The fact that Lin Zixuan was writing a novel was known to the Westerners on the cruise ship.

After all, this is a closed cruise ship, and there are not many passengers living in first and first class, and these Westerners live in China, even if they don't know each other, they can quickly make friends.

In fact, there are no entertainment facilities on cruise ships in this era, and you can only rely on chatting to pass the time.

Cruise ships at this time are not the same concept as cruise ships in later generations, or it is more appropriate to call them ocean liners.

Don't be delusional about the same luxury as the Titanic, there is not only a banquet hall, but also a gym.

It is a luxury cruise ship that sails between European countries, and the cruise ship from Europe and the United States to Asia mainly carries passengers, and does not provide special services, so it is good to have a meal that does not taste unappetizing.

Mr. and Mrs. Pearl were well-known scholars, and Lin Zixuan had a certain influence in China.

Westerners on cruise ships don't necessarily know them, but many do know something about them.

After a few days of contact, everyone got along well, Lin Zixuan understood Western culture and life, kept up with their topics, and occasionally put forward some interesting suggestions.

They embraced the Chinese writer.

But they found that in the last few days the new companion had been missing, and had mostly stayed in his cabin except for meals, and even the warm and funny Mrs. Booker had gone into hiding.

When they inquired, they learned that the two were working on literature, writing a novel based on the discussion of that day.

This is undoubtedly a very interesting thing.

These bored Westerners, in addition to chatting, are reading books in their cabins and waiting for the cruise ship to dock in a certain city. Spend most of the time on the cruise.

Witnessing the creative process of a novel can make them feel engaged and satisfied during the boring time of the journey.

In particular, some academics and journalists. was even more interested in this, so he asked Lin Zixuan to read the manuscript to them.

Chinese writing novels is a more intimate thing. But in Western societies, they see it as a kind of literary exchange.

Writers also want to learn from the audience's reactions the shortcomings of their novels and improve them.

Of course, there are also many isolated writers in Western society, who just create their own works and do not want to share them with others, and even burn unsatisfactory manuscripts and are unwilling to publish them.

This was the case, for example, with Kafka and Salinger.

Lin Zixuan didn't have any worries about this, there were so many people to testify. There is no such thing as plagiarism.

Moreover, these people have a certain social status in the United States, and when they arrive in the United States, they can help him promote the novel, so why not have free publicity.

It's just that he doesn't want to read novels by himself, and as an Oriental, he is not used to this way of communication.

The task was given to Pearl Sai, and she could read it to Westerners after she had translated the draft of Lord of the Flies.

So, every night in a corner of the first-class hall, a small literary exchange event is held.

These people drank red wine after their meal. While listening to the latest chapters of the novel, after Pearl Race finished reading, they would discuss the plot and then go back to their rooms to rest.

Sometimes. They also have discussions during the day.

The topic of how a group of children survive on a desert island has become a hot topic on the cruise.

As the plot unfolds, the children are divided and they fear that there will be wild beasts on the desert island. The children, led by Jack, advocate hunting, while the children, led by Ralph, want to wait for rescue.

Jack targets Ralph at every turn. Challenge Ralph's authority and insult the piglets under the position. Showing the evil side.

He relied on hunting to win over most of his children, and eating meat became a symbol of privilege, and he encouraged and tempted them to follow him to a savage and bloody life.

The civilized order established by Ralph is in jeopardy.

The story develops beyond the expectations of this group of Westerners, this is not a children's story, a group of children help each other through difficult times, and celebrate the friendship and courage between children.

Nor is it Robinsonian individual heroism in the conquest of nature and desert islands.

Rather, it is the collapse of the civilized order, the return of children to a primitive and barbaric state, exposing the ugliness in human nature.

Some people think that Lin Zixuan writes too cruelly, and they don't believe that children would do such evil things.

Others pondered, feeling that the story was a metaphor, that the whole desert island was a society, and that the children were just repeating what the adults did.

The story culminates in the death of Simon, a symbol of the prophet.

The children brutally kill Simon as a beast, which is their unconscious behavior, but it also shows that they have lost their humanity and plunged into the abyss of darkness.

Pearl Sai's whole person was not good when he saw this paragraph.

She is a Christian, and Simon is the only divine character in this novel.

He was well versed in the darkness of the human heart, and at the same time recognized that the fear of his companions was in fact an instinctive resistance and rebellion against the sin and death that lurked deep in their hearts.

He realized that the so-called beast was nothing more than man himself.

Simon's death reminds Pearl of the Crucifixion, and the novel is deeply religious, just too dark and cruel.

She had the idea that she didn't want to translate.

As a Christian preaching the gospel, God loves the world, but what she sees in this novel is that Jack, the incarnation of the devil, kills Simon, the incarnation of Jesus, and the devil is about to rule this desert island.

She couldn't accept such an ending, so she protested to Lin Zixuan.

Lin Zixuan had no choice but to appease her, the ending must be bright, this is not a tragic novel.

Pearl Race believes, and then the piglet, who represents civilization, also dies, and Jack the Devil completely rules the desert island, and Ralph, who represents democracy, can only flee in all directions.

Just when she felt cheated, a bright ending came.

The warship arrives on a desert island, Ralph is rescued, Jack burns the desert island, and the story ends with the sound of children crying.

This is the bright ending? It still feels so dark.

Westerners on the cruise ship have different opinions on this story.

Diplomats see the opposition between democracy and dictatorship, scholars see the consequences of human nature when it loses its restraints, Christians see the struggle between the devil and the gods, and journalists see the prospect and newsworthiness of the novel.

Others thought it was a disgusting novel that he would never recommend to his friends.

Is this disgusting?

Lin Zixuan disagreed, there are not many such stories in later generations, such as the Japanese movie "Battle Royale" is even more cruel.

There is also the American novel "The Hunger Games", which also puts a group of people in a desert island-like environment and then kills each other.

In contrast, the moral of "Lord of the Flies" is more profound, full of philosophy, and reflects the general situation of human society.

As Golding won the Nobel Prize for Literature, the jury found that his novels "illustrate the human condition of the world today with a clear realist narrative technique and the diversity and universality of fictional stories."

Interestingly, Lord of the Flies was rejected 20 times by the publisher before it was finally published. (To be continued.) )