Tokyo Girlfriend Guide

Chapter 658 The Third Golden Age

"Mystery fiction is a mirror that reflects the times and society."

A calm voice sounded, and after bowing, Morimura Seiichi held the microphone with both hands and began to talk about the reason why he came on stage:

"This is the view that I and my colleagues have held since Seicho Matsumoto pioneered the social mystery novel. Career, marriage, love, friendship, buying a house, raising children... The author incorporates these social issues into mystery novels, inspiring readers to pay attention to life, think about human nature, and face social reality..."

When Morimura Seiichi spoke, everyone in the audience subconsciously slowed down their breathing, even those famous writers who were about his age.

"There is only one person who can compare to Seicho Matsumoto"

This is how the literary world evaluates him. Just from this one evaluation we can see how amazing his status is in the literary world, especially in the mystery novel world.

But everyone listened to him quietly, not just out of respect, but also because they wanted to learn from the bottom of their hearts.

Starting from the concept of the social school, Seiichi Morimura talked about his own ideas about creation, talked about the excellent works he discovered in recent years, and even went into detail about small writing techniques.

The summoning structure that can enhance the reader's acceptance is the aesthetics of acceptance... the design of vision and distance, the sublimation of the puzzle brought about by the aesthetic distance...

Those who came back to attend the Neon Mystery Writers Association Awards Ceremony, apart from those who came purely to socialize, were basically people who loved literature. Regardless of their literary creation ability and appreciation level, they were not lacking in literary literacy, so after listening to Mr. Morimura Seiichi's words, they all had some insights. Even Kenzo Chino, who was just chatting with Hojo Kyousuke, couldn't help but admire him and whispered:

"Just a few words have benefited me a lot. Mr. Morimura is really amazing. I feel like he can still inform Japanese reasoning for another 20 years."

"It won't be that long."

Hojo Kyosuke was watching the stage and listening quietly. What Mr. Morimura Seiichi said was like an experience package to him. The old man was not only knowledgeable in literature, but what he said just now involved four aesthetic theories and five psychological studies. Even if he was just listening quietly, Hojo Kyosuke could clearly feel that his "artistic content" was rapidly improving and his "artistic talent" was constantly being realized.

"Huh?! What do you mean, kid! Are you saying that Mr. Morimura won't live for another twenty years? I caught you, right?" Kenzo Chino was serious for no more than two seconds.

"..."

Hojo Kyosuke ignored this idiot. Kenzo Chino was obviously too excited and his words were too erratic.

After laying the groundwork, Morimura Seiichi silently looked at Hojo Kyosuke and got down to business. His expression straightened, and his short body was filled with majesty:

"…Tsuruta-sensei said earlier that Hojo-kun's work "The Devotion of Suspect X" should not be included in the selection. I think this is wrong. First of all, this work is undoubtedly a mystery novel, and it is an excellent work, a work that transcends time!"

boom--

The people in the audience were all shocked. When they saw Morimura Seiichi come on stage at this time, everyone more or less guessed something, but no one expected that this gentleman would give such a high evaluation to Hojo Kyosuke.

Behind her, Yukinoshita Yukino's tense shoulders suddenly relaxed, and she slowly leaned back on the chair, with a hint of relief on her little face.

Yes, this is Hojo Kyosuke, and this is what he would do.

When you don’t have the ability, just close your eyes and go to sleep. When you have the ability, just give a simple and rough punch.

"In the past, the difference between social-style works and orthodox works was that we paid more attention to the criminal's motives, but Hojo-kun's works went a step further. He broke away from the stereotype of previous mystery novels that downplayed the description of characters, and focused on portraying the characters in the novel, truly walking out of his own path.

Regardless of the type or genre of a novel, characters and plots are the basic elements of a novel. An excellent mystery novel can be talked about by readers with great relish. In addition to the attractive story content, distinct characters are indispensable, which can also make the novel contain aesthetic charm..."

When a new trend of thought emerges, it is always accompanied by controversy and difficulty.

