69novels Chapter 174 The Most Bizarre Fantasy Masterpiece in History
Chapter 174 The Most Bizarre Fantasy Masterpiece in History
Chapter 174 The Most Bizarre Fantasy Masterpiece in History
The applause for Jiang Liumei gradually subsided.
Jiang Liumei took out another chart from her notebook and continued, "As for whether there is love in 'Dear Mr. S,' the answer is actually very clear, it's just that everyone can't accept it."
"Moreover, Jack in the story made the most straightforward confession at the end. Even if everyone cannot accept this kind of love, there is no doubt that Jack has an indescribable love for S."
"God created me with dreams, and you who can help me realize my dreams."
"This one sentence alone is worth a million words."
Jiang Liumei placed the picture in her hand on the table and said with a smile, "Alright, that concludes my interpretation of 'Dear Mr. S.' Next, I will use my own method to provide a detailed evaluation of 'Dear Mr. S.'"
"My evaluation system is very simple: it is a six-dimensional evaluation. Each of the six dimensions is independent and does not interfere with the others, so please do not use the total score to evaluate the quality of a book."
After Jiang Liumei finished speaking, she began to give a detailed evaluation of "Dear Mr. S": "First of all, the writing style. Teacher Wucheng's writing style this time is the same as that of 'A Bellflower.' Although it has an extremely perverse core, it does not use any bloody or disturbing vocabulary. This restrained writing technique even surpasses Teacher Wucheng's previous work, 'A Bellflower'!"
"Mr. Hirayama's comment was spot on; every sentence, though never explicitly mentioning rain, is filled with its essence." This rare style and skill alone are enough for me to give "Dear Mr. S" a perfect score!
Jiang Liumei pointed to the next item in the "Six-Dimensional Radar Chart of Reasoning": "Next is resonance. I don't need to say much about this part. I can only say that the aftertaste is terrible. Even if the protagonist Jack really has love, his strange thinking and terrifying ideas still cannot make people feel any resonance at all."
Therefore, the resonance factor can only be 0.
"Logically, it's the same as the resonance, because the entire story uses a letter structure," a structure that itself serves a "narrative trick," thus losing its logic.
"Therefore, I also give 0 points for the logic section."
"Next, it's about temperament."
Jiang Liu Meili turned to look at Mai Cheng Jingjie beside her, her clear, lake-like almond-shaped eyes filled with admiration: "In terms of temperament, just like the writing style and aftertaste in Mai Cheng-sensei's works, it has never disappointed me."
"Dear Mr. S not only utilizes a rare letter-writing structure," but also employs the dramatic techniques of "unconventional mystery novels," with a core motive, a shocking plot twist, and narrative tricks interspersed throughout, ultimately creating a classic mystery story.
"This ability to extract the essence and discard the dross allowed Teacher Wucheng to display an extremely high level of charm and madness in her article 'Dear Mr. S'!"
"Especially after reading the entire story of 'Dear Mr. S,' I even believe that Mr. S and people like Jack really exist in this world!"
"Therefore, in terms of temperament, it must also be a perfect score!"
After Jiang Liumei finished speaking, she pointed to the last two items of the six-dimensional table: "Although Teacher Wucheng used a narrative trick in 'Dear Mr. S'..."
"Logically speaking, this kind of unfair trick should only get a score of around 50 points, since it loses some of its fairness."
"But this time, I'd give Ms. Mai's trickery a perfect score."
"As for the reason, it's not because I'm biased or anything like that."
"It's all because of Ms. Maishiro's narrative trickery," the setup is so perfect, it completely avoids hiding anything from the reader!
"Whether it's her love for S-kun or her admiration for S-kun, Ms. Maishiro writes it all out in a straightforward way. She even uses very obvious clues like the car accident, the wheelchair, and the scene of her raising a hand axe in the bathroom to constantly hint to the reader that the female doctor did not die."
"Therefore, in the story 'Dear Mr. S', there is no principle of losing fairness."
