The movie of the same name adapted from Mai Jia’s original novel "Decryption" is currently being released in the summer. As a winner of the Mao Dun Literary Award, many of Mai's novels are fast-paced, exquisitely structured, and strong in storytelling. They also include thoughts on human nature and faith in the feelings of family and country. These characteristics have also been "translated" into the movie "Decryption". Because of this fidelity to the original work, Mai Jia calls "Decryption" his most satisfying adaptation..
Recently, Mai Jia was interviewed by CCTV News "Night Reading" and talked about his exploration as an author, his happiness as a reader, and his joy as an audience.
01
"Author" Mai Jia
"A writer must constantly be responsible for his own mother tongue"
In 2002, Mai Jia's first novel "Decryption" was published. In the past 11 years, "Decryption" has experienced 17 rejections. It is like a lonely boat that has been drifting on the sea for a long time and cannot reach the shore. The Mai family is the helmsman who struggles to hold it tightly and refuses to let go no matter what, because He was not content with this, "I always want to save it."
The youth of the Mai family was a little embarrassed due to this long and repeated tossing, but it never collapsed. In his view, this kind of "keeping it until the clouds clear can see the moonlight." "If you just rely on persistence, you won't be able to persevere. The essence is still because of your love for literature. Because of love, you can't give up." He used this metaphor, "Every rejection is like falling out of love, or quarreling with your lover. It hurts inside, but you do love him, so after crying for a while, you will bow your head to him and admit your mistake, and want to get back together." Well, true love means you can't let go. If you break up after a quarrel, this kind of love is questionable."
In many subsequent interviews, Mai Jia also admitted that he was not a gifted writer. He described his writing as "an old man." "Pulling the car" and "sometimes even half a step forward", but by writing "Decryption", he gained a new understanding of talent, "Love is talent. If you can persevere in something, if you can't break it without scolding, you will definitely He is talented in this matter."
After "Decryption", the Mai family almost opened up their own "espionage universe", "The Conspiracy", "The Wind", "The Wind"... these novels and The popularity of the film and television series he adapted made him known as the "Father of Spies", and with it came huge fame and fortune. At the craziest time, someone came to his house carrying a bag of flour and cash. They said that they have a drama that has been filmed, and they hope to have Mai's name on the screenwriter. He doesn't have to write it, and he doesn't have to do anything. He just needs to say it is his drama when promoting it.
Mai Jia has always considered himself a cautious person in the face of fame and fortune, but he also admitted that people will inevitably deform under such indiscriminate bombardment. He was pushed by many people, "Sometimes I write things I don't want to write, or "But at the same time, he still maintained the instinctive vigilance of a writer. After writing "The Edge of the Knife", although there were still praises around him and the film and television rights were sold at high prices, he was keenly aware of it. Realizing that they were engaged in meaningless writing, a simple self-replication, "was like a love entering a state of insensitivity."
Whether to cut it off or not, the Mai family faced a decision. Everyone is already familiar with the subsequent story of
. The Mai family stopped writing for three years and said they would never write about spy wars again. Five years later, he released his transformational work "Sea of Life", which achieved a "double explosion" in word-of-mouth sales. If we extrapolate from the results, the original decision of the Mai family is certainly not bad, but if we return to that fork in fate, the road ahead has been cut off and the road ahead is unresolved. Who can say that the future will be bright and brilliant?
Dare to say goodbye to yourself and dare to jump out of your comfort zone. This is a writer's determination, or in Mai Jia's own words, a writer's "unwillingness". "If I continue to write spy stories, the commercial value will definitely not be The difference will even get higher and higher, but I am not willing, or in other words, I am unwilling to put my life and my love for literature into profit, so I want to say goodbye to spy wars. An artist and writer should have the courage and belief that you must constantly be responsible for your mother tongue and for your career. I want to provide more samples, constantly challenge myself, and at the same time challenge all aspects of the novel. kind of territory. "
Mai Jia's new work "Letters from the World" launched this year goes a step further. In this book, he gave up his best stories and used a completely literary way to express a person's heart. From a market perspective, perhaps It is risky, but Mai Jia feels that as a novelist, this is an attempt that must be made even if it fails, "You only know where the right direction is by walking here and there, find the right direction, and then move forward. , even if it is a little slower, there is no problem, but I am afraid that the direction is wrong. "
Literature is like life, and the person who writes it must find his own way step by step. The 60-year-old Mai family is willful and brave, even if he has seen the cheering crowds, even if he has heard the thunderous applause, But because that was not the end he wanted, he turned around and went to a new scenery.
02
"Reader" Mai Jia
"My first identity is a reader, not an author."
As an author, Mai Jia has many advantages. Despite the bitter tears, Mai Jia is happy as a reader. He admitted that reading has shaped him, "My first identity is a reader, not a writer."
The first book Mai Jia read in his life was When I was 12 years old, I found a broken copy of "Lin Hai Xue Yuan" in a neighbor's firewood pile. It was picked up by the owner to start the fire, but fatefully ignited the literary passion in the Mai family's hearts in another form. fire. Before reading this book, he thought that everyone in the world was the same as the people in his village, desolate, rough, and barren. This reading made him know for the first time that there were people who were different from them in the world. The impact shattered his previous outlook on life and world. From then on, the outside world settled in his heart, and he followed this starting point and became a lifelong believer in literature.
In the rest of his life, reading and literature became almost all of his spiritual life. In his three years of high school, he was the person who borrowed the most books from the school library; after graduating from the military academy, people in his work unit called him "Under the Mango Tree." "The neurosis of reading poetry"; at various stages of life, Salinger, Kafka, Marquez, and Borges illuminated him in different forms... As a person who was once trapped in childhood, the Mai family has always While trying to help himself out, literature provides a certain path, so he has always been grateful to literature and has always advised people to read more literature books. "I believe in the value of literature. There is a deeper meaning of life hidden in literature. Through repeated reading, , you will continue to understand yourself and the world, and your heart will become brighter, more mature, and broader."
