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
The Writer’s Life A survey of Britain’s youth found that many aspire (立志) to become writers. They clearly don’t know how har
The Writer’s Life A survey of Britain’s youth found that many aspire (立志) to become writers. They clearly don’t know how har
admin
2013-04-08
27
问题
The Writer’s Life
A survey of Britain’s youth found that many aspire (立志) to become writers. They clearly don’t know how hard it is, writes Alix Christie...
Britain’s most respected writers have at least one trait in common; all had childhoods immersed (浸泡) in a passion for reading, enabled by public libraries. At a time when government cuts threaten to close some 450 libraries around the country, the British library has released "The Writing Life" , a new two-CD set of writers discussing their life, their work and their fondness for libraries. In gathering these interviews, the British Library was not aiming for an argument. But as affordable access to literature becomes increasingly unstable—in libraries or booksellers large and small—this collection is a reminder of its importance.
That isn’t to say that the authors here speak with an agenda. The pleasure of this series is in hearing writers convey their private thoughts on their profession. We learn that Beryl Bainbridge thinks "there’s no such thing as the imagination. " Ian McEwan "always felt something of an outsider. " Hilary Mantel believes that " In the ideal world, all writers would have a Catholic childhood, or belong to some other religion which does the equivalent for them. " Howard Jacobson, the most recent Booker prize winner, spent more of his youth collecting books than reading them. Michael Holroyd, a biographer, fears that literature " has become the younger brother of the performing arts. "
Judging from the terrible online reaction to excerpts (摘要) published in the Guardian, not all readers are ready for a glimpse at the appalling arrogance (自大) and shocking self-doubt that puzzled most writers. But for those who seriously attempt to write—for whom this collection is clearly intended—these voices offer great encouragement.
" Such a lot of it is about keeping up your confidence," says last year’s Booker prize winner Mantel, whose own first novel took nearly 20 years to make it into print.
Stunned by a survey that showed " writer" as the number one career goal of British youth—ahead of astronaut and footballer—Sarah O’reilly at the British Library saw the project as a way to put across the real challenges that come with the profession. Chosen from hundreds of hours of picked interviews, the excerpts " provide a useful suggestion to the idea that the writing life is a fascinating life," she says. Indeed, aspiring writers should anticipate inhabiting a "place of total and complete solitude (独处)," offers Linda Grant, a novelist included in the collection.
Yet these CDs are instructive, too, with authors weighing in on developing characters, finding ideas, researching context and figuring out how it all works together. The factual details of when, where and how—pencil, pen or computer? Morning or night? Each day or as the spirit calls? —are as varied as the writers. If there is a single bit of common advice, it is to (in the words of Penelope lively): "read, read, read". About this, everyone agrees. "You learn how to structure a novel from looking at the great novels of the past," says Philip Hensher, a novelist. As Peter Porter, a late Australian poet asks, "If literature had no effect on you, why would you write it?"
" Writers are made by reading," says Mantel. " By the time I was 18 I had read such a huge number of novels that I think I knew how to write one, because I do think that’s how it’s done... that you learn the different ways as patterns, almost like visual patterns. "
Nearly all, too, say the chief delight of writing is the wonderful process of discovery. " You don’t have very much choice in the matter," says Michael Frayn, a playwright and novelist. "The thing seems to have some kind of reality in one’s head... it seems to be something that one is discovering rather than inventing. " For U. A. Fanthorpe, a late poet, " There is a way in which the poem exists before you write it. " Adds Dame P. D. James, a famous crime novelist, "I don’t think we choose our style. I think that it on the contrary. "
All would-be writers should listen to this series, as it corrects some common misconceptions. No, the work does not emerge complete and perfect, like Athena from Zeus’s head. Texts are written and rewritten dozens of times. Anne Fine, a children’s writer, says she has filled boxes three-feet high with drafts for any given book. No, the media appearances are not really what writers enjoy. " The book should do the speaking and I should stay at home," says Holroyd. But, he complains, now "you have to go out and blow the trumpet and bang the drum in front of your book. I think that because we’re no longer a literary culture... it isn’t the word that speaks; you have to perform the word a bit; you have to demonstrate it; you have to appear; you have to be the book. "
This imperative (必要性) of celebrity (名声) is what’s most harmful, says Wendy Cope, a poet. " I’m very depressed with this whole thing of young people just wanting to be famous for the sake of being famous. If you want to be a writer, a serious writer, your focus has to be on writing as well as you can and all those other things are occasional. "
While true, this also shows that many of these writers came of age in a much quieter, gentler time. If Shakespeare were writing now, said Porter, he too would be forced to make the rounds of morning news shows. Contemporary authors who desire for a quiet life, such as Harper Lee and Anne Tyler, wouldn’t stand a chance in today’s noise.