"Even with such fairness, Ms. Maishiro still managed to mislead everyone present so that no one could guess the ending of the story. Therefore, I would give the strength of the trickery in 'Dear S-kun' a perfect score!"
"As for the aftertaste—"
Jiang Liu Meili swept her gaze across the eleven people present, excluding Mai Shiro Kyosuke, and began to discuss "disregarding the writing techniques, style, and story structure of 'Dear S-kun,' focusing solely on the protagonist Jack's motive for murder."
"Even 'Dear Mr. S' is unforgettable!"
"After all, to arrive at such a bizarre, perverse, and unexpected murder motive," let alone in Japan, even in the 139-year history of mystery fiction, "Dear S-kun" would easily rank among the top ten for "bizarre motives!"
"Therefore, the aftertaste is perfect, without a doubt!"
After Jiang Liumei finished her review of "Dear Mr. S", she slowly sat down in her chair, and thunderous applause rang out again.
Some of the applause was for Jiang Liumei's brilliant analysis and detailed evaluation.
Another part is that Jiang Liumei's analysis and evaluation made everyone admire Maijo Kyosuke's amazing talent even more!
With an admiring look, Gonda Manji gazed at Jiang Liu Meili and asked with an eager expression, "Ms. Jiang Liu, would you like to join our 'Japanese Mystery Criticism Association'?"
"If Professor Nakajima were here, hearing Ms. Eryu's detailed evaluation and interpretation of 'Dear S-kun,' he would definitely do everything in his power to invite Ms. Eryu to join the 'Japan Mystery Critics Association'!"
"Perhaps, if Miss Jiang Liu were to join our Japanese Mystery Criticism Association," she could even create a new anthology.
""
Gonda Manji's eagerness to find talented people was naturally a heartfelt expression.
After all, there are fewer and fewer capable mystery critics in the mystery genre these days. Newcomers with both ability and courage either become writers or translators.
In the last decade, apart from Kiyoshi Kasai, who can be considered an outstanding mystery critic of the new generation, there have been almost no other new generation figures.
That's why Gonda Manji greatly admires capable people like Eri Miri.
Jiang Liumei thought Quan Tianwan was just being polite and was about to respond.
Before Jiang Liumei could speak, Mikoshiba Yasunori jokingly said, "Mr. Gonda, although Ms. Maishiro said that in the 'New Honkaku Mystery Club,' everyone should be equal and put aside their public personas..."
"Even so, I am the head of the sales department at Kodansha, and the brother-in-law of Kodansha's president, Genjiro Noma."
"You went a bit too far by trying to poach the editor-in-chief of my magazine's section right in front of me?"
As a master of mystery criticism, Gonda Manji usually spent his days debating and arguing with other mystery writers and critics. Upon hearing Mikoshiba Yasunori's words, he wore an expression that deliberately provoked Mikoshiba Yasunori: "Poaching your Kodansha's editor-in-chief? As far as I know, Ms. Eru was probably recruited from Hayakawa Shobo by Otowa Yoshiaki, the president of your parent company, Otowa Group, right?"
"Based on my understanding of Yoshiaki Otowa, that miser, he would never sign a special invitation contract with Miss Jiang Liu."
"In other words, Miss Jiang Liu should be considered a free agent. As long as the price offered by our Japan Mystery Critics Association is high enough, I don't believe that old geezer Otowa Yoshiaki won't budge."
"Saying it was pried open is a rather harsh way to put it, isn't it?"
Mikoshiba Yasunori and Gonda Manji's words made everyone present feel a little awkward, because although the two of them had smiling faces, there was a strong sense of tension between them.
Maijo Kyosuke wanted to stand up and say a few words to break the atmosphere, but before he could stand up, Yokomizo Seishi pressed down on his shoulder: "Kyosuke, don't worry about these two kids."
"7
"Let Wanzhi and Taidian argue. It's much better for them to vent their anger with words than to actually fight."
