Subtitle of this chapter: I can't finish thinking about it.

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"It is often said that the detective series with Morgan Freeman as the male protagonist is the "Purple Bishop", which is a big stain on Mr. Yuan's creative career.

That's not to say that this set of detectives isn't brilliant enough, or that it lacks creativity.

Contrary. From a literary point of view, the Freeman series is a classic of detectives.

Like the rest of Mr. Yuan's other works, this series is very characteristic in terms of layout and plot, and it is no wonder that he has the reputation of "word magician".

As soon as the description of the beginning of his work makes people feel that a strange peak is protruding, flying out of the sky, arousing the reader's strong interest, and making the reader fall into one trap after another under the author.

Then, the author will come up with a new trick, in the ups and downs of the plot, everyone is a murderer, everywhere is a labyrinth, when you just dimly realize that someone is a murderer, the author's pen turns, and you have doubts about your own judgment, your conclusions are denied again and again, and the murderer standing in the fog always makes you unable to touch and see clearly.

Until the end, the reader is stuck in a labyrinth and unable to discern things. And when the truth was revealed, I had to admire Mr. Yuan's meticulous analysis and lament his lack of thinking ability.

In addition to the detective-specific elements, he is particularly adept at creating a variety of lifelike characters, so that readers will naturally see these characters as flesh-and-blood living people when reading.

This was evident in his first book, Murder on the Orient Express, written in 1921.

The characters in this book include almost all the representative countries and regions in Europe. And these characters are all "regional black", and they are very happy to be sarcastic and sarcastic about themselves and others.

For example, what does a typical League of Nations official look like?

The mediation of the British, the organization of the Italians, the restraint of the Russians, the "resilience" of the Germans, the "humility" of the French, plus the "imagination" of the Belgians, the "generosity" of the Dutch, the "wisdom" of the Irish. And the "participation" of the Americans.

The last sentence is a mockery of the isolationism of the Americans, which led to their failure to join the League of Nations.

While this may be unpleasant to some readers, it's definitely a high-level humor and good-natured irony.

If it is placed in modern European and American countries, this is definitely politically incorrect. In 1921, the characters in "Murder on the Orient Express" were regarded as classic images of the people of Europe and the United States, and even many of them followed this style in the future. (note 1)

Due to some historical factors, coupled with the fact that Mr. Yuan Yanqian suffered some injustices in the UK, he liked the "black" British the most. Especially in his "Nile Tragedy", none of the British people who appear are positive, or greedy, or selfish, or affectionate, or mean......

It is for this reason that British readers love and hate these very British detectives.

Even the "Detective Queen" Agatha Christie said that I should be able to write the plot of the Freeman series, but I definitely can't write the characters in it.

At that time, Mr. Yuan Yanqian was also asked this question, and he bluntly said that he wrote it on purpose. It may be because he is an "outsider" of Western culture, so he has a particularly clear perception of this.

And Ms. Christie, probably because she is an Englishman "in this mountain", does not have the same observation ability as him, and cannot feel some of the problems of her own people. And these problems will cause them the British to lose their empire on which the sun never sets.

It has to be said that he is worthy of being the greatest writer of the twentieth century, and he also has an insightful sense of observation, which can give deep meaning to his texts even if he writes the most popular detectives.

The most criticized thing about Freeman's series is that the male protagonist Morgan Freeman is clearly paying homage to Jack P. Morgan.

Not only is the name, Freeman also means honorary citizen. Even the looks, ages, experiences, and backgrounds of the two are very similar.

They are all about 60 years old, well-educated and well-born children of wealthy American families, and even have "queen English" accents, and even have a pinch of mustaches.

The biggest difference between the two is that Freeman is the real Freeman, a rich man who has the money and leisure to travel the world. He worked as a private investigator only as a mind game to pass the time, not for money.

There is also a difference, the great detective is single and has no children. With this setting, in the book, he has become the object of pursuit of all kinds of pretty widows and older leftover women.

So this series is regarded as Mr. Yuan's sycophant to little Morgan.

In fact, Morgan Jr. is really fond of this series of works.

He may be the number one fan in the world. After Mr. Yuan returned to the United States, Morgan Jr. bought a luxury yacht for Mr. Yuan as a gift, and the name of the yacht was "FREEMAN".

In addition, the land of Mr. Yuan's estate in California was also transferred to him at a low price at the behest of Morgan Jr.

There is a theory that the land was made to thank Mr. Yuan for asking a certain Chinese god to heal the brain hemangioma of Harry Davidson, the second-in-command of the Morgan consortium.

Moreover, all the publishing expenses of the Freeman series are paid by him, and all the proceeds go to Mr. Yuan except for the distribution costs.

At the suggestion of Mr. Yuen, he also set up a "Free Man Award" to be awarded to the best detective of the previous year.

The first "Liberty Award" in 1924 was awarded to Agatha Christie for Murder on the Golf Course.

The two also became friends for the rest of the year. But their friendship came to an abrupt end in 1929.

Since the beginning of 1929, Mr. Yuan Yanqian has been publishing articles arguing that the current economic situation in the United States and the world is not as optimistic as it seems, especially to prevent "excessive speculation" in the financial market.

The spearhead of these articles is faintly pointed at the Morgan consortium and Wall Street as a whole.

This naturally made little Morgan very unhappy. But what made him even more angry was that after "Black Thursday", Mr. Yuan simply accused the Morgan consortium and Wall Street of the negative role played in the economic crisis.

He also said that the Morgan Consortium saved the United States twice in the hands of the old Morgan, and now the Morgan Consortium is about to destroy the world once. (Author's note: The two economic crises of 1900 and 1907.) ）

This, of course, turned the two of them against each other.

However, these articles and comments have won Mr. Yuan the favor of the American people and deepened his friendship with FDR and the Democratic Party......"

——Excerpt from Who is a Free Man? 》

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Note 1: The new version of "Murder on the Orient Express" movie is gorgeous, and the actors are above the level. However, for the sake of damn "political correctness", a lot of jokes about Europeans hacking each other were cut, and a black doctor was created. I really can't catch up with the old version.