“…I know that when such a young talent emerges, everyone wonders if he is ready to take on the world and if he still needs to grow. I found the answer to this in Hojo-kun’s work.

In "The Devotion of Suspect X", the protagonist Ishigami could only silently endure the unspoken rules in the academy, and eventually lost the opportunity to continue his research and further study, and could only retreat when he met love. Similarly, Hanaoka Shizuko could only silently endure the violence of her ex-husband, and seemed ruthless when accepting other people's kindness.

In his new work, The Dream and Death of Writer K, the protagonist is an ordinary person who is far less talented than Ishigami, but he chooses to resist. I can see Hojo's thinking and his response to society. A genius like Ishigami chooses to commit suicide in the face of life's unsatisfactory life, and is afraid to step forward even when he sees the light, while an ordinary person like writer K grabs a glimmer of hope and fights hard.

The whole novel mercilessly exposes the dark side of society amidst laughter, anger and scolding. The best part is the ending, in which the enemy is killed with a stunning trick, the novel is reprinted, and the family is happy.

But... the ending is so beautiful that it seems unreal, but it always makes me feel unspeakably depressed. I wonder, facing a dark society, can happiness really be achieved by just raising a knife? Thinking of this, I couldn't help but think of the title of the book - "The Dream and Death of Writer K". Suddenly, I realized that maybe... Writer K is really dead..."

On the podium, Mr. Morimura Seiichi was simply expressing his deep love for Hojo Kyosuke's work. His words about the selected work "The Devotion of Suspect X" were far less than Hojo Kyosuke's new work "The Dream and Death of Writer K", which seemed unreasonable, but in fact the guests present could understand it.

The selection of novels is a complicated matter. The judges can even say directly, "Although the author's nomination for this award with the novel xxxx is indeed a little weak, I have read the author's xxxx before. Because of the dazzling talent shown by the author in this work, I want to choose this author as the winner of this award."

Of course, the reasons for voting against a novel can also be very nonsensical. They can just say, "Although this author's novel is indeed excellent, I don't see any improvement compared to his previous work."

The reasons given by the two judges can be made public directly without fear of being criticized, because those are indeed objective factors that can influence the selection.

So everyone can understand what Seiichi Morimura said. Putting Hojo Kyosuke's old book "The Devotion of Suspect X" and his new work "Dreams and Death of Writer K" together is to prove Hojo Kyosuke's progress and that he has indeed formed a unique writing philosophy and his success is not accidental.

In simple terms, it means "This is indeed the author's idea, not my reading comprehension! He writes this way in every book!"

But even though they could understand it, many literary celebrities and socialites in the audience still felt that Morimura Seiichi's words were too exaggerated. It was simply a waste of his own fame to forcefully promote Hojo Kyousuke. However, what they didn't expect was that this was just the beginning.

"…For a long time, my friends in the media, including some colleagues in the literary world, have called me the successor of Mr. Matsumoto Seicho. I am secretly happy but feel unworthy of this title. After all, I have not really made any contribution to the mystery novel world…"

Before Morimura Seiichi finished his words, a loud shout suddenly rang out from the audience:

"it's not like that!"

Everyone in the hall looked back and saw that the person who was speaking was a boy sitting in the last few rows. Everyone knew that he was the lucky audience member who came to the lottery.

"Mr. Morimura, you have ushered in a second golden age for social mystery novels and continue to dominate Japanese mystery novels. You deserve it!"

After the boy in the white T-shirt finished speaking, he bent down and bowed 90 degrees. Tears were clearly welling up in his eyes, and those who had thought he was rude were relieved. This is a fanatical fan of Mr. Morimura.

"Thank you."

Morimura Seiichi also bowed and smiled back, then said with a smile:

"As a remnant of the old era, I can't do much more than give the younger generation some experience of failure. Although Hojo-kun is still young, I see the potential in him to carry the banner of Neon mystery novels. He will open up a new era.

I believe that his ideas will be accepted by more and more creators, and more and more works with the same style as his will appear. He and his comrades will set off a new wave!