Maijo Kyosuke looked at Yokomizo Seishi with a puzzled expression, a look of surprise on his face.
In his memory, Manji Gonda and Yasunori Mikoshiba did not seem to have much interaction.
Even if they had some interaction, it didn't seem like they had a very deep relationship, but—what Yokomizo Seishi said?
Could it be that the two of them have some unknown secret?
Seeing the puzzled look on Maijo Kyosuke's face, Yokomizo Seishi smiled and said, "Kyosuke, you've only recently entered this circle, and you're not very old, so it's normal that you don't understand these things."
""
Seishi Yokomizo picked up his chopsticks, took a small amount of pickled vegetables, put them in his mouth, and savored the taste while recalling, "Fifteen years ago, in 1964, which is Showa 39, Manji had just joined the Japan Mystery Critic Association through the introduction of Saiichi Marutani."
"7
"It was around that time that Yasunori, with the help of his wife's brother, Noma Genjiro, climbed out of Shinjuku, a place like mud, to become a member of Kodansha's sales department in order to help his daughter."
"In the same year, the first Olympic Games held in Asia were grandly opened in Tokyo. That year should have been a year to celebrate."
"It's a pity that the best-selling and longest-running magazine in Japan, which carried the works of Edogawa Ranpo, Oshita Utaro, Kiki Takataro, Watanabe Keisuke, and my life's work, 'Jewel,' announced its cessation of publication in its 251st issue."
"Because since 1957, The Jewel magazine has been on a steady decline, even though many mystery writers only accept one-tenth of their payment to support The Jewel magazine."
"But for some unknown reason, the magazine *Gemstone* is not only unable to pay its contributors, but also owes a staggering forty million in debt!"
"Don't underestimate this mere 40 million yen. Kagami, you must understand that from 1950 to 1970, Japan's average annual economic growth rate was over 8.50%!"
"A magazine that only cost twenty yen was almost twenty-five times more expensive than magazines that now sell for five hundred yen!"
"Forty million yen back then would be an astronomical figure today!"
"Therefore, without any suspense, Gem Magazine decided to cease publication and sell the trademark rights of Gem Magazine."
"But acquiring trademark rights is a very complicated process. The first thing is that the ownership of the trademark does not belong to the original publisher, but to the highest creditor, Sasazawa Saho."
"After all, Sasazawa Saho was a very famous writer at that time, and the magazine 'Jewel' owed Sasazawa Saho a whopping 740,000 yen in royalties alone."
"So, to get the trademark for 'Jewel' magazine, you have to curry favor with Sasazawa Saho."
Yokomizo Seishi coughed a few times and noticed that, apart from Gonda Manji, Mikoshiba Yasunori, and Uyama Hideomi, their complexions were not very good.
The others all looked at him, clearly wanting to hear this story.
Seishi Yokomizo continued in a slightly louder voice: "Although the magazine 'Jewel' has ceased publication due to poor management, its commercial value and reputation are still very valuable."
"If we acquire the trademark rights to 'Gemstone' magazine, it's practically equivalent to acquiring a magazine that will become a household name without any advertising!"
"Therefore, in order to win over this prestigious brand, various publishing houses naturally vie to curry favor with Sasazawa Saho."
"The person who went to Bungei Shunju was its president, Chido Kippei; the person who went to Takarajima was its president, Hosho Shirakawa; the person who went to Kobunsha was its president, Hanaka Hideo; and the person who went to Shakai Shishosha was its president, Ito Kyosuke."
"The people sent by Kodansha were Yasunori and Manji, who were invited by Noma Genjiro."
Upon hearing Yokomizo Seishi's words, Maijo Kyosuke looked somewhat puzzled: "Since other publishing houses all sent their presidents, why did Kodansha send Department Head Mikoshiba and Mr. Gonda, instead of President Noma Genjiro?"
Yokomizo Seishi pursed his lips upon hearing Maishiro Kyosuke's words.
