□ Peninsula all-media reporter Meng Xiuli
Wong Kar-wai's TV series debut "Flowers" is on the air, this adaptation of the novel of the same name of the Jin Yucheng Mao Dun Literature Award, reflecting the survival and struggle of Shanghai people in the context of reform and opening up, gathered many Shanghai stars, especially old drama bones, famous directors and stars bring their own traffic, and the original traffic of the Mao Award is blessed, and the ratings continue to rise, becoming a veritable New Year's Eve drama. The popularity of the drama has driven the hot sales of the original novel, and 100,000 copies of "Flowers: Annotated Edition" published by Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House in June 2023 have been printed. A few days ago, its WeChat public account successively launched the "Looking at "Flowers" under the microscope" series, combined with a large number of annotations of "Flowers: Annotated Edition", from the perspective of editing and studying the original work, leading everyone to understand the details of the hot drama and understand the subtleties of the original work. On January 5, Peninsula all-media reporters interviewed Wu Mengmeng, the planning editor of "Looking at "Flowers" under the microscope, and Mei Ruobing, the editor-in-charge of "Flowers: Annotated Edition", and took everyone to get closer to "Flowers", understand the hot drama, and understand the original work.
>>>主打随性 "Microscope" is the core of the "annotation" of the genius in ShanghaiReporter: How did you come up with the idea of doing the series of "Flowers under the Microscope"? From the popularity of the drama to the hot sale of the book, what kind of activities will the publishing house follow up?
Wu Mengmeng: The Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House will publish "Flowers: Annotated Edition" in 2023, and the annotator is Shen Hongfei, a talented man in Shanghai. I think one of the cores of this annotated book is the "microscope". This book is for loyal fans of "Flowers", and also for everyone who is interested in "Flowers", everyone hopes to read the novel "Flowers" and watch the drama version of "Flowers" in a more microscopic, more "expert" and multi-angle way. The "Microscope Look at Flowers" series on the Yangtze River literary and artistic self-media platform was born.
We hope that through the "microscope" of "Blossoms: Annotated Edition", "Blossoms" can connect "Blossoms" with more readers and audiences. Whether they are the first to read the novel or the drama to chase first, they can find more microscopic, detailed and interesting annotations in "Flowers: Annotated Edition".
In the future, this series will continue, in fact, there is no special systematic planning, clothing, food, housing, transportation, social style, character interpretation, etc., and even a place name, a dialogue, you can pick up the "microscope" to see. There are so many fun annotations in the annotation book that they are simply inexhaustible, and I could keep doing this series if I needed to.
We also did daily check-in activities for readers, forwarding book giveaways, etc., and in our book friend group, everyone read "Flowers: Annotated Edition" while chasing dramas, and the discussion was in full swing every day.
Reporter: What kind of "Flowers" do you want to "see" under the "microscope"? From what angles will you interpret it? What kind of plans do you have in the future?
Mei Ruobing: Retro feelings: the customs and social features of Shanghai culture at its peak, recalling the living conditions at that time, and the development of Shanghai.
Character fate: What mental journeys did Bao, Husheng, and Xiaomao go through, and the relationship between fate, personality, and emotion.
Female characters: The identities and characteristics of many female characters in Fanhua, such as Betty, Xuezhi, Li Li, Mei Rui, Miss Wang, Shuhua, Yinfeng, etc. There are some differences between the characters portrayed in the TV series and the original book.
Wu Mengmeng: At present, there have been four issues of character interpretation of the trailer, Bao's tone, Shanghainese, and fashion, and next, there will be food, geography, Bao's one-day schedule, inventory of everyone's favorite "CP" and so on. This series focuses on a casualness, you can do a lot, who made Shen Hongfei's annotation of Shen Ye so exciting!
Wu Mengmeng
>>> refinement "under the microscope". “沈批”升格《繁花》成3D版Reporter: Why do you want to read it "under the microscope"? What are the characteristics of the original "Flowers" and "Flowers: Annotated Edition"? What suggestions do you have for the audience to watch the film or readers to read?
Wu Mengmeng: Speaking of "under the microscope", I think this is first of all another trend that distinguishes it from the short video fast food culture. Whether it is readers who can calm down and read novels, or viewers who watch long videos, the general trend is "refinement", so there are words and phenomena such as "microscope" and "Leeuwenhoek".
Secondly, reading the original book of "Flowers" and watching the drama version of "Flowers" definitely require the spirit of "Leeuwenhoek". The novel "Flowers" is a multi-line narrative, jumping back and forth between the 60s and 90s of the last century, and there are many characters. In the words of readers: its charm may lie in a "chaos". As for the drama version, a lot of interludes are also used, the lines are dense, and the dialogue is in Shanghainese. Therefore, only by looking at the "microscope" can we "seek refinement".
