Why do people go to book fairs today?

There are many people at the book fair, so many people must have experienced it before. But now I see more people reading on their mobile phones on the subway, and in recent years a large number of traditional bookstores have closed. I am prepared to go to a Shanghai Book Fair that is not what it used to be. However, the queue at the entrance of the Friendship Hall was still shocking.

In this era when fragmented and electronic reading has gradually become a common trend, why are so many people still willing to brave the scorching sun or heavy rain to go to the book fair? Full of doubts, I tried to find answers among the crowds at the book fair and the sea of ??books.

What books do people read at the book fair?

Walking around a book fair will give you a rough idea of ??which books people linger in front of for a long time and which books no one cares about. The new book "A Brief History of the Future" by Israeli writer Yuval 6 Harari, who has become popular around the world, and his previous work "A Brief History of Humanity" were hotly promoted by CITIC Publishing House at this book fair, attracting many readers to stop and read and inquire. A child who looked to be only 10 years old pointed to "A Brief History of the Future" and asked his father: "He also wrote "A Brief History of Humanity, right?" In addition, CITIC also vigorously promoted Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg ’s new book “Another Choice.” This seems to show a high degree of overlap with knowledge hot spots on the Internet: people's high curiosity and thirst for knowledge about technology and the future, as well as their desire for self-improvement.

The booth of Shanghai Translation Publishing House was also crowded with people. A mother and her daughter, who is about to enter the fifth grade of elementary school, stood hesitantly in front of a series of works by Haruki Murakami. She said that her daughter has read extensively since she was a child. Even if it is historical subjects that she is not interested in, she will deliberately read them to her daughter. "The foundation of reading must be cultivated in childhood."

Gu Zhen, editor of Shanghai Translation, said that the Murakami Haruki series has been the agency’s long-standing “sales champion” for many years. However, at this year’s book fair, they mainly promoted the French writer J.M. Sherlock Holmes "Fan Novels" and "Sherlock Holmes Syndrome", as well as "Hundred Chinese Literature and Art Sayings" and "Treasures" compiled by "Life" monthly magazine. The former invited the writer himself to have many interactions with Sherlock Holmes fans, and the latter included musician Li Zongsheng The personal promotion on the platform was very popular among readers at the book fair. In addition, there is a complete set of imported works of Raymond 6 Chandler, as well as the "Translation Documentary" series of non-fiction works that are published slowly but have a large audience among male and middle-aged and elderly readers, "(Documentary Series) This year's new books are "Munich's Mosque" and "Northeast Travels", Gu Zhen said and handed me a copy of "Munich's Mosque". Like other books in the series, the cover uses documentary photography. , which is quite different from its usual exquisite and simple literary binding. I think this also coincides with the trend of major international literary awards in recent years. With the unprecedented globalization process in the contemporary world and the various pressing real problems arising from it, writers have shown an unprecedented tendency to observe and empathize with the current situation of mankind, and a large number of excellent non-fiction literary works have emerged. For example, Belarusian journalist and writer Svetlana Alexievich won the 2015 Nobel Prize for his "polyphonic writing of suffering and courage" about the war in Afghanistan and the Chernobyl accident. Literary Award.

Although new books and new editions satisfy people's sense of freshness in reading, pure literary works in the traditional sense are not weak either. Gu Zhen pointed to the series of translated classic works neatly arranged on the wall cabinet and said, "Actually, our classics have always been very popular among the student party. These works have almost never been changed since their first edition, and their versions and translators remain the same. It’s the same style since the last century.”

Similar to what I saw in front of the booth of the Commercial Press. Several middle school students were seriously discussing which book they had read and what kind of reading experience they had in front of the "Chinese Translation of World Academic Classics Series". It reminds me of the middle school era described by Zweig in "The World of Yesterday": "In the classroom where we used to sit and immerse ourselves in study, we no longer hear anything new or anything that we think is of intellectual value, but outside the classroom there are It is a city that arouses endless interest. It has theaters, museums, bookstores, and universities. Our suppressed thirst for knowledge, the curiosity about the world of knowledge, the world of art, and the enjoyment of life that cannot be satisfied in school. Turning eagerly to everything that happens outside school. ”

Fewer people are reading? Or has it increased?

While chatting with Wang Ling, deputy general manager of Century Wenjing, she pointed out a question that also puzzled me: Why do I feel that there are few people reading around me anymore, but the publisher’s Book sales actually haven’t decreased much? Thinking about it now, this concept itself may be a kind of "survivor bias". The number of fans of books and knowledge has never decreased. Although scholars and booksellers are loyal readers, workers in all walks of life also have There is no shortage of enthusiasts. In front of the works "The Looked Up and the Forgotten" and "Kingdom and Power" by American journalist and writer Guy 6 Tellis, a woman seriously introduced the two books to her companions: "I read this book. ("The Looked Up and the Forgotten"), you know how the book "In Beijing, 20 Million People Pretend to Live", which was very popular in the circle of friends, was written. This is about the New York Times. The writer's famous work.

