition to philosophical discussions, the book "Appendix and Supplement" also contains many of Schopenhauer's summaries of life experiences and his views on various things.

To some extent, this part can be understood as a high-level version of inspirational quotes. This part is undoubtedly profound and reasonable, but the problem is precisely, how do you put it into practice after you know it?

To be fair, Schopenhauer himself did not fully practice what he preached; his personality and behavior differed considerably from the content of his writings. However, reading such works is still beneficial to one's mind, at least in terms of developing basic thinking skills.

And so, while Schopenhauer was still in a daze, he had already received the contact addresses of several publishers. These publishers, who in the past required him to persuade them to give him the opportunity to publish his works, were now asking him about it in a friendly manner.

Witnessing this scene, Mikhail shook his head with amusement, seemingly lost in thought.

Strictly speaking, Schopenhauer was also someone who lived off his inheritance. His ancestors had been prominent in Danzig for generations due to their business. It is even said that when Peter the Great of Russia and his empress visited Danzig in 1716, they stayed overnight at Schopenhauer's great-grandfather's house.

Mikhail could only say that strange connections seemed to have increased again.
Schopenhauer's mother, Johanna, was very talented in the arts. Many famous German cultural figures of the time, such as Goethe, the Brothers Grimm who wrote fairy tales, and the Schlegel brothers, were guests at Schopenhauer's mother's salon. Schopenhauer even became a close friend of Goethe for a period of time despite their age difference.

Incidentally, the Brothers Grimm were still alive at this time, but they had stopped writing and compiling fairy tales such as Snow White, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood, and instead devoted more of their energy to compiling the German Dictionary.

Schopenhauer, with the aforementioned family background, had a relatively easy time publishing his works at the beginning. After all, although his relationship with his mother was very bad, he was still Johanna's son, and publishers were willing to give him some opportunities.

Unfortunately, several attempts to publish it failed to achieve good results, and almost every time Schopenhauer would boast that his book would definitely be a bestseller! He claimed that once it was published, everyone would make a fortune!
As a result, each time he caused his publisher to lose a large sum of money.

With such a low reputation score, Schopenhauer's later "Appendix and Supplement" naturally faced many setbacks.

As Mikhail pondered these matters, surrounded by publishers and other literary figures, he was compelled to follow them to a new place. Before leaving, he made sure to say goodbye to Schopenhauer.

Watching the young man being escorted away by the crowd, and seeing the surprised looks from the other customers in the restaurant, Schopenhauer, despite having had a good day, couldn't feel happy at all.
And so, with mixed feelings, Schopenhauer soon took his dog and headed home.

As for Mikhail, since it was late, the publishers and some cultural figures in Frankfurt did not disturb him too much, and simply talked to him about some things.

The publishers mainly expressed their interest in Mikhail's novels and their hope for more collaborations in the future.

It's worth mentioning that the speed of literary dissemination these days is indeed not fast. Although these booksellers in Frankfurt have already heard of Mikhail's reputation in Paris and even England, only one of Mikhail's books, "Around the World in Eighty Days," and a few poems have been shown here so far. The translation and dissemination of other books are still in progress and are expected to take a long time to complete.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that most of Mikhail's current works are still being serialized.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries with the publishers in Frankfurt, Mikhail naturally shook hands with some cultural figures and literature enthusiasts present. Some of them seemed to have recently visited Paris, so much so that they knew more about Mikhail than Mikhail himself. After chatting for only a short while, Mikhail heard two or three anecdotes from them that even he himself was unaware of.

To this, Mikhail can only say that I'm not even in Paris anymore, so how can anyone still be spreading rumors?
Some people seemed to be native Frankfurt residents; their French was quite good, though they spoke with some slight stuttering. Faced with this, Mikhail immediately switched to German, which he had specifically learned beforehand:

"You can communicate with me in your most familiar language, and I will take this opportunity to learn from you."

It's worth noting that while the written language of the German region had largely become unified during this period, the accents of different states and regions varied greatly. It was quite common for people speaking the same language to be completely unable to understand each other. Even Mikhail hasn't fully figured it out yet, and can only say that he has to listen and observe before he can speak to anything he encounters.

Hearing Mikhail speak so fluently, many people present were immediately surprised. Although they had heard similar rumors, seeing it in person would certainly be a different experience, especially considering other rumors as well.
Thinking of this, the gentleman who was talking to Mikhail couldn't help but ask, "Your German is quite good. Do you know anything about German literature? Have you ever tried writing poetry and novels in German?"

"I've read the works of Goethe and Schiller, as well as some good fairy tales. As for writing in German..."

