As the world's most well-known literary masterpiece, Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude is definitely an alternative and a novel that is highly sought after by lovers of world literature. Especially in China, "One Hundred Years of Solitude" is very popular among readers who like foreign literature.

Therefore, in China, there are 43 translated versions of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" alone, of which two are the most famous, one is the 1984 Shanghai Translation Publishing House Huang Jinyan's translation version, and the other is the 1984 October Literature and Art Publishing House Gao Changrong's translation version.

Huang Jinyan's is used in many domestic university textbooks, because his literal translation is more original and unabridged. As for the Gao Changrong version, there are slight changes to the original, and the writing is relatively better to read more smoothly.

It is precisely because of the particularity of the translated version of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" that countless fans of Márquez have begun to collect various versions of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" frantically, which also makes the price of the old book "One Hundred Years of Solitude" rise, and a good version is even more difficult to find.

The "One Hundred Years of Solitude" that Lin Yi picked up from under the "Ruili" magazine in front of him is the version published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House in 1984 and translated by Huang Jinyan.

But this book is different from the usual, the cover is beautiful, the type of print, a family of nine sitting on a chair for a photo, behind the row of houses, in front of a proud rooster passing by...... The colors are weird and the composition is abstract.

When Lin Yi saw this book, he recognized it, because it also had a very important identity, which belonged to one of the famous "Twentieth Century Foreign Literature Series".

……

The "Twentieth Century Foreign Literature Series", commonly known as the printmaking book, is called the "Printmaking Book" because from the publication of "Henry IV" in 1980 to the publication of "The Bloody Wedding" in 1994, during which more than 90 cover designs of the series were published in the form of prints. Since 1997, the covers of the series are no longer in the form of prints, and the republished series contain both reprints of "prints" and many of them are new varieties.

The dozens of works published in the early days of the "Twentieth Century Foreign Literature Series" are generally consistent in style and layout, and all have exquisite prints as covers. The covers of these books are complex and varied in a variety of colors, such as gray, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The composition of the printmaking is either a vivid human figure, or a unique scene depiction, or an organic combination of characters and scenery. Some of the picture styles are bright and eye-catching, some are deep and subtle, and some are simple and elegant. In either case, it all reflects the main content or basic style of the book just right. Therefore, the majority of bibliophiles love it, so much so that this series of books is favored and searched tirelessly.

But the regret is that since the end of the 20th century, whether it is a reprint or a new edition, this series of books has changed the style of the past, and began to use colorful oil paintings as covers, which are a little more flashy, a little less rustic, and lose more of that indescribable beauty. The new binding style not only failed to attract more new readers, but also lost the love of many old readers.

It can be said that the greatest value of the "Twentieth Century Foreign Literature Series" lies in the fact that many of the books it collects are the only translations in China, and they are also the most classic and authoritative translations. Like "Freaks in a Small Town", "The Corridor of Power", "Good Partners", "Places to Retreat", etc., as far as Lin Yi knows, except for this series, it has never been published. Those who like contemporary foreign literature, especially those who like European and American modernist literature, have found a paradise here.

Let's go back and talk about Lin Yi finding out this "One Hundred Years of Solitude". In the development of Chinese literature in the new period, no foreign literary work has more influence than this masterpiece of magical realism. It can be said that this work has penetrated into every inch of the soil of Chinese literature in the new era. And this strong influence is inseparable from the translation of this book in the "Twentieth Century Foreign Literature Masterpieces Series". At the beginning of the development of literature in the new era, shortly after Marquez won the Nobel Prize for Literature, the "Twentieth Century Foreign Literature Series" translated this work, and 48,500 copies were printed in the first edition and 5,500 copies in the second edition. With a new writing style and technique, this work caused an "earthquake" in the Chinese literary world. Not only did famous contemporary writers such as Mo Yan, Tashi Dawa, and Alai come out of "One Hundred Years of Solitude", but more writers integrated "One Hundred Years of Solitude" into their blood and then infused them into their works.

Due to the limitation of subject matter, the "Twentieth Century Foreign Literature Series" is destined to have a very narrow readership, so its print run is often very small. Even in the late 70s and early 80s, when the reading trend was flourishing, the print run was only tens of thousands of copies. After the mid-80s, it was difficult to print 10,000 copies of the best-selling varieties, and many books did not print more than 5,000 copies, and many only about 2,000 copies were printed. With such a print run, it is difficult to collect all the books in this series after time washing, and it is even more difficult to find the best quality.

Lin Yi once saw the introduction of this kind of book in the "Notes on Taoshu", and he knew the value of this set of books better, and he knew the rare and valuable books in this series well.

For example-

"Good Partner", the first missing edition of the twentieth century foreign literature series, two volumes, one edition and one printing in 1989, only 1,300 copies were printed, and more than nine products were worth 2,800 yuan;

"Egypt Trilogy" "Between the Two Palaces", "Ganlu Street", "Longing Palace" 20th Century Foreign Literature Series, 86 years of one edition and one printing, a print run of 7,700 copies, more than nine products worth 1,680 yuan;

"Centaurs", a series of foreign literature in the twentieth century, by Updike, 1991, one edition and one printing, only 2,785 copies were printed, and more than nine products were worth 1,600 yuan;

"Fine Snow" 20th Century Foreign Literature Series Prints and Pictures Missing Edition, 1989 One Edition and One Printing, Only 3,300 Copies Printed, Nine Grades or More Worth 1,500 Yuan:

Peter the Great, Twentieth Century Foreign Literature Series, Volume 1, 1992, 7,000 copies, more than nine products worth 1,200 yuan;

……

It can be said that in this series of books, there are many missing copies that are all worth thousands, even some books with a relatively large print run can be sold at a very high price, such as "Angry Grapes", which can be sold for up to 150 yuan in good condition, and "One Hundred Years of Solitude" in front of you, which is in more than 95 grades, can be sold for up to 230 yuan.

It was precisely because Lin Yi knew the value of this "One Hundred Years of Solitude" that he did not hesitate to take it in his hand, and then asked the stall owner casually, "Boss, how much is this book?" ”

According to Lin Yi's meaning, the woman just now bought six foreign classics, one of which was only 8 yuan, and this "One Hundred Years of Solitude" was about 10 yuan at most. However, Lin Yi underestimated the wisdom of the stall owner, and even misjudged the stall owner's experience in selling books.

I saw that the stall owner's little eyes flashed, and he grinned and said, "This little brother, I didn't expect you to be an enthusiast of foreign masterpieces." I just saw that you have been reading those classical Chinese novels, and I thought you were not interested in these foreign books. ”

After a pause, he said, "This is a good book you have, it was written by Marquez...... Márquez knows, Colombia's master of magical realism, famous—"

Then, the stall owner told Lin Yi about Marquez and his works, and the familiarity was as if he was the old king next door to Lao Ma's family, and he was very familiar with Lao Ma himself.

Lin Yi wondered, in such a used book stall, in such a situation, a stall uncle who graduated from junior high school no matter how he looked, actually talked to you about Marquez and magical realism, what kind of concept is this?

So in the end, Lin Yi was a little embarrassed, and asked directly: "You say, how much does this book cost?" ”

"Simply, I like a simple reader like you!" The stall owner stopped spitting, gave Lin Yi a thumbs up, and then quoted without hesitation: "Two hundred and eighty yuan, not a penny less!" ”

Lin Yileng paused, but he didn't expect the stall owner to not offer a price of 10 yuan, but doubled it dozens of times, and opened two hundred and eight.

Nima, you're stupid to me! (To be continued.) )