But as far as his language style is concerned, I suggest that you would be better off reading the original work. "Wang Ling said that "The Looked Up and the Forgotten" was launched by them in March this year, but it has been reprinted twice in less than half a year. In addition, they also promoted the book to win this year's National Book Award and Puley. The novel "The Underground Railroad" by Colson 6 Whitehead, who designed the award, is also on the best-selling list this year due to the aura of the trophy.

It is actually difficult to achieve "universal reading". , but "just like the Shanghai Book Fair, it draws on the model of the Hong Kong Book Fair. From booths to activities, it is completely open to ordinary citizens with zero threshold. This is a situation we rarely see in other places in the mainland," Wang Ling said .

The picture shows the Hong Kong Book Fair

In fact, according to the organizer’s data, the number of exhibitors at the Shanghai Book Fair around 2007 was about 200,000, which increased to 320,000 in 2012. Last year, the number of visitors exceeded 400,000, and the various activities at the book fair increased from the original 170 to more than 900 this year. At the same time, the 27-year-old Hong Kong Book Fair attracted nearly 100 people this year. million readers. Comparing this with the population data of the two cities (Shanghai has a population of 24 million and Hong Kong has a population of 7.37 million), the Shanghai Book Fair still shows a lot of room for improvement.

On the 20th, in Chile. At the Chinese version of poet Roberto Bola?o's collection of poems "Unknown University", a 14-year-old boy said that he came all the way from Hangzhou to follow his "idol". The original author passed away early, but I read every new work by him in China.

We don’t know whether such a young reader can really understand Bola?o’s works. But "there are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand readers." In the eyes of young people, these literary superstars also have their own unique brilliance.

Planned by Century Wenjing and published by Shanghai People's Publishing House. "The Kite Runner" by Afghan-born writer Khaled 6 Hosseini has become a long-selling book since it was published in China in 2006.

In the age of technology, the popularity of books has increased. What will happen in the future?

“As e-book reading becomes more and more popular, are you worried as a publisher? "I posed this question to the two persons in charge of Shiji Wenjing and Shanghai Translation, and their answers were surprisingly similar: don't worry. On the one hand, more and more publishers will take paper into consideration when planning books. There are two sales channels for quality books and e-books. On the other hand, although the sales of e-books are on the rise, readers in general still prefer paper books. However, many people, such as Amazon President Bezos, have predicted. Are you not worried that paper books will eventually die out? "I don't think so." Gu Zhen gave the example of vinyl records. "The sound quality of vinyl records is incomparable to CDs and streaming media. This is it." An important reason for returning. The same goes for books. Some people may use e-books to read, but many people say they prefer paper books because the ‘texture’ of reading is different, and as a collection on the bookshelf, they can be flipped through at any time. Wang Ling said that whether it is a paper book or an e-book, the more important thing is the quality of the book's content. "As long as there are readers willing to read it, even if the audience is small, we are willing to publish it." "

Italian writer and semiotician Umberto Eco once pointed out in his speech "The Future of Books", "Computer communication runs ahead of you, but books will go with you. And the pace is consistent. ?In fact, despite the endless emergence of new technology equipment, the old things have not completely died out. Cars can run faster than bicycles, but they have not made bicycles disappear. In the history of culture, there has never been an example of one thing simply killing another. Of course, new inventions always profoundly change the old. ”

This may also corroborate another topic about books - bookstores. Although a large number of traditional bookstores have closed down in recent years, at the same time, independent bookstores with their own characteristics have are entering the market with great fanfare. If traditional bookstores sell reading content, independent bookstores sell “atmosphere.” Take Eslite Bookstore, which was founded in Taipei and is widely popular among readers. In addition to selling books, it also sells other bookstores. It has integrated multiple businesses such as cafes, restaurants, galleries, and movie theaters to meet the various needs of readers during reading activities. The reason why ambient reading has become more and more popular is still people’s appreciation of reading itself. Interest.

As for what people read, will there be any changes in the future? One obvious trend is the growth of science fiction works at the book fair "Literary Dialogue: From Science Fiction Reading to Science Fiction Creation" event. On the topic, science fiction writer Chen Qiufan said that compared with literary works that "state" the past, science fiction novels are future-oriented, allowing people to use the future as a starting point to reflect on whether to stick to the current way of life. In this sense, Zhang Xinxin. The professor also put forward a similar point of view when answering "Where can people become beautiful" - people continue to push their own boundaries outward through reading and writers through writing, so as to see their own shortcomings and make up for them.

When many people begin to worry about the obstacles posed by new media in the technological era to literary criticism, young critic Konoha’s views are worth learning from: “Modern science and technology are very subtle, and no matter how powerful AlphaGo is, it cannot Separated from their designers, if one day they have their own subjectivity, they will make technology more advanced, life better, cruelty more cruel, and beauty better. ”

About the future of books. , perhaps as American science fiction writer William 6 Gibson said: The future has already arrived, but it has not yet become popular.