Do not misunderstand.
Maka still doesn't have a good impression of Detective Cat.
If grassroots amateur painters who draw casually on the Internet can attract attention, what do they do to students from prestigious art academies who study hard in their humble beginnings?
The professional stance of the round-faced girl is naturally consistent with that of art critics.
At this moment.
Maka still prefers to believe the original point of view.
From the perspective of profound artistic conception and art philosophy, Detective Cat's works must be as vulgar as the shareholders of "Oil Painting" evaluated.
As it happens... Detective Cat painted them beautifully.
That's all.
A truly great work of art needs to be both civil and military, like "War and Peace".
Possessing both outstanding technique and profound spirit.
Grassroots painters on the Internet can occasionally draw beautiful pictures that are eye-catching.
However, they generally lack systematic aesthetic education and a deep understanding of art philosophy.
Apart from the beautiful pictures, the deeper artistic connotation is relatively lacking.
This is definitely the reason why Detective Cat is looked down upon by the big guys.
Beautiful on the surface, empty in spirit.
Detective Cat is just a painter, not a painter.
In fact, Maka has not figured out what art critics think an illustration for a fairy tale should look like in order to be said to have profound artistic depth.
But that was the only reliable guess she could imagine right now.
No matter how unpopular it is to draw swords and paintings.
After getting this new edition of "The Little Prince" in hand, let Maka say that the illustrations in her hand are amateurish works full of technical errors.
Maka really didn't believe it.
Even though the only advantage of this set of illustrations was that they were beautiful, and to be so beautiful - the deepest part of her heart was really touched.
The colorful oil paint strokes of Detective Cat are like the layers of hyacinths falling in early autumn beside the railway in the suburbs of London.
There is no essential difference between fallen flowers and withering weeds in the cracks of railway tracks.
But it's a gaze that can make people lose consciousness.
For example, in the face of Leonardo DiCaprio's great beauty, do girls really care about the criticism from the Motion Picture Association of America that his performance is hollow, that he uses too much force and only relies on his appearance for 20 years?
"Maybe... I'll just buy one."
As Maka stared at the illustration cover of "The Little Prince" for a longer time, the villain who agreed to buy the book gradually had the urge to push the head of the villain who disagreed with the book into the water and drown it.
Maka was not the only one who was also moved by the illustrations and changed her mind.
When Maka went to the bathroom, she met the young girl with pink earrings. The young girl was touching up her makeup in front of the mirror while calling her boyfriend on her mobile phone to talk about the autograph session.
The girl who had clearly told them before entering that she preferred the original style with pictures and illustrations changed her mind within a short period of time.
The tone of the conversation was filled with fondness for the Detective Cat illustrations.
While she was washing her hands next to her, she almost didn't hear the other person mentioning his excitement when he met the translator Charlie Hawke.
These are readers and fans who love translator Mr. Hawke and came here specially!
There’s no such thing as fan loyalty.
What's even more outrageous is that Maka also saw the black international student in the queue.
Not only was this cash-strapped guy queuing up to buy a book, but he was also holding a hardcover edition with more solid materials!
please,
Spend money when you go out and buy a big pizza and eat it. Isn't it delicious?
"Maka? Why did you come here?"
Kelly walked around the bookstore several times, and finally found her friend deep in the corner of the huge bookstore.
The blonde girl saw Maka holding a fairy tale book, her head lowered and gnawing her nails furiously.
As a friend who lived in the same dormitory, she could see the tangled atmosphere surrounding Maka at a glance.
"It looks good, I'm not going to lie to you. Detective Cat's artistic level is enough to become a professor in our college."
Kelly put her hands on her hips and had a "I told you so" look on her face.
Extremely proud.
"Tch, to be a professor in our school basically requires a doctorate, and you have to be from a top-ranked art academy. She is not qualified as an online painter. And... our school doesn't have the kind of painting that is not popular. Elective courses.”
Maka pursed her lips.
"Then you don't like it?" Kelly didn't believe it.
"Huh huh huh, he was lucky enough to draw well this time. Sister, I will judge her one by one. Although I don't like her, this book is not that bad. The students of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts are too naive to see this kind of illustration. , it’s not a big problem to show it to the children. To be clear, I’m not buying it for myself, I’m just preparing it as an Easter gift.”
Maka took the book and walked to the cashier.
"A dead duck has a tough mouth."
Kelly smiled and poked her best friend in the waist.
"What are you laughing at, little girl? If you say anything, you'll throw water away. Girl, I'm not the kind of person who refuses to admit losing a bet. I've done all the tailoring work this semester."
Not wanting to lose, Maka took out her cell phone in front of Kelly and dialed her boyfriend's phone number.