And yet, the writing life continues to capture its victims. The final word on the series goes to Maureen Duffy, a poet and novelist, who in turn quotes a poem by Gerald Manley Hopkins: " What I do is me, for that I came. " One hopes the Library of Congress will be inspired to capture America’s most important writers the same way.
What is the attraction of "The writing life" ?
选项
A、It emphasizes the importance of library.
B、It provokes a spirited argument.
C、It displays the public side of writers.
D、It conveys the private thoughts of writers.
答案
D
解析
细节处设题。由定位句可知,阅读“The Writing Life”这个系列的愉悦之处在于聆听作者传递他们对于这个职业的个人看法。D)与原文意思一致,故为答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/tfr7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
StockpiledPesticidesHarmingAfricanPeople’sEnvironmentVastquantitiesofobsoletepesticideshaveposedaseriousdange
A、It’smostbeautifulinsummer.B、Ithasmanyhistoricalbuildings.C、Itwasgreatlyexpandedinthe18thcentury.D、it’stheo
A、Peoplefeelmorecomfortableandlight-heartedinbeautifullydecoratedrooms.B、Thecolorandgeneralappearanceofaroomin
A、Springandfall.B、Winterandspring.C、Winterandsummer.D、Fallandwinter.A
IntheUnitedStatesthecostoflivinghasbeensteadilyrisingforthepastfewdecades.Foodprices,clothingcosts,housing
Whydopeoplesmoke?Onereasonisthatpeoplebecome【B1】______tocigarettes.Tobeaddictedmeansthatyourbodycomeston
Scientistshavedevelopedanewcancerdrug.Sofar,theyhavetasteditonlyon【B1】______animals.Thedrugisdesignedto【B2】__
A、She’llgethermoneybackfromtheshop.B、ShecanexchangetheT-shirtforalargerone.C、She’llhavetotalktothemanager
A、Demandcompensationfromthehotel.B、Askforanadditionaldiscount.C、Complaintothehotelmanager.D、Findacheaperroomi
A、Thenextbusiscomingsoon.B、Thebuswillwaitafewminutesatthestop.C、Thereareonlytwoorthreepassengerswaitingf
随机试题
Insomnia,orpoorsleep,canhavebadeffectsonaperson’shealthandgeneralwell-being.Itcan【C1】________onbothourphysic
有关可待因的说法,哪一点是错误的
A.吸氧、高压氧舱疗法B.快速静注甘露醇、速尿、激素等C.立即将患者转移到空气新鲜的地方D.使用能量合剂、甲氯芬酯(氯酯醒)、胞磷胆碱等E.注意口腔卫生、使用抗生素等抢救急性CO中毒时,促进脑细胞代谢的是
下列关于融资租赁合同中出租人义务的论述中,错误的是( )。
在国际私法中,公共秩序保留制度的作用在于:
路基单位工程包含()等分部工程。
房地产和股市发展的过热,意味着存款流失的增加和贷款的增加,从而使得融资缺口扩大,使得银行面临相当大的流动性风险。()
下列各项中,应按“服务业”科目及适用税率计算缴纳营业税的有()。
学术不端行为严重损害了学术界的形象,阻碍了高素质人才的培养和科技水平的提高。严惩学术不端行为既是对“闯红线”者也是对有可能“闯红线”者最好的警示。但惩处不是一劳永逸的良方,对不同群体身上出现的学术不端行为,要采取不同的处理方式。对成名学者的学术行为要严格要
甲、乙、丙、丁四人的国籍分别为英国、俄罗斯、法国和日本。乙比甲高,丙最矮:英国人比俄罗斯人高,法国人最高;日本人比丁高。则这四个人的国籍分别是什么?
最新回复
(
0
)