Chapter 13 postscript
This story was conceived more than twenty years ago.
I just wanted to write a mountaineering story, a story about a man who wanted to climb the world's highest mountain.
I've always loved heart-wrenching stories about a man looking for something.Therefore, I like people like Tang Sanzang and Kukai, and I also like men like Miyamoto Musashi or Kawaguchi Huihai.
For me, the central idea of the story may be "Learn Buddhist scriptures from the West".
The story of what to get from where you are now.
For me, the story of fighting a man stronger than myself, or climbing a mountain, to put it bluntly, may be a change in the plot.
However--
The highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, has been climbed.So, what kind of climbing story can be written in modern times?
I wholeheartedly believe that if I want to write a story, it must be a story related to Mount Everest anyway, so I even considered fabricating a fictional mountain like the famous "Le mont analogue" (Le mont analogue).
This imaginary mountain later became a giant tree in "Human Beast Change" (in fact, in that book, I wanted to describe the content of climbing the tree in more detail, but I was still unable to do so at the time), So in this book, I want to write the story of climbing Mount Everest in the Himalayas anyway.
At that time, I met what can be called the biggest unsolved case in the history of Himalayan mountaineering——Mallory's disappearance and mountain disaster.Moreover, this Mallory may have stood on the top of Mount Everest, and also left clues that can reveal the truth.
Did Mallory reach the summit of Everest before anyone else?To know this, one only had to remove the negative from the camera that was supposed to be next to Mallory's body and develop the print.
When I knew this, the inspiration for this book flashed through my mind.
This can be written.
What would happen if the cameras that were supposed to stay 8,000 meters above Mount Everest were being sold on the streets of Kathmandu?If the camera was originally owned by a Japanese before it was sold in the store...
The core of the story took shape immediately, but there was no way to write it right away.Because when I was twenty-five or six years old, I was not capable enough, and I had only climbed the Himalayas once at that time.If I want to write, at least I want to go to the base camp of Mount Everest first.
As a result, it took more than 20 years from the idea to the writing.
After I started writing, it took me four years to write 1,700 pages of manuscript paper.
It seems that I have a problem with writing about the climax of the story.
If you write a fighting story, you will only blindly write about men fighting with men like "Legend of Hungry Wolf".The content is neither a detective who is a karate master nor a strong protagonist in an adventure novel. It is just that the protagonists of fighting novels have been fighting with men with strong martial arts one after another.With the simple theme of "don't allow anyone to be better than yourself", I wrote more than 4,000 pages and still haven't finished.
If you write a Buddhist story, take Siddhartha the Buddha as the main character, and spend more than ten years writing about his process from the moment of enlightenment to the moment of enlightenment ("The King of Nirvana").
If you write a mountaineering story, you should try your best to describe the extremely simple content of "the man who climbed the highest mountain in the world" until there is nothing to write.
At the end of this series, I wrote in the "Thanks" in the July issue (1997) of "Xin Xiao Ang":
I have no regrets
Just now, I just finished writing "Mountains of the Gods".From start to finish, it took more than three years.
It has been nearly twenty years since I started wanting to write this story.
About 1,700 pages of manuscript paper.
During the serialization process, I feel that no matter how I write, the scenes and content I want to write will not decrease.
No matter how much you write, there is still more to write.Obviously the last scene was decided very early, but it was too late to write it there.In a certain container in the body, there is still a lot of unfinished content left.
I always feel that writing this manuscript is like repeatedly scooping up the content with a small ladle and spilling it on the manuscript paper.
When I finally saw the end, I wrote another 50 pages, and then I wrote another 50 pages. No matter how I wrote it, there would still be something to fill in. After I thought "it's almost finished", the serialization dragged on for another half a year .
After writing, there is no longer any scum left in the body.
All written.
Spit it all out.
Parts that are powerless.It's all painstaking work.
From the age of ten, all the things accumulated in the body from mountain climbing have been taken out.
It was also like throwing a ball from the front and writing a serious mountaineering story.Not a mountaineering story like a change ball.
Straight ball.A straight ball thrown with the strength of breastfeeding.
I will probably never write a mountaineering story again.
This is the first and last time.
Because I write so much content.
I am afraid that such a long mountaineering novel will not appear again.