"Hey, dear. We have made an appointment to go fishing in the Scottish Highlands next weekend, right? Well...I'm fine. You can book two rooms at the hotel over there. That's it...I'm not angry. It's not you who made a mistake. I'll explain to you tonight... Don't talk nonsense. If you don't say you love me, what's the matter if we don't sleep together. If I ask you to book an extra room, just book an extra room..."
Maka was too lazy to pay attention to the inexplicable and disbelieving yelling of her boyfriend on the other end of the phone, and directly issued a verdict: "Not for a weekend, but for the entire next month, I will not maintain an intimate relationship with you. Why? Is this okay, mom?" "
"Detective Cat is indeed interesting this time, but don't blame me for criticizing you, Kelly. Oil Painting magazine has sentenced her to death in her career. She will not have a good future."
Maka glanced at Kelly.
"I don't think so. It's the hardest truth in the world that an illustration can be liked by the audience. I think the shareholders of "Oil Painting" may be in trouble this time."
Kelly smiled and spread her hands.
"Time will tell."
When Maka took "The Little Prince" and walked through the shelves in front of the cashier at the door to queue up, she suddenly stopped again.
Oh shit,
Since I bought everything.
or--
Replacing it with the hardcover version would be more than a dozen pounds more expensive anyway.
Well, maybe... just do it in one step and just buy a collection gift box of "The Little Prince"?
"Hello, Miss, you have spent a total of 96.99 pounds on a collection gift box. Are you a member of Waterstones Bookstore... Apple Wallet or PAYPAL? Do you need to use cash coupons..."
20 minutes later.
Maka and Kelly each appeared in front of the checkout counter holding a dark collector's edition solid wood gift box.
The teller at the cashier's face smiled brightly when he saw such a big customer.
Collectible gift boxes, priced from £60 to hundreds of pounds, are produced to give hard-core readers a gift.
The Scholastic Group's collection gift box this time includes a hardcover physical book of "The Little Prince", a hand-made doll of the Little Prince, a special illustration collection and a set of illustrated postcards.
UK price £96.99.
Just buying this thing for a hundred pounds sounds like the profit margin is so high that it's a bit like cutting leeks.
It is not considered sinister to put it in the field of collection gift boxes.
Money can't buy fans like it.
There are many collectible gift boxes of tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons that sell for thousands of pounds.
The game collection gift box set of Activision Blizzard's "Diablo 4", which was released at the same time as "The Little Prince", is also priced at a similar price.
It doesn’t even include the main body. Players still need to spend tens of pounds more to buy the game alone, but tens of thousands of units are still sold.
"Anyway, I guess it will be difficult for me to buy Detective Cat's paintings again in the future. This time I will show kindness."
Maka didn't wait for Kelly to tease her, so she felt guilty and expressed her stance in advance.
Her fingertips spray-painted the cover of the Little Prince on the Dunes illustration on the cover of the solid wood gift box, and the more she looked at it, the more excited she became.
"It's so beautiful!"
Maka put the gift box into the shopping bag and glanced up at the blonde girl: "Kelly, you have to wait until the autograph session is over to take away the poster, right?"
"Yes, the book signing is expected to end at 5 pm at the latest. There are too many people here, so I went to the Starbucks across the street to drink a latte while waiting. During this time, I can read the entire "The Little Prince" "
Kelly nodded: "If you are in a hurry, you can go back to school first."
"Forget it, at this point, I won't be able to catch up with the handsome guy's show when I go back. Let's go to Oxford Street. I just happen to go shopping in the shopping mall next to it."
Maka glanced at her watch.
"We met in front of the bookstore at 4:55 in the afternoon. The book signing should be almost over by then."
——
at dusk,
When Maka found her best friend in front of Waterstones Bookstore again, she was already holding various large and small shopping bags in her hands like magic.
Perfume, eye cream, lipstick, high heels...
In this era, the parents of students who can study art are most likely to have low financial resources.
The credit card limit that Maka holds is not low, plus she is entangled and unhappy about losing the bet today.
Naturally, she shopped all afternoon.
When I almost ran out of money to buy any more, I sent a message to Kelly and wandered back to Waterstones Bookstore on the east side of the shopping street.
Normally.
The most popular time for a book signing is when people first enter the venue.
Most die-hard fans who really want to meet the author and translator will queue up early. If you enter early, you can also listen to the creator's lectures, speak and exchange questions.
If you come late, you just buy signed books.
Therefore, autograph sessions in the UK rarely run into the afternoon. Most of them are only half a day, or last two or three hours.
Except the author needs a break.
Also because 70% of the entire book signing event can be sold in the first hour, and the traffic will become less and less after that.
When the book is about to end, the author often wants to continue signing, and there are not many people in the bookstore.
"Harry Potter" and Prince and Meghan's royal gossip autobiography "The Spare Tire", which is a popular book with sales exceeding one million on the first day, can be signed from beginning to end. .