Mikhail paused for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "I'm not ready for that yet."

Although Mikhail possessed a considerable collection of what could be considered great German poetry and novels, the situation in the German-speaking regions during this period was far too complex. He hadn't yet had the opportunity to delve deeply into the German language of that era. Without a complete understanding, he risked producing anything that might lead to embarrassing mistakes due to fundamental misunderstandings.
"Oh? So, does that mean it will happen in the future?"

Everyone present perked up immediately upon hearing this: "You're actually willing to spend your precious energy on this?"

"If I have the chance, I might give it a try. Who can say for sure what will happen in a lot of things?"

Mikhail smiled and nodded.

Indeed, life is unpredictable. At that time, how many people in the German region could have imagined that more than 20 years later, Germany would not only be unified, but would also be able to fight all the way to Paris, the capital of France, and force the French to cede territory and pay reparations?
Thus, Mikhail had a brief exchange with people in Frankfurt's cultural circles. Over the next two days, since Mikhail did not intend to stay in Frankfurt for long, he did not accept various social invitations, but simply experienced the local culture of Frankfurt in a relatively short period of time.

Like the well-known Frankfurt sausages and cider, these two things actually suited Mikhail's taste quite well. Mikhail also experienced a local beer hall with authentic German flair.

Although the most famous beer hall riot was still a long time away, two years later, people actually rose up in rebellion at the beer hall and stormed the local government and army. It can only be said that this place was also an ancient battlefield for the German people.
Although Mikhail had kept a low profile, only two days later, Schopenhauer discovered the following news in Frankfurt's largest newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung:
"...The rising star from Paris, the indescribable genius—the poet Mikhail—arrived in Frankfurt."

…Our city's booksellers and people from all walks of life are quite interested in this man and intend to translate his poems so that German readers can also appreciate his genius.”

Schopenhauer: "?"

Does such a trivial matter really need to be reported?
To Schopenhauer's great surprise, this increasingly famous young man did not frequently attend various social events in Frankfurt or interact with all sorts of important figures. Instead, he appeared before Schopenhauer, listened to him talk a lot, and asked him many questions about the German philosophical community.

Schopenhauer, initially surprised, gradually lowered his guard, and when discussing German philosophy, he displayed contempt and launched a strong attack.

Thus, Mikhail heard Schopenhauer call Hegel a foolish and clumsy charlatan, and assert that Hegel was even less talented than Fichte and Schelling, who were "imposters" of philosophy.

Mikhail had only intended to study and have some fun, but one day, Schopenhauer, in the middle of a conversation, suddenly asked, seemingly casually:

"You seem to be familiar with Hegel's philosophy, so how do you compare me to him?"

Mikhail: “?”

Who is more beautiful, you or Hegel?
Firstly, Mikhail didn't really understand it that well. Secondly, from the perspective of later philosophical history, Hegel was the culmination and terminator of classical philosophy, a kind of autocratic and timeless figure. Later philosophers who wanted to open up new paths often had to start by opposing Hegel.

As for Schopenhauer, he was a transitional figure to some extent. He reiterated the irrationality and blindness of the world, but after him, Nietzsche, who shouted "The sun is my golden testicle!", seemed to be going further and more thoroughly.

Incidentally, Hegel's philosophy, in its simplest terms, is to establish a philosophical system that starts from "pure concepts," can unfold itself, and can explain the entire world, encompassing everything.

However, what is more abstract is that, in Hegel's view, natural science was also included in his philosophy. So much so that Hegel sometimes seemed like an expert in the field of science. For example, in the part of his "Logic" that discusses quantities, Hegel specifically mentioned Newton's "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy". He believed that Newton's use of calculus in some of his derivations was not rigorous.
In short, when faced with Schopenhauer's question, Mikhail could only give a vague answer at first, and then quickly brought up his intention to leave:
“Mr. Schopenhauer, I am preparing to leave Frankfurt. I have a feeling that when we meet again, you will be famous.”

"So fast?"

Schopenhauer, who was known for his volatile and eccentric temper, instinctively replied, "Won't you stay a few more days?"

"No, I have a lot of things to do."

Mikhail smiled and shook his head, briefly calculating when he would leave, then extended his hand to Schopenhauer and said, "I look forward to our next meeting."

".Um."

Faced with this magical young man who seemed to have suddenly appeared beside him, Schopenhauer seemed to ponder for a while, and then grasped the young man's outstretched hand, thus bringing this brief acquaintance to a temporary end.

After taking care of some business, meeting the people he wanted to see, and enjoying some entertainment, Mikhail didn't linger any longer. He soon officially left Frankfurt and headed to his next destination.
(End of this chapter)