Last year, Jin Yucheng'sFanHuawas taken to Salon du livre, France's largest book fair, along with other contemporary Chinese literary works such as Bi Feiyu'sSubeiYouth"DonQuixote". The two books attracted the attention of Editions Philippe Picquier, a French publisher that specializes in translating books from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Vietnam and other countries in Asia. This publisher reportedly purchased the copyright ofSubeiYouth"DonQuixote", a non-fiction work about the writer's childhood in East China's Jiangsu province, for 130,000 euros ($143,000). Editions Philippe Picquier was also interested inFanHua, but didn't follow up owing to translation issues. The book is Jin's debut novel, which is set in Shanghai and tells stories of two decades: the 1960s and the 1990s. There are no major plots, but excerpts from the lives of its different characters, threaded by dialogues. There are detailed depictions of streets, entertainment activities and relationships in the representative times in Shanghai, covering the"Cultural Revolution"(1966-1976) and the"Reform&Opening Up"phases. As Hong Kong-based film director Karwai Wong put it, the novel is full of a"rich and strong"flavor of local people's lives. In May 2011, when Jin, then an editor at a literary magazine in Shanghai, started to post interesting stories he heard about Shanghai on the local website longdang.org, little did he realize that it would become more than just fun. His stories soon attracted more readers whose comments urged him to post more. In five months, Jin, then 59, wrote more than 330,000 characters online. The novel was first titledShanghaiAbaoafter its major character Abao. The following year, Jin started serializing his novel inHarvest, one of China's leading literary magazines. Finally, Jin's efforts resulted in a book in 2013, and with it came lots of awards, including the 9th prestigious Mao Dun Literature Prize. Some critics compare it with fellow Shanghai-based author Eileen Chang's novels andDreamoftheRedChamber, calling Jin's book one of the best novels based on Shanghai. Wong also announced that he would adapt Jin's book for cinema by 2020. By August, before the Mao Dun Literature Prize winners were announced,FanHuahad sold nearly 300,000 copies. Key features of the novel include the use of the local Shanghai dialect for the narrative and focus on the characters' external responses to events rather than their psychological profiles. The copyright manager forFanHuaat Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House says,"According to my knowledge, Editions Philippe Picquier gave up because the translation work is expensive and they worry that the sales in the French market may not be able to cover the cost."For instance,ChanghenGe(TheSongofEverlastingRegret) by Wang Anyi was also introduced by Editions Philippe Picquier to French readers. The translation work took one and a half years, and the publisher spent three years completing the French edition ofit."But we have soldFanHua'scopyright of the traditional Chinese edition to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. Also Humanist Publishing House from South Korea has purchased the copyright for the Korean edition. Cultural difference is another barrier apart from language. In Asia, we have more in common when it comes to culture." How did Jin feel about his success in the local website longdang.org?
Surprised. Reasonable. Temporary. Challenging.