[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-my-life-as-a-literary-giant-in-russia":3,"chapter-my-life-as-a-literary-giant-in-russia-my-life-as-a-literary-giant-in-russia-chapter-100":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","My Life as a Literary Giant in Russia",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2317275,4531,"Chapter 100: The Laws of Prison These Days","my-life-as-a-literary-giant-in-russia-chapter-100",100,"\u003Cp>“Perhaps we could jointly translate your novel, Mikhail. I recall your French is quite good, though it would also be a fine choice to find some gentleman proficient in translation—our own efforts may not achieve the desired effect.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Turgenev, eager for this task, continued: “Though I have no connections in the upper literary circles over there, rest assured—I will strive to break into the French literary scene so your work can appear directly before their most renowned writers. Just wait until I make you famous over there!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmm, spread the word: Turgenev had to sell himself out to promote Mikhail’s work. Pfft!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shaking his head to dispel those strange thoughts, Mikhail was deeply moved; as he thanked Turgenev, he also spoke up to prevent Turgenev from losing face in Western Europe’s literary circles:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So, Turgenev, you’re going to France, correct? If so, I actually have some novels written in authentic French.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To clarify, back then, driven by interest and research needs, Mikhail had indeed studied many original texts, for works always lose something when stripped of their native language.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as foreigners struggle to grasp the subtleties of imagery and description in Dream of the Red Chamber.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But back then, Mikhail had gritted his teeth through them—he couldn’t say he truly understood them, yet he had read them, otherwise he wouldn’t have remembered now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the original version is always better.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mikhail, you write novels in French?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the phrase “authentic French” sounded odd, Turgenev paid it no mind now—only stared at Mikhail and said in disbelief:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Writing novels in French isn’t easy. I never imagined your French had reached this level—and now I’m genuinely curious what your work would be like. When can you give me this novel? I can’t wait to read it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Writing in a language other than one’s mother tongue is never easy, yet from Mikhail’s tone, it seemed he believed his French novels were already good enough to be read aloud to France’s literary gentlemen?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the French literary circle!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And over the past one or two centuries, France had nearly been Europe’s cultural and artistic center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Turgenev looked utterly stunned, and Mikhail, watching him, thought this reaction was perfectly reasonable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, though old France had slumped badly in the next century—so much so that online, people mocked it daily, waving their hands like French military salutes—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back then, old France was still an undeniable European power. Just decades earlier, Russia’s upper class had been culturally subservient to France; only after defeating Napoleon and parading through France had they regained some national pride.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, to this day, France’s profound influence on Russia remained evident in every aspect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the way, France has the Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to commemorate his 1805 victory over the Russo-Austrian army. After Napoleon’s fall, construction halted; it resumed only after the Bourbon monarchy was overthrown, finally completing in 1836.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Russia, in true cheeky fashion, responded in 1814: to celebrate Russian troops returning from their Western European campaign against Napoleon, Muscovites erected a wooden triumphal arch at the Tver Gate. That wooden arch rotted away; after many delays, a replica identical to the original was finally built on Kutuzov Avenue in 1968.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Naturally, this spawned another joke about France: “Many nations have passed before the French Arc de Triomphe—but Moscow’s triumphal arch is the exception.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So back to the present: old France was still formidable, and in literature, it had been glorious throughout the nineteenth century.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the coming year of 1845, Victor Hugo would be granted noble status by Louis-Philippe and appointed to the House of Peers, but soon after, he would gradually embrace republican ideals, tirelessly advocating for freedom and democracy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, in this very year, the French literary giant Alexandre Dumas—later famous as Dumas père—was continuing to write his pioneering bestseller, The Count of Monte Cristo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, like many writers of this century, revolution was Dumas’s main occupation; writing fiction was merely a side hobby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Honoré de Balzac, who was drowning in debt, though he had already written The Human Comedy—works destined to make him immortal in French literature—he still churned out pages fueled by endless coffee, desperate to pay his bills.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even after his death, he left behind a staggering 210,000 francs in debt. Mikhail could only think: buddy, you really knew how to spend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And in this same year, Gustave Flaubert had just begun attempting to write a novel, while Guy de Maupassant’s parents might not even know each other yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, old France still held cultural superiority in this era. To “Westernizers” like Turgenev, its status was almost sacred—hence his stunned reaction upon learning Mikhail wrote novels in French.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mikhail merely waved his hand modestly: “Just trying my hand at it, a little bit, nothing much. I’ll bring it to you in a couple of days—if you think it’s decent, maybe you could casually submit it for me in Paris.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Understood.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Mikhail truly meant to submit his work, Turgenev nodded in agreement—but unconsciously shook his head slightly inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Turgenev’s eyes, Mikhail’s short stories were excellent, but translated into another language, they might lose their impact—especially before the haughty French, who would scrutinize them mercilessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, thoughts were thoughts—he’d judge properly only after reading the work!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Turgenev thought this, Mikhail couldn’t help glancing at Dostoevsky and Dmitri. He’d noticed earlier that these two had struck up a lively, effortless conversation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huh? Dmitri already knew Dostoevsky?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So now the three of us are going to get rich together?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",931,"2026-06-20T14:41:53.633Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b7ba428b4eba6071a01a5aeaf6758c7bbce31b3808f242b9f0f63ae56b4d4735","my-life-as-a-literary-giant-in-russia-chapter-101","my-life-as-a-literary-giant-in-russia-chapter-99",105,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmy-life-as-a-literary-giant-in-russia-cover.jpg"]