Finally, there are thousands of "no sounds" in the original work of "Flowers", and "no sounds" are blank, giving everyone a lot of room for interpretation. "Flowers: Annotated Edition" is the sound of "Flowers". As the critic Mao Jian said: Lao Jin is not loud, it is all up to Shen Ye to decide. The landing point of the annotated version and the focus of the original work overlap and discrete. Jin Yucheng's clothing, food, housing, and transportation, which are easy to be taken by ordinary readers, were strengthened by Shen Hongfei, and they had the meaning of polyphony, "The annotations of food and color blended with Lao Jin's original text reflected each other, and directly upgraded "Flowers" to a 3D version. ”
Mei Ruobing: The original book is the most original novel. Shen Hongfei is a columnist in Shanghai, very familiar with Shanghai-style culture, the original novel of "Flowers" can be called the cultural history of Shanghai in the sixties and seventies of the last century, and Shen Hongfei has made very detailed annotations on many cultural details involved in the original work. In addition, the character creation and plot promotion of the original work are also very intriguing, and there are many easter eggs and reader comments in the original book, which are all involved in the annotations. The addition of annotations makes the original work more abundant, and Mr. Shen Hongfei's creative method is very personal, and the read-only annotations are also very interesting. It is also worth mentioning the typesetting of the annotated book, it is very difficult to make an annotated version of the horizontal novel, we invited the famous designer Jiang Qinggong to take charge of the typesetting design, Mr. Jiang perfectly realized the combination of the annotation and the original text, and we also solemnly signed him on the cover.
Wu Mengmeng: I don't dare to say the advice to the audience and readers, that is, whether you watch the drama or read the original work, if you want to know more about the details, if you are confused by the "no-sound" points, and if you like or dislike the drama version of "Flowers", you can find answers and resonance in the annotated book. After reading the annotated book, you are the best expert in "Flowers".
Mei Ruobing
>>>沈爷批注精彩 The vitality is infinite and the classic charm continuesReporter: Please briefly talk about your impression of the TV series "Flowers", in your opinion, what is the difference between the drama and the book? The more than 1,500 "silent" in the original book are featured, what is the significance or function in the book, and how is it presented in the play?
Wu Mengmeng: Personally, I still like the drama version of "Flowers". I used to be a TV drama planner, and I think it is very difficult to change the original work of "Flowers". TV dramas need more ups and downs and concentrated plots, which is the first difficulty, and how to visualize the Shanghai accent in the original book is the second difficulty. TV series are popular culture, and they also need the so-called short-term "breaking point". So there's definitely a difference in the way the narrative is told.
Mei Ruobing: "No sound" in Shanghai means silent and silent, and 1,500 "no sound" is the soul of "Flowers". The beginning of "Flowers": "God doesn't make a sound, like everything is determined by me", the fate of the characters is like a branch of flowers that continue to grow, the "no sound" in the original book is like a blank space in the picture, the vacant position is precisely the most important part, and there is an infinite "sound" behind each "non-sound" to promote the development of the plot. The annotation "rings" the author's "non-ringing", and the part that the author is inconvenient to sound in the novel is "sounded" by the critic, and the annotation echoes the original work. The part presented by the plot of the TV series is precisely the part that is not clear in the original novel, how Po dominates the business world and the emotional entanglements with several main characters also "ring" the author's "not ringing", which can also be used as a supplement to the "silent" part of the original work.
Reporter: Please introduce your "Flowers" under the microscope, what is the biggest impression, and what are the most impressive aspects?
Mei Ruobing: First, Mr. Shen Hongfei really knows the food, clothing, housing and transportation of Shanghainese culture well, no matter what he mentions, he can count the treasures, especially the food. Mr. Shen is a well-known gourmand in Shanghai, and even contributed a menu (P569 "Prepared by Shen Ye, a local diner"), which can be said to be the most important linkage between the author and the critic.
The second is that there are many plots that I didn't understand before, which can be clearly seen under the annotations, such as the ending of Betty and Grandma's fate (P260), the impact on Bao, and Shuhua's letter to Husheng (P302), which have a new understanding after the interpretation of the annotations.
Reporter: "Looking at Flowers under the Microscope" has been launched four times, what is the effect? What kind of feedback do you have? As a content exporter, what are your expectations or experiences?
Wu Mengmeng: When the drama is finished, friends who watch "Flowers" with a microscope will still be there, the classic charm will continue, and the vitality of "Flowers" is unlimited. I expect to publish an issue from time to time, starting from all angles, so that Shen Ye's interesting annotations will always accompany you. I also wish you all a prosperous new year.
Reporter's Notes:In the era when traffic is king, the linkage between books and dramas and mutual borrowing is the proper meaning, just like the operation of phenomenal books and dramas such as "Hurricane", "I Am Yu Huanshui", "Welcome to McNugget Village", etc., original fans rush to watch dramas, and drama fans turn to buy books, which is a kind of two-way rush that audiences and readers, investors and publishers love to see. Think about "Flowers" is the same.
The TV series "Flowers" has been on the air since December 27, 2023, and the original novels "Flowers" (Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House) and "Flowers: Annotated Edition" (Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House) are both selling well and even out of stock for a time, which is evident. The editors of the Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House cut in from the perspective of "under the microscope" on its official account, and carefully read Shen Hongfei's annotated version of "Flowers", which is both readable and serviceable.