Perhaps... it is the third golden age of the Social School?"

Morimura Seiichi said this with a playful smile:

“Finally, as an older person, I have something to say to Hojo-kun.

I would advise the author not to get too carried away by his own great talent.”

The old man showed off at the last moment, is this really a criticism? If there were no previous praises for Hojo Kyosuke, this sentence would be a severe criticism, telling Hojo Kyosuke not to be arrogant. But Morimura Seiichi praised Hojo Kyosuke so much before, so this sentence became an exhortation that contains the elder's sincere love and care.

Now, many bigwigs in the audience looked at Hojo Kyosuke with complicated eyes. Has this kid been engaged to Mr. Morimura's granddaughter? Is he sure he will marry into the family? Otherwise, why would Mr. Morimura, who has lived a flawless life, come to help him so eagerly when he is enjoying his old age?

Not to mention the newcomers in the literary world, even the young and energetic literary stalwarts like Kenzo Chino and Tsuyoshi Osaka were envious at this time. If Mr. Morimura Seiichi could educate them in front of so many people, he didn't know how happy he would be.

Finally, Seiichi Morimura apologized for taking up so much of everyone's time, then bowed and left the stage, and warm applause immediately resounded throughout the venue. It was an honor to hear Seiichi Morimura give such a long speech on such a day.

When he reached Hojo Kyosuke, the old man raised his hand, patted the young man on the shoulder, and said in a deep voice:

"You won't suffer retribution if you listen to the advice of those who have experienced it, kid."

Hojo Kyosuke, who had gained all the benefits, was naturally full of compliments and bent down on his own initiative so that the old man could be photographed more comfortably.

The veteran members of the mystery association had completely forgotten what Tsuruta Masao said. It would be rude for anyone to say anything else after the super boss, Mr. Morimura Seiichi, had said it on the stage. Everyone was ready to give their sincere blessings to Hojo Kyousuke and waited for Kenzo Chino to come on stage to announce the award.

But what everyone didn't expect was that when Kenzo Chikano came on stage, he didn't take out the card, but came up with a foreigner. It was the assistant of Mav Araoz, a famous Hollywood director who was known as "Little Hitchcock" and won the Golden Globe Award. The assistant didn't hide the foreigner's exaggeration at all, and he praised Hojo Kyosuke and his works, saying that he would definitely win an Oscar after making a good movie.

The entertainment industry professionals and reporters in the audience almost fell silent when they heard this. People in the literary world were not much better, because that is Hollywood, America's fatherland.

When the assistant director saw this, he started to brag even harder, saying that with the help of their movie, Hojo Kyosuke might win the Nobel Prize in Literature and make history in the mystery novel world.

These words were so outrageous that even Kenzo Chikano didn't dare to respond and quickly asked the foreigner to leave.

The people in the hall finally came to their senses. It seemed that Hojo Kyosuke was not satisfied with inviting Mr. Seiichi Morimura to take charge, and he was constantly increasing the value of his award.

But now we can finally start awarding the prizes, right?

First, Seiichi Morimura, who can be ranked in the top five in the history of Japanese mystery novels, came to defend him, and then he directly announced a cooperation with Hollywood. This is not only amazing, but unbelievable!

But what everyone couldn't understand was that Kenzo Chino then invited another unrelated person to come on stage.

There was not even a moment to be shocked by the Hollywood dad, because the next person to rush to the battlefield was the rising star of Japanese politics and the future leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Daisuke Yamaguchi.

This congressman also came with good news. He said that thanks to Mr. Hojo's novel, he finally noticed the problem of homelessness in Tokyo.

"...I have prepared a proposal and will submit it at the next National Assembly to solve the problem of homeless people in the country and strive to eliminate homeless people in Tokyo within this year..."

Yamaguchi Daisuke was talking eloquently. There were so many big names in the audience. It was just like the show he had always dreamed of. Fortunately, this guy was a little familiar with him. When he was bragging about himself, he didn't forget Hojo Kyousuke. (End of this chapter)