However, in the newspaper photos of this kind of book signing event, the queue at the door can stretch for two miles, and the real sea of people is noisy.
Maka and Kelly saw that there were a lot of people in front of Waterstones Bookstore when it opened today, a lot in the ordinary sense.
Compared with the sheer number of readers of a top-notch book that requires ambulances and medical emergency teams to be on site to prevent fainting and stampede accidents, it is not even close to the number of readers.
The queue waiting in front of the door before entering was less than one-tenth as long as others.
Maka estimated that when she came back, there would be no one in front of Waterstones Bookstore.
Perhaps Mr. Charlie Hawke was already preparing to leave.
But there are exceptions to everything.
When the queue in front of Waterstones Bookstore not only did not become shorter at all, but appeared to be about the same length as the beginning, it appeared in her sight.
Maka's mouth opened in shock.
The pile of shopping bags hanging on my arms almost fell to the ground.
"Holy moly!"
Maka put her shopping bag on the white pedal in front of the Starbucks store and pointed at the crowd of people who were still waiting in line in front of the bookstore during dinner.
"All these people are here to buy the fairy tale book "The Little Prince"."
she said incredulously.
"I'm as surprised as you are. Are you hungry?"
Kelly pushed a plate of blue plum pancakes with more than half left to Maka's side, indicating that the other party could wait a moment: "Let's have something to eat. Looking at the situation, I think this autograph session will take a while. Only then can it be over.”
"Even if the public opinion on the Internet is very popular, the translation master Mr. Hawke still has a lot of appeal, but it is still a bit too exaggerated."
Maka sat on the chair, stuffed a piece of pancake dipped in honey into her mouth, and took out her mobile phone while chewing.
She took a photo of the crowd in front of the bookstore across the street. In the process of selecting the perspective, she inadvertently pulled a large push of shopping bags on the table and the fairy tale book Kelly put on the table into the camera frame.
Then she edited a short tweet - [Drawed by her best friend Kelly to attend a book signing for "The Little Prince". It's hard to understand that there are so many people queuing up at 5pm. 】
"The one who drew the illustrations of the detective cat in "The Little Prince"? It's so popular!"
"I bought Yves Saint Laurent Platinum Mirror Special Floral Perfume for 180 pounds, I'm envious. Also on the table is the new version of "The Little Prince", which is much more beautiful than I thought. It doesn't seem to be as bad as what was said online. .”
"It's hard to tell. I can't see clearly in the pictures on my phone. When I get back to school, I'll go to your and Kelly's dormitory to have a look."
"I'm sure this photo was taken now. At this time, were there so many people lining up in the bookstore before?"
"..."
As the number of views below the tweet increased, alumni continued to like and comment on it.
Maka watched this scene with a smile.
According to this trend, it is estimated that it will not be long before this tweet will become her most liked and forwarded tweet in recent times.
Kelly has carefully and repeatedly admired all the illustrations of "The Little Prince" in the past few hours, and she feels extremely satisfied.
Especially the separate illustration book included in the collector's edition gift box.
Each page can be individually framed and hung on your bedroom wall.
The blonde girl also saw Maka's new tweet and knew that the main purpose of the other party was to ask Versailles for the newly purchased cosmetics. She thought about it and said, "The reason for the poster."
"What?"
"I mean, there are so many people queuing up in front of Waterstones Bookstore. It's most likely because of the illustrated posters on the promotional stands outside the store."
Kelly took a sip of coffee.
These tourists were all attracted by the illustrations - even though it sounded incredible, this conclusion was the most likely answer she could think of.
The blonde girl had been sitting in front of the coffee shop opposite for the past few hours.
Everything that happened in the bookstore happened under her eyes.
When she first came out with shopping bags, the number of readers did tend to shrink.
But there are always new tourists entering Shushi Bookstore.
People are constantly leaving and coming.
After a while, the number of visitors coming in and the number of customers walking out seemed to maintain a harmonious balance.
The store is not too crowded, but under the control of the staff, there are always people waiting in line at the door.
From Kelly's observation, the readers still waiting at the door at this time may not be the same kind of readers at all as the crowd when they attended Dean Hawke's lecture.
These people are more like the international student who accidentally walked into the bookstore to join in the fun.
Easter is the most important holiday in the British Isles after Christmas.
As the Easter holidays approach, footfall on Oxford Street exceeds 200,000 people every day.
There are dense crowds of people passing by the bookstore all the time, and almost every minute someone is attracted by the beautiful promotional posters at the door.
In the Bible story, gods destroyed the Tower of Babel, and from then on there was a language barrier in the world. People on the mainland are divided by different languages, nationalities and accents. From now on, there will no longer be a world language that can connect the hearts of all people.
Then He probably ignored the method of painting.
