Short Stories That Impress and Move People

Wenjer Leuschel wrote:
就从这位本名 William Sydney Porter 的美国作家谈起吧。这位作家的短篇小说有一个特色：Twist endings，也称 surprise endings。比方说，The Necklace 这篇故事里的女士，弄丢了一串向别人借的珍珠项链，不好意思告诉人家项链丢了，贷款去买了一串还给人家，结果为了偿还贷款含辛茹苦大半辈子，却在最后听到借她项链的女士说那串项链的珍珠是假的。

Zhoudan wrote:

我记得，The Necklace的作者好像是莫泊桑，中学课本里有的。
是不是我记错了？

Jason Ma wrote:

羊脂球（Boule de suif ）
入木三分地反映出人性的反复无常和脆弱。
这个名字到底翻译的贴切吗？望搞法语的前辈们指点。

Jason Ma wrote:

羊脂球（Boule de suif ）

Zhoudan wrote:

只有一句话：

那天早晨，太阳从西边升起....


这是傅佩荣的书上看来的。

Wenjer Leuschel wrote:

http://www.ariyam.com/docs/lit/wf_rose.html

这篇William Faulkner在1930年发表的短篇小说，相当震撼人心，读了也许会让人感到毛骨悚然。不过，读这样的故事，不可做道德判断，只能分析故事主人翁Emily Grierson所处的社会以及她与社会人群的互动现象。

故事不长，大概半个钟头就可以读完，然后再花半个钟头来回察看Faulkner描述的美国南方社会，很可能会有极有趣的发现。

周末愉快！

Wenjer Leuschel wrote:


我也这么觉得。不过，我还觉得，心美人就美。让人不美的是负面的情绪，例如无由的恐惧，对不知的事物感到莫名的恐惧，会让人做出怪异的行为，像Emily Grierson恐惧失去依靠，所以她无法面对父亲的死亡，又害怕失去她心所依靠爱人，干脆用老鼠药把他毒死，好永远留在她的身边。

正忙着，回头再来谈Faulkner这篇故事的细部分析，先说这短篇小说的震撼力藏在每个人的心中，把人的正常心理反应推到极点，更加恐怖的事情都有可能发生，而且在人间很有可能把社群的运作操弄到那样的地步，只要人们对自己和别人的行为不留意作深入的思考，类似的恐怖事件就很容易造成。

等我空下来，再分析看看我跟chance到底有没有灵犀相通；搞不好跟这里的许多人也有那么些灵犀相通也说不定。Steve可要小心，千万别站在双方交火的中间了。:D

... People in our town, remembering how old lady Wyatt, her great-aunt, had gone completely crazy at last, believed that the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were. None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such. We had long thought of them as a tableau, Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door. So when she got to be thirty and was still single, we were not pleased exactly, but vindicated; even with insanity in the family she wouldn't have turned down all of her chances if they had really materialized.

When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her; and in a way, people were glad. At last they could pity Miss Emily. Being left alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized. Now she too would know the old thrill and the old despair of a penny more or less.

The day after his death all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, as is our custom Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body. Just as they were about to resort to law and force, she broke down, and they buried her father quickly.

We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that. We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.

Jason Ma wrote:

A rose for Emily有点希区柯克惊悚片的气氛 , Emily 做了惊天动地的事， 自己还觉得很平常。她最大的悲剧在于以自我为中心， 不愿承认一个新的时代的到来。