The book "Lin Hai Xue Yuan" made him realize for the first time that "the world is very big", but in more recent times. Inspired by "Lin Hai Xue Yuan", he added half a sentence to this sentence, "The world is big, but books are the biggest" , because reading can make people's hearts vast, so vast that the whole world can be contained. Go in.
Regardless of spirituality or fame and fortune, Mai Jia felt that he had gained too much from literature. At this age, receiving too much made him feel uneasy, so he often thought about giving something away. In 2011, he imitated Shakespeare Bookstore and built "Maijia Ideal Valley", and invited some young writers to stay in the store to engage in literary creation from time to time; in 2014, he also launched "Maijia Reads with You", insisting on recommending books to the public and guiding more readers to Many people read literature.
Mai recommends books, but he does not recommend the so-called "book list" or "must-read list". He believes that reading should be casual, and the book list requires you to discover by yourself. "When reading a book, you can't stand it. Just don't read it. No one requires you to read it. There are too many good books. Whoever you like may not like others, and whoever you didn't like ten years ago will like it ten years later. This is your right. Kafka is in my heart. Hero, but he may not be your cup of tea. You have to read it yourself and read it repeatedly to find your own good books and discover your own reading hero."
In Mai's view, some subjects in the world provide results. Philosophy explains to you what the world is. Mathematics and physics give you formulas and tell you the distance from here to the moon, but literature does not. Literature does not give you results. Literature is about expressing life infinitely and being close to life. And what is life? Sometimes it is sunshine, sometimes it is rain, sometimes it is day, sometimes it is night, sometimes it is crying, sometimes it is laughing, there are too many ambiguities in life. Sexuality and marginality are special cases of literature. Literature is the kind of vagueness, edge, and complexity that gives you life.
As a person who is not very lively in the face of reality, and even a little indifferent, Mai Jia chooses to write in books. Find the boiling point of your soul. Perhaps, when a person's life is completely open to literature, then all the things he feels in this world, even if they are indescribable, can be accompanied and resolved at the same time.
03
"Audience" Mai. Home
"We have the courage and confidence to express Chinese films to the world"
As one of the most popular writers in the field of literary film and television adaptation, so far, 13 of Mai's works have been adapted into movies, TV series and other forms. In his view, novels and films are relatives on the one hand, and enemies on the other. The transition from novels to films will inevitably offend and harm the original work. But this time, he said without reservation that "Decryption" is the most satisfying adaptation of his work so far. "It has greatly adopted some literary elements, historical elements, family and country elements from the novel." Feelings, these are things I never dared to hope for, but I did get them. "
The movie "Decryption" tells the story of Rong Jinzhen, a lonely mathematical genius who was faced with various opportunities when the world situation was turbulent in the 1940s. Next, enter the story of the mysterious organization 701 engaged in code deciphering. In the Mai family's view, the deciphering work is just the "shell" of the story. What it really talks about is how to decipher people's hearts. Just like the sentence on the movie poster says, everyone is a unique password, and this life is the process of deciphering. .
Readers who are familiar with Mai Jia’s works know that many of his works have a strong sense of family and country. This is not unrelated to his experience in the army, but it is fundamentally based on his understanding of life. “People first belong to the family. Then it belongs to the country, it is a line. If a person does not have a home, he is a lonely ghost, especially if there is no country. Therefore, in , I have always placed people in a historical environment and the feelings of family and country to express human nature. Instead of talking to yourself."
Many viewers who have watched "Decryption" were moved by the feelings of family and country shown in the film. Rong Jinzhen is a representative of the unsung heroes on the hidden front of our country. In the Mai family’s view, over the past 70 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, there have been too many people like Rong Jinzhen, in all industries from atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs to nuclear submarines and aerospace. They are highly educated and intelligent, and have given their all for the country and have never enjoyed anything. In life, we express too little to them, or express too much distance, and "good art is to bring this group of people to us, let us empathize, and let us work together for their lives and I think "Decryption" has achieved this. When you watch it, you won't feel that this person has nothing to do with me. This person may be my parents, my grandparents, and our today is a continuation of their past. Our country is so prosperous and powerful today, which is inseparable from their efforts. Your emotions will naturally arise. This is the charm of movies and the charm of art."
The novel "Decryption" has been translated into 30. Published in multiple languages and in more than 100 countries and regions, from a certain perspective, the Mai family tells Chinese stories to the world through literature. As Balzac said, novels are the secret history of a nation, and literature contains hidden things. The footsteps of the nation. But he feels that movies are a more important link in telling Chinese stories and letting Chinese culture go global. It is much easier than literature, because literature is difficult to translate, and movies are generally a visual It is more convenient and direct, and the task of translation is not that heavy.
On the back cover of Mai Jia’s last book "Life in the Sea", there is this sentence, "Life is in the sea, and after the ebb comes the ebb. You say it is a waste, a laughing stock, a sin, but that is my hero Doctrine." Rong Jinzhen in the movie is a hero, not only a national hero, but also a hero who overcomes himself. A child whose parents died and had a rough life, did not have his personality distorted by suffering and become an evil person, but grew into a A powerful person may even become a hero of a country in the end. 's determination to fight against fate and stand up bravely in the struggle, isn't it the kind of heroism we can see in an ordinary person?
Live hard and be your own hero.
producer | Li Zhe
chief editor | Ma Wenjia
reporter written | Yang Yuting
coordinator | Yuan Jiaqi
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