首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Wherever the crime novels of P. D. James are discussed by critics, there is a tendency on the one hand to exaggerate her merits
Wherever the crime novels of P. D. James are discussed by critics, there is a tendency on the one hand to exaggerate her merits
admin
2014-07-25
69
问题
Wherever the crime novels of P. D. James are discussed by critics, there is a tendency on the one hand to exaggerate her merits and on the other to castigate her as a genre writer who is getting above herself. Perhaps underlying the debate is that familiar, false opposition set up between different kinds of fiction, according to which enjoyable novels are held to be somehow slightly lowbrow, and a novel is not considered true literature unless it is a tiny bit dull.
Those commentators who would elevate James’ books to the status of high literature point to her painstakingly constructed characters, her elaborate settings, her sense of place, and her love of abstractions: notions about morality, duty, pain, and pleasure are never far from the lips of her police officers and murderers. Others find her pretentious and tiresome; an inverted snobbery accuses her of abandoning the time-honored conventions of the detective genre in favor of a highbrow literary style. The critic Harriet Waugh wants P. D. James to get on with "the more taxing business of laying a tricky trail and then fooling the reader"; Philip Oakes in The Literary Review groans, "Could we please proceed with the business of clapping the handcuffs on the killer?"
James is certainly capable of strikingly good writing. She takes immense trouble to provide her characters with convincing histories and passions. Her descriptive digressions are part of the pleasure of her books and give them dignity and weight. But it is equally true that they frequently interfere with the story; the patinas and aromas of a country kitchen receive more loving attention than does the plot itself. Her devices to advance the story can be shameless and thin, and it is often impossible to see how her detective arrives at the truth; one is left to conclude that the detective solves crimes through intuition. At this stage in her career P. D. James seems to be less interested in the specifics of detection than in her characters’ vulnerabilities and perplexities.
However, once the rules of a chosen genre cramp creative thought, there is no reason why an able and interesting writer should accept them. In her latest book, there are signs that James is beginning to feel constrained by the crime-novel genre, here her determination to leave areas of ambiguity in the solution of the crime and to distribute guilt among the murderer, victim, and bystanders points to conscious rebellion against the traditional neatness of detective fiction. It is fashionable, though reprehensible, for one writer to prescribe to another. But perhaps the time has come for P. D. James to slide out of her handcuffs and stride into the territory of the mainstream novel.
It can be inferred from the passage that, in the author’s view, traditional detective fiction is characterized by______.
选项
A、attention to the concepts of morality and responsibility
B、concern for the weaknesses and doubts of the characters
C、transparent devices to advance the plot
D、the straightforward assignment of culpability for the crime
答案
D
解析
推断题。文中第二段是比较P. D.James的犯罪小说和传统犯罪小说的区别。从“Philip Oakes in The Literary Review groans,‘Could we please proceed with the business of clapping the handcuffs on the killer?’”可以得出,传统小说更直接。而P.D.James的叙事更为迂回。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/QYpO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
来美国求学的中国学生与其他亚裔学生一样,大多非常刻苦勤奋。周末也往往会抽出一天甚至两天的时间去实验室加班,因而比起美国学生来,成果出得较多。我的导师是亚裔人,嗜烟好酒,脾气暴躁。但他十分欣赏亚裔学生勤奋与扎实的基础知识,也特别了解亚裔学生的心理。因此,在他
B美国文学之作家概况。EmilyDickinson是19世纪美国著名的女诗人,是后现代主义的代表人物,和WaltWhitman齐名。代表作有I’mNobody.WhoAreYou?(《我是无名小卒,你是谁?》)。
Thestudyofhowsoundsareputtogetherandusedtoconveymeaningincommunicationis______.
MigrationandBusinessI.MigrationMap—sharplinesdivideuptheworldRealworld-—no(1)______betweenlandsII.Twochangesof
长江是世界上第四大河。在那里现正在进行世界上最大的大坝一一三峡大坝的建设。按照三峡大坝设计者的观点,大坝可以把洪水挡在新的大水库里,从而防止洪水对华中和华东地区的侵犯。大坝还可以为三分之一的中国人提供占全国总发电量九分之一的电能,这样,每年可节约五千万吨煤
ThecommonthreadthroughoutAmericanliteraturehasbeentheemphasison
Chemistryplaysanimportantpartinourlife.The【1】______ofaclock,【1】______theclotheswewear,andourleathershoesar
Makinggooduseofthecollegelibrarymightbeamaximalhelptostudents’study.Togetaccesstothelibrary,thestudentsho
A、maketheparentsbeawareoftheimportanceofequalityinthefamily.B、makepeopleknowthatgirlsandboysshouldbetreate
Atpresent,Chinaisconsideringwhetherornottopushbacktheretirementage.Thetopichasbeenhotlydebatedsinceitfirst
随机试题
国家对其开展的加工贸易实行银行保证金台账“实转”管理的企业是
全国人大常委会举行会议的法定人数为()
A.淋巴因子B.内毒素C.抗原抗体复合物D.内生致热原E.本胆烷醇酮严重肝脏疾病引起发热的原因是
某药按一级动力学消除时,其半衰期()。
工程保险的主要险别包括()。
根据支付结算法律制度的规定,下列银行卡分类标准中,符合贷记卡、准贷记卡划分标准的是()。
下列关于“精准思维”的叙述不正确的是:
漫画:一个人在井里打水,突然青蛙聩了出来。以“机遇”为题作演讲。(2012年6月2日下午河北省公务员面试真题)
某单位准备组建几支运动队,开展员工运动情况的调查,发现喜欢篮球的员工中,只要是人力资源部的员工,则其也一定喜欢登山。下列推断正确的是:
WorldExpoisthelargestthemeexhibitionwheretheorganizerandparticipantscancommunicateandpromotethespecificconcept
最新回复
(
0
)