Mikoshiba Yasunori, who was standing to the side, slowly spoke up: "Yokomizo-sensei, this has been going on for so many years, why bring it up again—"
Mikoshiba Yasunori sighed: "The president of Bungei Shunju, Sendou Kippei, is a scumbag who will stop at nothing. In order to prevent other publishing houses from obtaining the trademark rights to the magazine 'Jewel,' he had someone poison the people at other publishing houses."
"I don't know about the presidents of other publishing houses, but President Noma was seriously poisoned and almost died."
"The reason why President Noma has become so obese is largely due to the long-term medication he needs to take after being poisoned."
Gonda Manji took a sip of his drink, a slightly displeased expression on his face, and continued, "Because President Noma was poisoned, Noma Genjiro's father, the former president Noma Eiji, contacted his good friend, Mr. Nakajima Kazutaro, the founder of the 'Japan Mystery Critic Association.'"
"He wanted me and Yasunori Mikoshiba, who was just a sales department team leader at the time, to go with Sasazawa Saho to discuss the trademark rights of the magazine 'Jewel'."
"I practically knelt down to Sasazawa Saho to help Kodansha acquire the trademark rights to the magazine 'Jewel'."
"As it turns out, Sasazawa Saho actually made an outrageous demand, asking us to come up with eight million yen plus seven hundred and forty thousand yen for the trademark rights to 'Jewel' magazine!"
"Back then, I was young and hot-blooded, and I deeply hated Sasazawa Saho's behavior, so I took the stance of a critic and vehemently condemned Sasazawa Saho—"
Mikoshiba Yasunori rolled his eyes at Gonda Manji and continued, "As a result, this guy angered Sasazawa Saho, and even though we later raised the price to 15 million yen, Sasazawa Saho still wouldn't agree—"
Instead, they sold the trademark rights to the magazine "Gemstone" to Hideo Hachika of Kobunsha for ten million yen!
"I was furious about the result, and I swore then and there that I would never forgive that guy for the rest of my life!"
"Because if Kodansha had acquired the trademark rights to 'Jewel' magazine back then, Kodansha would definitely have become the number one publishing house in Japan!"
Gonda Manji frowned, a rare look of unease on his face, and then turned his head away.
Yokomizo Seishi sighed heavily: "To be fair, Manji did make a mistake in this matter. As it turns out, the value of the 'Gemstone' magazine far exceeds eight million yen."
"6
Upon hearing Yokomizo Seishi's words, Gonda Manji's expression turned somewhat grim: "Yokomizo-sensei, what you're saying now is indeed correct, but back then—"
"No one expected that less than two years after Kobunsha acquired the magazine 'Gemstone,' Mr. Morishita Amemura, the editor-in-chief of 'New Youth' magazine who discovered Mr. Edogawa Ranpo, passed away."
"Sawao Otsubo, who followed closely behind the 'Five Great Mystery Masters,' and Edogawa Ranpo, the 'Father of Japanese Mystery Novels.'"
"Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, who pioneered a new type of mystery; and Utō Ōshita, the grandmaster of the unconventional school."
"And Kotaro Kiki, the third president of the Japan Detective Writers Club, also left one after another."
"With the passing of these giants of the mystery genre, 'Gemstone' magazine seized the opportunity for a frenzied marketing campaign, using phrases like 'remembering,' 'mourning,' and 'paying tribute' to celebrate."
"Through these underhanded tactics, they ultimately made 'Jewel' magazine one of the strongest mystery magazines in the entire Japanese literary scene!"
Seishi Yokomizo shook his head, as if thinking of something sad: "Never mind, let's not talk about those things."
"These guys are really something. Some of them aren't even as old as me, and they've already passed away. It makes me feel like I'm the odd one out for living all this time."
Seishi Yokomizo waved his hand and fixed his gaze on Kiyoshi Kasai, who was engrossed in writing in his notebook: "Kiyoshi, I've seen you writing for quite a while now. What are you writing? Share it with everyone?"
