From the aesthetic point of view, the value of literature exists in the work itself, regardless of other people's gossiping. But the work itself can't appreciate itself, and its value needs to be reflected through reading and commenting. For a popular analogy, a new literary work is like an undercooked vegetable food. Its nutritional value exists in the vegetable food itself, but the vegetable food itself cannot be tasted. This requires a clever chef to hype it (neutral words are used here and below, with no meaning of praise or criticism), or to cook, steam, stew, stir-fry, or add oil and vinegar to make it a good meal for people. The same is true of literary creation. A new work, no matter how high its intrinsic value is, is nothing more than a bundle of sample books full of handwriting and a text full of words (electronic version) if no one appreciates and hypes it.

Take the long representative who won the Mao Dun Literature Award this year as an example. Liu Zhenyun's "One sentence is worth 10,000 sentences" (I first express my recognition and congratulations on Liu Zhenyun's award. He is one of the most powerful novelists in the contemporary era, and he is also my alumnus and friend. The example here doesn't mean this prize, just to illustrate the relationship between image and thinking. What do ordinary readers think without the wonderful comments of super masters such as Li Jingze and Chen Xiaoming? How can we understand that it has established a "extremely complex and extremely simple" narrative style? How to interpret "profound cultural and philosophical implications"

There is a famous saying in literary aesthetics that "image is greater than thinking"; There is a proverb in Shakespeare's study, which is called "A hundred spectators have a hundred Hamlets"; A Dream of Red Mansions also imitates the sentence "One hundred readers have one hundred Daiyu Lin". Why is image "greater than" thinking? Shakespeare wrote only one Hamlet, while Cao Weng wrote only one Lin Daiyu. Why are there so many Hamlet and Lin Daiyu? That is the result of many critics' hype and readers' appreciation!

Of course, reading and commenting, like writing, require time and energy, especially long reading and commenting. Speaking of which, I thought of seeing the hot discussion of some of your fans on the Internet, and talking about this year's Mao Dun Literature Award. I dare not comment on this year's award-winning works, because most of them have not been seen or finished; But I dare say that the judges' vote for real-name registration system is the first and highlight of this year's Mao Dun Award, which deserves our appreciation! Confucius said, "an upright man is open and poised". As a literary judge, we should not only properly exercise the right to award awards, but also bear the responsibility of voting. Public voting, dare to say and do, is very decent and beautiful. I dare not say which works should win the prize and which should not, because I haven't read and watched the long creation "continuously and comprehensively"; But I dare say that among the 62 judges, except experts and scholars engaged in long-term research and evaluation, such as Zhang Zhizhong, Wu, Chen Fumin, etc., more than half of the judges did not read and watch the long creation "continuously and comprehensively", and even the selected work "You are on the Plateau" was not really finished.

Of course, Zhang Wei is one of the most powerful contemporary writers and one of the writers I respect. It is natural that his works should win the prize. But the general impression is that it's time to award the prize, and it's a fool's procedure to award the prize without reading it. According to Zhang Wei's narrative style, You are on the Plateau is a masterpiece of more than 4.5 million words. Without considerable time, energy, enthusiasm and "motivation", it is difficult for ordinary people to finish it. Tie Ning, Gao Hongbo, Liu Jianwei, Mecca and other leaders. And they are also doing long novels, telling them to bury their heads in so many selected works of millions of words. Whether they are possible or not, I feel sorry for them!

However, it is one thing to feel distressed, and it is another to dare to vote for the prize without reading it. To this end, I have to admire the courage and courage of the judges who dare to vote for the awards without reading the long works continuously and comprehensively, or even reading the selected works!

I don't have such courage and courage. Two years ago, the Chinese Writers Association sent me a list of winners of novellas and asked me to tick it for an award. Although I have seen most of the works listed in the catalogue, I have not seen all the works of the same period, so I hesitated and finally handed in a blank sheet of paper, afraid to comment rashly.

In a sense, anyone who has the ability to read and appreciate can become a "critic", because no matter how much you read, how little you read or whether you finish reading, you can tell your feelings and comments. However, being a "judge" is not the case. If there is no reading and comparison of the overall situation, it is inevitable that the blind will touch the elephant and see the trees in the forest. Who knows which tree deserves the highest evaluation? Isn't it a correction to comment on ignorance?

However, then again, what is perfect in this world? Apart from literary awards, film and television awards, colleges and universities, and even personnel selection and appointment, are they all the same? As long as everyone knows what is going on in their hearts and understands that this is the only way under realistic conditions, they will be relieved and safe. Therefore, there is no need to look at everything so sacred and perfect. Of course, it is very important for everyone to understand what is going on, because understanding can not only look at reality calmly, but also hopefully become better in the future.