I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 26: The Hunger Artist

In short, there are definitely voices criticizing Mikhail's novels, and the voices are quite loud. To a certain extent, Mikhail even helped Gogol, who was at the center of the storm, to share some of the firepower.

You know, Gogol and his "Dead Souls" have been dominating the hot searches in the cultural circles of St. Petersburg for almost several months, and the popularity has remained high until now.

Being able to show up in this situation, Mikhail is really quite extraordinary in the eyes of others.

As for those critical articles, some of them were indeed very fierce, but Mikhail didn't take them to heart at all. After reading them, he just laughed it off and was not affected by it at all.

Others may not know who is right or wrong, but how could Mikhail not know?
Just a bunch of dry bones in a grave.

Of course, it is really hateful that some bastards are taking advantage of the issue. Just by writing articles like this, some people are calling Mikhail a traitor and a traitor. I don’t know whether they are doing it to attract attention or if they really mean it.

Mikhail didn't care much about it, but several of his friends who were paying attention to him came to check on him because of this matter.

The first one to arrive was Dmitriy, who was walking with a heavy breath and a worried look on his face. He came up and comforted Mikhail without waiting for him to say anything. That would have been fine, as long as he explained it clearly, but the key point was that as he spoke, he was deeply moved and hugged Mikhail and said painfully:

"Oh dear Misha, I know you must be under a lot of pressure! If you're really feeling down, let's go have a drink! You can drink as much as you want, and I will definitely bring you back safely!"

Mikhail: “?”

Good brother, please let me go first.
As for drinking, forget it. Mikhail's alcohol tolerance is quite average, and he has a good mentality, so he doesn't really need to numb himself with alcohol for the time being.

Of course, most people still don't want to experience one of the classic ways of death for the Slavs, that is, being frozen to death on the street after getting drunk.
After responding to Dmitriy's concern, Nekrasov quickly came over to ask about Mikhail's recent situation and also sent Belinsky's greetings:
"Oh, dear Mikhail, how have you been lately? I came to see you this time, and I also want to convey Vissarion's greetings. You know, he has been busy writing a new counter-attack article recently, but he should come to see you in a couple of days. Are you okay now?"

"Thank you for your concern, I couldn't be better, Nicola."

Generally speaking, the so-called verbal battle in magazines basically goes like this: one side’s issue of the magazine sells out because of a certain novel or comment, and then the other side will criticize the article in the next issue to increase sales, and then in the next issue, the other side will fight back.
It sounds a bit dull, but in fact it often only serves one purpose, in addition to selling more magazines, it is more about occupying the high ground of public opinion.

When the voices of criticism are prominent enough, will more and more people notice this situation, try to do something, or even join the ranks of changing the world?
Often, this is what critics and political commentators do.

Although this change often only occurs first among the upper class and often ignores the general public, it is still a good start.

Perhaps it was with this conviction that Belinsky diligently wrote his articles. While writing, he was somewhat concerned about the recent criticism of Mikhail's novels in major publications, so he asked Nekrasov to check on Mikhail. Now that he had actually visited, Nekrasov knew immediately that his and Belinsky's worries were unnecessary. Mikhail seemed perfectly well, even joking with him about the critical articles.

He acted as if he didn't take these things to heart at all.

Seeing Mikhail in this state, Nekrasov felt relieved and undoubtedly admired Mikhail even more.

When Nekrasov published his first collection of poems, almost no one paid attention to it. Only a few tabloids specifically picked out his collection of poems and mocked it for the sake of attracting attention.

Then our young Nekrasov was furious and immediately wrote a letter of rebuttal to the other party. As a result, the other party posted his letter and mocked him. He was completely embarrassed and lost all his dignity.

Fortunately, this incident caused a bit of a stir, and Belinsky happened to see it. After carefully reading it, Belinsky, who was deeply dissatisfied, immediately criticized it again.
Fortunately, this incident was more or less an opportunity. By chance, Nekrasov entered Belinsky's circle and was taken by Belinsky to eat and drink. Then, because of this, the subsequent 3p story came into being.
Of course, let's talk about this later, because Mikhail will probably be involved in it in two days.

Well, it's free eating and drinking, not threesome
Back to the present, seeing Mikhail's calm demeanor, Nekrasov once again realized in his heart how big the gap between people is. While admiring Mikhail, Nekrasov also secretly made up his mind.

I also want to follow the respected Mikhail in this regard!
After visiting Mikhail, Nekrasov hurried away to go about his own business.

It has to be said that Nekrasov is not a gifted writer like Dostoevsky, who is extraordinary from the start, but he is indeed a hard worker, and it can almost be said that he has a person growing on his liver.

At this time, due to survival issues and other ambitions, Nekrasov can be said to take almost any job and write anything. According to incomplete statistics, this guy wrote at least tens of millions of words in his life when he wrote manuscripts by hand, with countless pen names and aliases, so many that even he himself would probably forget them.

After sending away the hard-working Emperor Nekrasov, Mikhail began to check a novel he was about to submit.

Writing is basically equivalent to cultivating reputation. As long as a writer can produce good works continuously, after accumulating to a certain level, he or she can gradually gain great fame and social status.

As for Mikhail's current plan, he plans to release one or two short stories at a frequency of about two months. If it is a long novel, it will probably be included in the collection of works he collaborated with Nekrasov.

In addition, if you think about it carefully, it seems that Lao Tuo will soon appear in the literary world, so it is time to put his works into the collection.
Mikhail was thinking about these things and writing manuscripts. Two days passed quickly, and on the morning of this day, the old maid Nastasia knocked on Mikhail's door.

"Mikhail, your letter has arrived, and it seems to be inviting you somewhere."

(End of this chapter)