André Malraux's life was far from as wonderful and righteous as he described himself. The Buddha's head he said he snatched from the colonists was actually stolen from a small abandoned temple near Angkor Wat, and was also stolen by Phnom Penh.
The court charged him with "stealing cultural relics" and sentenced him to three years in prison.
It was his wife Clara who returned to France and organized a series of rescue activities in the literary community, which allowed Andre to commute his sentence to one year in prison and suspend it.
Andre still didn't calm down. He went to Saigon to start a newspaper and lashed out at the senior officials of the colonial government. As a result, the printer was threatened by the governor of Saigon and stopped helping with printing. Andre went to Hong Kong with his wife to buy printing equipment for himself.
Dry.
Nowadays, André is serving as the director of the art department of Garima Publishing House and regularly writes literary criticism articles for the "New Review of France".
Although this guy is a bit hypocritical, he is a true leftist. He thinks about revolution all day long and regards himself as the savior of France.
In the latest issue of "New French Review", Andre wrote an article titled "Great Masterpieces of Oriental Literature":
"Although the novel "The Goddess" is bizarre and obscure, it reveals the social changes in China in the past 20 years. It can be called the Far East version of "The Comedy of the World". Mr. Zhou Hexuan is to China what Balzac is to France. He
A great writer of critical realism...
Putting aside these external factors and discussing "The Goddess" only from an artistic perspective, it is also an incredible masterpiece. Although his works reflect reality, they pursue a dream world, with fragmented plots, jumping thoughts, weird styles, and indifferent
The words contain volcanic emotions...
In recent years, the European literary community has been keen to discuss Kafka, and France has even given birth to the "New School of Novel" as a result. "The Goddess" is very similar to Kafka's work style, often using symbolic techniques, and is thought-provoking in the midst of absurdity.
. But what I must say is that compared to Zhou Hexuan, Kafka’s pattern is too small. The former focuses on individuals, while the latter reflects the entire era... If you want to understand Chinese society, then you only need to finish reading
"Goddess" and "Dog Official" will do."
Andre praised Zhou Hexuan in his review article, saying that he crushed Kafka and was on par with Balzac.
In fact, it is easy to understand that art criticism often contains the subjective color of the author. As a staunch leftist, Andrei must have disdain for Kafka's petty ambitions, and prefers Malzhaka's reaction to the big times and satirical exposure.
Realistic dark work.
Like André, Jean Faial also recommended The Goddess in the magazine Avant-garde Literature, but his tone was much more objective:
""The Goddess" is undoubtedly an artistic exploration. The author creates a magical and realistic grand world, making it difficult for people to distinguish the difference between fiction and reality. In other words, there is no need to distinguish at all, readers only need to wander in
In that dream world, just follow the heroine's adventures one after another. River gods, mountain gods, land, city gods, fox fairies, ghosts... strange and mysterious oriental legends appear one after another. They seem to be the imagination of the heroine.
And it seems to have really existed... "The Goddess" is a masterpiece that represents the peak of contemporary world literature, with shocking artistic and ideological power. The author attempts to combine the heroine's experiences with illusory and absurd folklore to create a story with a heart
The sad soul is looking for the warm spiritual home lost in China."
What really made Zhou Hexuan famous was Romain Rolland's review article: "I read "The Goddess" and was deeply moved. I only remember that in my youth, I read Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables" and Balzacca's "The Comedy Humane".
"", I had such a shocking reading experience. Mr. Zhou Hexuan's work "The Goddess" has both the romance of Hugo and the critical irony of Balzac. It yearns for light in the darkness, seeks warmth in the cold, and...
Calling for justice in the midst of absurdity, this is a rare and great work."
Romain Rolland settled in Geneva at this time. He had long been abandoned by France and was even ridiculed as hypocritical by the mainstream French literary circles. However, his influence was huge, with countless fans and admirers. His high praise instantly made "The Goddess"
》 became famous throughout Europe.
On the contrary, "The Dog Officer" is not so popular among the French literary circles because it is too straightforward in its writing, although readers also rated "The Dog Officer" quite highly.
1929 was the last prosperous year for the French publishing industry before World War II.
The sales volume of "Goddess" reached 30,000 copies in the first week, and increased to 110,000 copies (total sales) in the second week. It finally slowed down in the third week, and the total sales volume just exceeded 150,000 copies. The sales volume of "Dog Official" in the same period was
70,000 copies.
No work by a Far Eastern writer has ever achieved such dazzling results in the French book market. "The Goddess" even sparked a wave of "Oriental fever" in France.
Together with Zhou Hexuan's academic monographs "The Rise of the Great Powers", "Guns, Bacteria and Steel", and "Chrysanthemums and Knives", they all became hot sellers. Especially the first two historical works, because they conformed to the "New" trend in French historians at this time.
The critical trend of "historiography", with its academic perspectives and methods that transcend the times, has attracted great attention from the French history, anthropology and sociology circles.
Just as the magazine "Annals of Economic and Social History" by Fevere and Bloch was launched, many scholars who tried to overthrow the "New Historiography" joined in the academic discussion, and this magazine instantly became the forefront of the French historiography revolution.
How should I put it? It is equivalent to "New Youth" during China's May Fourth era. This "Yearbook" magazine became the banner of the historiography revolution.
And Zhou Hexuan has become the standard-bearer of the French historiography revolution inexplicably. There is no way, his two books are too advanced. Others are still calling for exploring new historical research directions, but he directly throws out two modern historical masterpieces.
It's like scientists are studying mobile phones with analog signals, and Zhou Hexuan directly produces smartphones, which can't help but shock people.
Lucien Fevere bluntly stated in the "Annals" magazine: "The Rise of the Great Powers and Guns, Germs and Steel undoubtedly lead the trend of world historical research, and are like lighthouses in the vast sea, guiding the world's historical circles.
The way forward. Mr. Zhou Hexuan is undoubtedly the greatest historian, anthropologist and sociologist in the world today, and his works are irreplaceable and groundbreaking."
Well, Zhou Hexuan is definitely the "father of the founding school of modern history".
Zhou Hexuan's several works simultaneously caused a sensation in the French literary, historical, anthropological and sociological circles, and he instantly became the most dazzling scholar star.
Various French newspapers and magazines have joined in the discussion about Zhou Hexuan, calling him "the greatest thinker and writer in the East after Rabindranath Tagore and Gu Hongming."
And this resounding reputation is rapidly spreading to all of Europe, centered in France.