Besides, that's not something everyone can write.
How is it, have you been defeated by me?
On a certain day in April 1997 in Odawara
oops.
In the book "Oulu Olane, the Old Man Playing the Cat" published when I was 27 years old, there was an article "The Man Who Gave Birth to the Mountain", which seemed to be the beginning.
"Would you like to write a mountaineering story?"
At that time, there were several manuscripts coming to the door.
One of the short stories became the story of Siddhartha climbing a giant tree in "The Change of the Phantasmal Beast", and the other short story became this book.
It was more than fifteen years ago that I agreed to write this book.Oops, sixteen years?Maybe seventeen years ago or so.
Sitting at the counter of a certain bar in a certain hotel, having a drink with an editor from Shueisha.
At that time, the editor suddenly said this seriously:
"By the way, Mr. Tapir. Do you know how many best-selling author's chairs there are?"
This question came out of the blue.
"I don't know. How many are there?"
"Fifteen."
"Fifteen?"
"Do you know why?"
"Because I counted. As far as I can count, there are only fifteen chairs for a best-selling author in any era. If someone sits on it, someone falls off it. If someone falls off, someone sits on it." Go up. To put it bluntly, to be a best-selling author is to grab these chairs."
"Really?"
"It's absolutely true."
He nodded confidently.
"By the way, Mr. Tapir, are you interested in sitting on one of these fifteen chairs?"
He said, adding:
"Actually, there's a chair vacant right now."
"What kind of chair?"
"Not so long ago, the chair that the writer Jiro Nitta sat on."
he said.
He said—since Master Nitta Jiro passed away, no one has sat on that chair.
His persuasive skills are beyond words, so I had an interesting idea—hence, I brought up this book.
"That's interesting. So, let's write the story."
Things are being finalized right away, but the question is when will it be written.
I haven't finished collecting the information yet, so I don't know when I will start writing.
Please wait for the left sentence, please wait for the right sentence, let him wait for more than fifteen years. During that period, I cooperated with him and wrote "Respect to the Storm" (野き风に话げょ), "Amazing Wrestling and Song Collection" (Yangtian·プロレス和歌四), "Lament of Laborers" (Shishishishi たちの笑歌), "Amazing Karate Knife of the First Year of Heisei" (Yangtian·プロレスラ手チヨツプ), "Amazing·Literary World Waka Collection" (Yangtian Literary World Waka Collection), "Amazing Literature Series" (Yangtian Literature Series) and other books.
Basically, every book is because I haven't been able to start writing a book, so I follow his advice:
"In that case, what about this subject matter?"
And writing works.
As a result, the reason why I was able to start writing this book was because I went to the base camp of Mount Everest from the autumn of 1993 to the winter.That was the sixth time to climb the Himalayas.
So, starting from the spring of 1994, it began to be serialized in "Novel Ang".
During the same period, "The Dalai Lama's Secret Envoy" (ダライ·ラマの秘课者), which has been in the making for more than 20 years, also began serialization in a certain magazine.This one also went to Tibet all at once, collected books all at once, and finally got in a state where I could start writing, and then started serializing. (It is a story about Sherlock Holmes, Kawaguchi Huihai and accepting the secret order of the Dalai Lama to climb up Kailash Rinpochen. The content of Holmes who fell into the Reichenbach Falls and went to Tibet will be known to those who have read "The Empty House" The bridge section.) But unfortunately, this book is currently out of serialization.
In writing this book, thanks to the help of various people.
First of all, Mr. Yoshimichi Fuhachi, who was the captain of the "Manaslu Ski Mountaineering Team" when he went to Manaslu Peak to watch cranes flying over the Himalayas.Since discussing this book with Mr. Jiang Qi in Baima in the winter of 1994, I have borrowed valuable materials from him for four years and have not returned them.
Mr. Kazuo Yamada of Tokyo Books and I have traveled together several times to the Himalayas and surrounding mountains, including Tianshan, Cho Oyu, Everest, and Kailash.Like the literal meaning, we are good brothers who share life and death.
Mr. Tsunemichi Ikeda of "Shanxi" was very helpful when investigating the anaerobic climbers of Mount Everest.He is like a living dictionary of mountaineering history, and the mountaineering list I looked up for me has become very precious information.
