New Bookshelf | The Wood Count: See the collision of Verne's novels with the Book of Verses

Cover news reporter Wang Hui

Jules Verne was a famous French novelist, playwright and poet of the 19th century, one of the important pioneers of modern science fiction, and is known as the "father of science fiction". His masterpieces "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", "Captain Grant's Children", "Journey to the Center of the Earth", "Around the Earth in Eighty Days", "Mysterious Island" and so on are familiar to Chinese readers.

Little is known for being very interested in China and Chinese culture by Jules Verne, and in 1878 he set out to write a novel about China. In correspondence with friends. He said, "I have more than 20 books related to China on hand... I have devoted myself to the study of Chinese dynasties, and I have almost become a Chinese nine-pin sesame official. ”

The novel, The Encounter of a Chinese in China, is Verne's only novel that is primarily about China during his lifetime, and it was published in China more than a decade ago. The 1986 movie "The Ordeal of the Young Master" starring Chen Peisi was also based on the book.

Recently, the long-form comic book "The Wood Count", adapted by the post-90s comic rookie Wang Jing and the French professional comic screenwriter Julian Moka, and adapted from Jules Verne's original book "The Encounter of a Chinese in China", was published by Tsinghua University Press.

The story of the book takes place in the last year of the Qing Dynasty, Jin Fu was born in a rich family, born with no worries about food and clothing, everything is smooth, but he has never experienced hardships and sorrows in the years that have passed, and he does not know what happiness is. When he was about to get married, he was suddenly told by his agent that the bank he invested in was bankrupt, which not only made him lose most of his property, but also made him lose his desire for life. In pain, Jin Fu decided to commit suicide by taking out a huge life insurance policy worth $200,000 for his fiancée Lei E and his mentor Mr. Wang.

Jin Fu, who did not dare to commit suicide, entrusted Mr. Wang with the "major task" of ending his life. At this moment, Jin Fu, who was already determined to die, unexpectedly ushered in a good news: the previous "bad news of bankruptcy" was false news, and his investment was not only not a loss, but doubled. At this moment, he did not want to and could not give up his life, but at this time, Mr. Wang had inexplicably disappeared, and the disaster of Jin Fu's killing would also come at any time! Finding Mr. Wang and canceling the "killing commission" became a top priority. So, Jin Fu embarked on his adventure...

Although he never visited China, Verne portrayed the characters in the book very well. Wang Rencai, the Chinese translation of the book, said, "In the process of translation, I feel that Jin Fu is a typical Chinese, a representative of a typical Chinese gentleman, and a portrayal of the character of an authentic ancient Chinese gentleman. ”

In the form of cartoons, the masterpieces, the customs and customs of Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places in China at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the humanistic scenery and scenes are reproduced, when Verne's novel meets the "squirrel" from the "Book of Poetry", what kind of spark will collide between Chinese and Western cultures?

The screenwriter of this work, Julian Moka, is a professional comic book screenwriter and historian, who collaborated with Chinese comic book artist Ji An to create the adventure-themed comic series Layla Karan in 2007, and since 2017, he has collaborated with the book's illustrator Wang Jing to create "The Tree".

The post-90s generation has loved painting since childhood, and has been inspired and influenced by Japanese and European comics to embark on the road of manga creation. His works are delicate and smooth, the colors are rich and smooth, and the combination of lines and colors is particularly natural and harmonious. He is good at portraying exaggerated character expressions with fine lines, and the characters he creates naturally exude unique humor and humor. "Sikiki" was also his first medium-length manga work.

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