When beauty is sublimated to a certain concentration, visual art can moisten everyone's heart without any prerequisites and cultural accumulation.
The crowd waiting in front of the bookstore now should be just tourists who come to shop.
Visitors may have never known that a book signing will be held here today, they may not care about the public opinion turmoil on the Internet, they may have never heard of Charlie Hawke and Detective Cat, and they may even be completely unfamiliar with Saint-Exupéry and "The Little Prince."
Such people are the majority in the world.
Perhaps when they got up this morning and sat at the dining table eating breakfast cereal, they never imagined that at some point in the afternoon they would walk into a bookstore and buy a fairy tale book.
That’s what shopping is all about.
During a leisurely walk, you can find something that strikes your fancy and buy it.
It’s just that in most cases, the products that people are willing to wear in their pockets may be the clothes on the models in the window, the flying cakes from India that smell of roasted flour, and the bottled perfume that is full of floral fragrance in the Yves Saint Laurent experience store.
Buying books in physical bookstores... This option is a bit old-school and out of step with the times.
People began to prefer electronic reading to book pages that smelled of ink and paper pulp.
The most glorious era of physical books, the days when everyone on the street carried a pocket book in their bag, are gone. Waterstones Bookstore, which has a good cooperative relationship with Scholastic Group, is already the largest physical bookseller with the best financial position in the world. The share of annual shipments is also declining year by year, and it even needs to rely on selling coffee to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
today.
A shocking illustration poster successfully turned the gears of history for half a century, awakening countless people's urge to pick up a physical book that they had not had for a long time.
In principle, the illustration poster in front of Waterstones Bookstore is no different from the picture of global brand ambassador sports superstar Son Heung-min on the sign of the Burberry store next door.
The only difference is that at the moment, the illustration of Detective Cat is more charming than the bright smile of the Premier League Golden Boot.
And buying a book is not like buying a dark Burberry trench coat, which requires ordinary people to eat dirt for half a year.
People's eyes scanned——
watch,
stop,
My heart is pounding.
…
In the bookstore, Dean Hawke was covered in hot sweat.
The old gentleman drank the ink from the ink bottle, screwed up the pen, wiped off the few traces of carbon ink on the 17K rose gold pen tip with a tissue, and signed the following words under the title page of the book using a specially designed font. HAWK" are the letters of the surname.
So cool!
Dean Hawke felt the numbness and soreness coming from his fingers and wrist bones, but his whole body was still very excited.
The book signing is the premiere of Bookman.
Looking at the sea of people in the bookstore, the eyes of every face are shining with longing. Everyone is chanting your name and praising your achievements.
Any writer would be suffocated with joy for this sense of accomplishment.
Translation is called the secondary creation of books. In the process of localizing foreign classics, the translator is definitely the most critical person.
Charlie Hawke is the Dean of the School of English Literature at Oxford University and one of the top three translators in England. He has translated countless world famous books and published a polyphonic book called "Broken Random World".
However, whether it is a translated work or a personal creation, Hawke's writing direction is biased towards traditional serious literature with an average readership of over 35 years old.
It is often a hot scene that can only be seen at popular fantasy signings such as "Game of Thrones", "Lord of the Rings" and "Twilight".
This was also the first time that Dean Hawke encountered him.
"I actually have so many fans. The literary taste of local readers in London seems to have improved a lot over the years!"
The old gentleman was overjoyed and handed the book in his hand back to the aunt in front of him. In a happy mood, he casually thanked me: "Thank you for attending my book signing."
"Hmm, the illustrations in this book are so beautifully chosen."
The aunt also gave the Dean of Oxford a thumbs up.
Well.
Dean Hawke's mouth twitched slightly.
This is not the first time that the old man has heard this compliment. He even encountered a reader asking the staff if he could get the illustrator to sign his name.
The illustrations are beautiful, Hawke certainly admits.
Many of Saint-Exupéry's storylines are inseparable from the assistance of illustrations.
When the old gentleman learned from the publisher that he could not get the set of simple illustrations from the original work this time, he needed to add them later.
Hawke still has a lot of worries, whether the illustrator this time can understand the artistic conception of "The Little Prince", and whether it will hinder him.
Fortunately, the detective cat should have a relatively deep understanding of the plot of "The Little Prince".
When he saw this set of illustrations for the first time, he was amazed by the expressiveness of the pictures.
But what is the point of this book?
It’s his delicate and timeless writing.
He always heard praise for the illustrations at book signings, and Mr. Hawke felt somewhat sour that he was being overshadowed.
It happened that a staff member walked by with a large basket of recycled purchase intention sheets from readers attending the book signing.
Dean Hawke paused signing and waved to the staff.
The two hundred and sixty chapters previously released are in front of the single chapter prompts.
(End of chapter)
