The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

At the Swedish Academy, the conference room was filled with smoke.

After three months of "finalist" surveys, the School of Liberal Arts officially resumed its meetings in mid-September.

The meeting lasted for a full two hours. Holstaum, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy and chairman of the Nobel Prize for Literature, stood up and spoke: "On behalf of the Swedish Academy, I officially announce that this year's finalists for the Nobel Prize in Literature are... Five, they are... The Swedish Academy has no objections to the above five writers. So, let’s start the first round of voting now!”

The Swedish Academy is the awarding body for the Nobel Prize in Literature and has the final say in awarding the award. If the agency has objections to the list of finalists recommended by the jury, it can reject it outright without any appeal.

The shortlist can only be voted on if it has been approved by the Swedish Academy.

Writer, critic and poet John Berryman wrote "Eugene O'Neill" on his ballot.

Writer and poet Fogel Kvist also wrote "Eugene O'Neill" on the ballot.

Politician, author and lawyer Knut Hammarskjöld also wrote the name "Eugene O'Neill" on the ballot.

Literary historian and author John Shirk still wrote "Eugene O'Neill" on the ballot.

More than ten minutes later, Nobel Prize Chairman Holstaum personally counted the votes: "Eugene O'Neill 1 vote, Eugene O'Neill 2 votes, Eugene O'Neill 3 votes..."

Damn it!

Holstaum's face was extremely gloomy, and he was already angry - except for Eugene O'Neill, it was still Eugene O'Neill, why should the damn Yankee win the award!

The results of the first round of voting in the runoff were: Eugene O'Neill had 11 votes, Zhou Hexuan had 4 votes, and the remaining three nominees had 1 vote each.

There are a total of 18 votes, and the one who gets more than half of the votes will win. Eugene O'Neill has exceeded the winning standard, and the voting has been smoother than ever.

John Berryman smiled and said: "Mr. President, please announce this year's Nobel Prize winner for literature."

"I think I can vote again." Holstaum said coldly.

"It's not necessary," John Berryman shrugged. "The results of the first round of voting were obvious. O'Neill won the award. 11 academicians voted for him. This is an overwhelming victory."

"I said one more shot!" Holstaum slammed the table.

Fogel Kvist frowned and said: "Mr. Chairman, this does not comply with the rules. The results of this year's selection are already obvious. You have no right to ask for a re-vote."

Holstaum sneered and said: "Don't forget, I am not only the chairman of the Nobel Prize for Literature, but also the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy. If you do not agree to re-vote, then I have the right to cancel this year's award on behalf of the Swedish Academy. Awards!”

Everyone looked at each other with angry and helpless expressions.

Holstaum’s approach is indeed in compliance with the regulations. According to the Nobel Prize Awarding Regulations, the Swedish Academy can decide to suspend the award every five years, and the Academy’s permanent secretary has such a veto power.

John Berryman was extremely dissatisfied: "Why can't Eugene O'Neill win the award? I need an explanation!"

Geographer, archaeologist and travel writer Sven Hedin said: "Mr. O'Neill is indeed an outstanding dramatist, but he prefers to depict complex emotions and deal with intricate plots, but his artistic skills cannot Competent for this kind of complexity. So I think Mr. O'Neill's works are highly entertaining, but the artistry is obviously not enough to win awards. The coverage of his works is quite narrow. It may be novel for the audience to watch one, but it will be boring after watching several. Mr. O'Neill, his work has no style at all!"

Holstaum was even more straightforward: "Eugene O'Neill's plays are just market entertainment and he does not deserve the Nobel Prize for Literature."

John Berryman said angrily: "Mr. O'Neill is the founder of American national drama. His works reflect American society and the American national spirit. He used the contrast between material prosperity and spiritual wasteland to awaken Americans to reflect. , he is a great writer!"

Holstaum sarcastically said: "Maybe. For you Americans, Eugene O'Neill's works are rarely thoughtful, and he is indeed an American master. But this is Europe, and Eugene O'Neill is not qualified to talk about it. Literature, talk about art!”

"You are discriminating against the United States!" John Berryman raged.

Holstaum laughed: "This is not discrimination, this is fact."

Before World War II, the United States had always been regarded as a literary and artistic desert by Europe, and it was quite normal for it to be looked down upon.

"Ahem!"

Sven Hedin coughed twice and said: "It is meaningless to argue. Let me talk about Mr. Zhou Hexuan. Compared with Mr. O'Neill's works, which are single in content, narrow in scope, and mediocre in technique, Mr. Zhou's works are rich in content and broad in scope. , the skills are amazing. Especially in "The Goddess" and "The Dog Officer", the realistic magical expression technique is amazing and has epoch-making significance in the field of literature."

"I don't care about this," John Berryman said angrily, "I only know that the first round of voting has already resulted. Eugene O'Neill received more than half of the votes. He is this year's Nobel Prize winner for literature!"

After arguing for a long time with no result, Fogel stood up and said, "Well, see you next Thursday."

The final voting for the Nobel Prize in Literature is held once a week, and the voting time is always Thursday. You have to wait a week for the second round of voting.

"The meeting is adjourned!" Holstaum declared expressionlessly.

Holstaum didn't think much of Zhou Hexuan. He just hated Eugene O'Neill and didn't want to award the Nobel Prize for Literature to that stupid American. He looked down upon American literature, and even looked down upon American writers such as John Berryman. He would rather award the Nobel Prize to a Chinese than to a superficial Yankee!

From 1901 to the 21st century, except for the suspension of the Nobel Prize in Literature due to war factors, 1935 was the only one that was actively canceled by the Swedish Academy. Historically, there was no winner of this Nobel Prize for Literature. The reason is simple: Holstaum hates the winner.

He is not only the chairman of the Nobel Prize for Literature, but also the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy. He has the power to veto anyone he dislikes.

When Zhou Hexuan and Zhang Leyi arrived in London, the Swedish Academy had concluded the second round of voting. The results were: Eugene O'Neill 10 votes and Zhou Hexuan 8 votes.

Eugene O'Neill once again became the final winner, but Holstaum was still dissatisfied with the result and strongly demanded a third vote. Of course John Berryman disagreed. He was so angry that he threw the table. Unfortunately, Holstaumu is the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy and has the power to suspend the awarding of this Nobel Prize in Literature.

The threat of awarding the prize to someone else or canceling this year's Nobel Prize for Literature is big enough that no one voting here is willing to completely break up.

So, there was a third vote.