Kiyoshi Kasai put down his pen, stood up, looked at Seishi Yokomizo, and said with a smile, "Yokomizo-sensei, I'm writing a completely new interpretation of 'Dear S-kun'."
Originally, I didn't have much to say about Teacher Wucheng's "Dear Mr. S".
"After all, whether it's Mr. Otto Penzel, Professor Hirayama Yumeaki, Mr. Gonda Manji, or Editor-in-Chief Eru, they all provided a comprehensive analysis of Ms. Maishiro's 'Dear S-kun'."
"However, after hearing some of Jiang Liu's interpretations, I thought of a few things that others hadn't considered."
"So, I'm going to talk to you about it."
Seeing that Yokomizo Seishi nodded at him, Kasai Kiyoshi continued, "As everyone knows, I once published a novel called 'Goodbye, Angel,' which contains a lot of philosophical ideas."
"And since I myself have a background in philosophy, when I read 'Dear Mr. S', I also brought in some philosophical thinking."
"Jiang Liu's 'Angels and Demons' essay is quite interesting, especially if we gradually expand upon this line of thinking."
"In conjunction with the perverse psychology of Jack, the protagonist of the story 'Dear Mr. S,' I seem to have discovered that the protagonist Jack clearly sees himself as a symbiotic entity of angel and devil."
"As Rongzi said, Jack is both Jesus and Judas. His Jesus aspect is his suffering after losing his legs," while his Judas aspect is his failure to report what he knew about the people at the table.
"Whether I'm overinterpreting it or just being paranoid, it doesn't matter."
"Don't you all think that Jack's dream, which seems to be to become food, is actually to become Jesus?"
"The twelve men, along with another sinner, the female doctor, completed the prologue to their dream as Jack turned his own flesh and blood into communion and watched his believers partake."
"After Jack finally fulfills all his dreams, Judas will hang himself in despair."
"Therefore, I believe that Jack's true motive cannot be understood as simply becoming food."
"It is not so much an absolute possessiveness and desire for control, but an desire for control that exceeds the limits that humans should have, and exceeds the range that normal people can accept."
"Therefore, Jack wants to use his imagined divinity to make everyone his believers."
"Or to put it more simply and directly, what Jack wants most is to be respected and loved, to be worshipped, and to become like Jesus."
"It's just that in his distorted thinking, he mistakenly believes that he wants to become food."
"Ultimately, Jack in 'Dear S' is just a pathetic guy who wants to gain attention."
"His excitement came from others, not from himself; otherwise, why would he want everyone to see his letter?"
"Rather than saying he had love for Mr. S, it's more accurate to say that his love was abstract; he never loved a specific person, but rather an abstract group."
"We thought that being eaten was the source of his happiness, but in my opinion, writing letters to let everyone know about this sensational copycat case, to shock everyone, and to draw attention to him is what makes him happy."
Everyone gasped upon hearing Kiyoshi Kasai's words.
Because if Jack simply wanted to become food, then the "psychological blow" to him would be 100 points.
So if Jack wants to become Jesus and gain attention, then the "psychological blow" he gives to everyone will be one million points!
When Yokomizo Seishi heard Kasai Kiyoshi's completely new perspective on the analysis, a strange look appeared on his face.
He beckoned to Jiang Liu Meili, who was sitting next to Mai Shiro Kyosuke, "Ms. Jiang Liu, give me some paper and pen. As the president of the 'New Orthodox Mystery Club,' I can't just leave without doing something."
Jiang Liu Meili understood what Yokomizo Seishi meant, so she immediately handed the paper and pen to Yokomizo Seishi.
Seishi Yokomizo picked up his pen and, with a powerful stroke, wrote on the paper: "It inherits the exquisite structure of the great writer Wilkie Collins's 'What Goes Around Comes Around'!"
"It surpasses the bizarre and fantastical elements of Lord Lord Dunsony's *Two Bottles of Seasoning*."
"The most bizarre and fantastical masterpiece in Japanese history!"