Chapter 7 Naoko Anfang talks about creation 3 My approach to fantasy novels: "The Flounder of the Sea Pavilion"

Naoko Anbo talks about creation 3 My approach to fantasy novels: "The Flounder of the Sea House" ——From the May 1989 issue of "Japanese Children's Literature" "Special Feature: The Method of Fantasy Fiction" I am not good at speaking or writing my own work.I think, is this because I often have a desire to "hide behind the work" in my heart? If I compare my work to cooking, my state of mind is that I would rather concentrate on cooking in the kitchen than take off my apron and walk in front of the guests after that.So, this time I didn't want to write this article at the beginning, but after thinking about it, I thought of an article, and thought that I might be able to write a few sentences on it, so I started writing.

This work is "Flounder of the Sea Pavilion".Published in "Mejiro Children's Literature" in 1980, and later included in the collection of fairy tales. It tells the happy story of an unlucky young trainee chef who, with the help of "Flounder of Umi no Kan", becomes a qualified chef, finally has his own shop, and marries a gentle wife.I don't think this is a very well-written work, but in terms of the depth of thinking about the protagonist, I think it is the best. In a word, the protagonist of this work is a young man who is poor, has no education, and is very bad at dealing with the world.But despite the criticism around him and the pain in his heart, he still worked hard.Then, an incredible fish appeared to help him.Then the fish said:

"Integrity, seriousness, this is better than anything else. Such a person is always hurt by others, it really makes me intolerable." Fish's words are what I thought when I wrote this work. I wrote this article just to tell readers (especially children readers) that as long as a person lives honestly and hard-working, the star of happiness will surely descend on his head. Before that, my works hardly contained my own outlook on life or heavy themes.Nor do I consciously write for the reader.I think, the reason why I suddenly want to write such a work may be because my children have started to join the group and see all kinds of real children's world, right?

The so-called children's world, at first glance, is wonderful, but if you look closely, you will find that it is simply a microcosm of society.It is a world where the jungle often preys on the strong, and "a man of integrity is seen as a fool".There are more cases where my child is injured and goes home in such a place, but I can't say something like "You have to be strong! If he hits you, hit him! If he robs you, you rob him". .What I want to tell him is that no matter how hurt he is, no matter how painful he is now, he must be upright and serious, and the gods will see it!

With this idea, this work was completed.This work writes where the main character gets happiness, and my breasts get hot, and I can't help but want to clap my hands.To be honest, I have never written a work that favors the protagonist in this way. But today I realize that this is a perpetual theme of folklore.The upright young son was bullied by his cunning brothers, but in the end he was blessed with luck and lived a happy life in the end.I also copied such a theme that was told over and over again.In this sense, I once again realized how much the folk tales I read as a child had a great influence on me!

However, the happiest thing for me to write this work is to conceive the menu of the restaurant.I've written a short story before called "The Enchanted Tongue" which was also set in a restaurant, but in that restaurant, it was just simple things like omelets, curries and sandwiches .I figured I'd write a real restaurant story this time, and read a thick book on French cuisine for it.I remember it was a book written by a foreign chef with beautiful photos, and I was so happy just looking at the photos that I even forgot the time.Recipes such as "frog leg cold cuts", "turtle soup", and wild duck and orange sauce were all taken from that book. Only then did I know how happy it is to look up for writing! The small fish-shaped pies that appeared at the end of the story were my own ideas. It was written that the protagonist baked such pies, wrapped them in white napkins, tied a silver ribbon, and handed them to his beloved When I was a young girl, I was very excited.

Because of things like this, I've grown to love cookbooks even more since then.Although I work in the kitchen every day, I find it more interesting to read about food than to do it.Also, I also like to go shopping.Especially in the cold winter days, when you see the Chinese cabbage and radishes piled up in front of the store like a hill, you will be full of vitality.That magic fish is what inspired me when I saw the fresh fish lined up in the fish shop. Although I often write stories about anthropomorphic animals, among all kinds of animals, I think the most mysterious ones are probably birds and fish!

Birds fly in the sky and can go to a distant world, so people look forward to it.On the other hand, the fact that the fish never speaks is incredible.I was fascinated by the silence of the fish meditating motionless on the still bottom of the sea.I thought, if the fish suddenly spoke in human language, it would be so meaningful! When I was writing a work, although I had a rough outline of notes, some of them gradually changed as I wrote them.Characters emerge naturally, and details expand unexpectedly.Although this is also quite interesting, for me, I feel that if the feeling that suddenly appeared at the beginning (an inexplicable feeling of the work as a whole, something like an atmosphere), it will not be successful until the end. .When I was writing "Flounder of the Sea House", I wanted to write a story that was as dark as the bottom of the sea, with a mysterious atmosphere, but I managed to write such a story.