Mr. Minoru Sase's "Wolf Does Not Return Mountaineer Katsushi Morita's Life and Death" also helped me a lot.When I was hesitant about the role of Joji Hanyu, I rewatched "The Wolf Does Not Return", and finally decided on the role of Joji Hanyu.
By the way, the name "Joji Hanyu" comes from Mr. Zenji Hanyu, the master of shogi.
When I started writing this book, I was a fan of Mr. Hanyu (at the time, Mr. Hanyu became a celebrity), and based on this opportunity, I decided to use the surname Hanyu.
In 1993, when I went to the base camp of Mount Everest, I was also taken care of by Mr. Yagihara Keaki, who was trying to climb the southwest face and Mount Gunma.I almost died and made it to the base camp with a lot of hard work, where I ate chow mein that I will never forget.I could hardly eat because of altitude sickness, and the only food I could swallow after a long time was the fried noodles at that time.
At that time, the team of horses climbed the southwest face for the first time in winter.
So, including the above-mentioned Mr. Yamada, Mr. Suda Yoshinobu and Ms. Kawa Minako from the second RCC, I met once or twice a month for meals and drinks during this serialization period.
Whenever there is something I don't understand about mountain climbing, as long as we discuss it at this dinner party, most of the things will be cleared up.This is a very helpful meal.
Mr. Suda was a member of the Cho Oyu middle-aged mountaineering team formed in 1990. At that time, I also went to the base camp of Cho Oyu.
When I asked about the southwest face of Mount Everest, Mr. Suda told me as if he had personally experienced it in units of 20 meters from the starting point to the summit: If you want to climb this huge rock wall, if you have to climb 30 meters Meter-meter, forty-degree ice wall, where to climb 20 meters in a zigzag to the left, and then climb up the forty-five-degree ice wall with a pair of axes.I felt a kind of culture shock from it.There are very few people on this earth who can tell the southwest wall in such detail.
In addition, there are countless people who have helped me. I think that I probably cannot finish this novel with my own strength.
I want to say to you: Thank you for your help.
Many acquaintances and friends have given me indescribable, tangible and intangible strength.
When I finished writing this book, I couldn't help crying, and I was full of emotions.I poured out all the things I thought and wanted to write.
This book is filled with everything about who I am now.
This book is the present incarnation of the Dream Pillow Tapir.
There is no powerless, or incapable part.
Except this one, no other book has been written in this mood.
Exactly how the reader will read this book is beyond my guess.
Of course, I think it is a mountaineering novel, a mountaineering reasoning, and an adventure novel.
As far as the writing method is concerned, I have not been particularly aware of anything since I started writing. If I have, I just realize that I am writing a vivid novel, a story that is extremely precious to me.
All written.
I have no regrets.
On the morning of July 4, Heisei 9, when I went to Kaibu River, in Shinjuku——
Dream Pillow Tapir
Postscript of the library version
There is a reason why I decided to write an afterword for the library edition this time.
Because I modified the second half.
So it is somewhat different from the original version.
Why do you do this?
That's because in early May 1999, for this story, an event occurred.
Mallory's body was found near an elevation of 8,160 meters on the north face of Everest.
Discovered by the "Mallory/Irwin Survey Expedition" (captained by Eric R. Simonson) proposed by Jochen Hamley, a mountaineering history researcher.
In fact, at that time, I went to Nepal because of this "Mountain of the Gods".
late april -
"Mountain of the Gods" was adapted into a manga in Shueisha's "Business Jump" (currently being serialized). I went to collect themes with manga artist Mr. Jiro Taniguchi and others, and wandered around Kathmandu.
After returning, he learned the news that Mallory's body had been found.
I was surprised, but also relieved, glad that I finished writing this book before this.
However, for this reason, I rewrote the final scene without changing the structure of the story.
As for how to rewrite, let me make a fool of myself here.
Mallory's body was found, but the cameras never found it.
It's incredible.
Perhaps unexpectedly, Wang Hongbao, who was swept away by the avalanche, was holding the camera.
The mystery will probably never be solved.
On the contrary, this will make the history of Himalaya mountaineering endlessly reverie.
June 2000 in Odawara——
Dream Pillow Tapir
Notes:
Notes: