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作家是怎样炼成的——麦克斯·柏金斯致年轻人

2014-01-02byRichardNordquist

疯狂英语·中学版 2013年12期
关键词:麦克斯菲茨杰拉德斯科特

by Richard Nordquist

The next time you run into problems with a writing project, imagine the sort of help a great editor might provide:

“Max Perkins…was famous for his ability to inspire an author to produce the best that was in him or her. More a friend to his authors than a taskmaster[工头], he aided them in every way. He helped them structure their books, if help was needed; thought up titles, invented plots; he served as psychoanalyst[心理分析师], lovelorn[失恋的] adviser, marriage counselor[顾问], career manager, money-lender. Few editors before him had done so much work on manuscripts[手稿], yet he was always faithful to his credo[信条], ‘The book belongs to the author.” (A. Scott Berg, Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, 1978)

From 1910 until his death in 1947, Scribners legendary editor Maxwell Perkins nurtured[培养] and inspired such notable[著名的] authors as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald注1, Marjorie Rawlings注2, Ring Lardner注3, and Thomas Wolfe注4.

Yet somehow, even near the end of his life, Perkins found time to counsel would-be writers as well. In May 1945, he responded to a young serviceman who had sought his advice about a writing career:

“I think, in truth, that the best writing of all is done long after the events it is concerned with, when they have been digested[消化] and reflected upon unconsciously[无意识地], and the writer has completely realized them in himself. It is good journalistic writing that is done quickly while everything is still new, but not the best writing…

As to perhaps a couple years of college, I should think that might be of great advantage, in a general sense, but dont try to learn about writing there. Learn something else. Learn about writing from reading. That is the right way to do it. But then it can only be done by those who have eyes and ears, by seeing and listening…

The way they teach literature and writing in college is harmful. It results in one getting into the habit of seeing everything through a kind of film of past literature, and not seeing it directly with ones own senses…

I would say that a couple of years in the newspaper business was much better for one who wanted to be a writer than a couple of years in college. But there are, of course, other advantages that come from college.” (Editor to Author: The Letters of Maxwell E. Perkins, edited by John Hall Wheelock, 1979)

Perkins, of course, was writing in a different era—years before the proliferation[扩散] of creative writing programs and the decline of the newspaper industry. Yet the heart of his message still rings true.

In a letter to another hopeful young author, Perkins said, “What really makes writing is done in the head, where impressions are stored up[积聚], and it is done with the eye and the ear. The agony[痛苦] comes later, when it has to be done with the hand, and that part of it can gain greatly from seeing how others do it, by reading.”

下一次当你在写作任务上遇到困难时,不妨想象一下一位优秀的编辑可以给你提供的帮助:

“麦克斯·柏金斯……以其善于引导作者尽展所长的能力而著称。对作者来说,他与其说是一个工头,不如说是一个在方方面面都能提供支援的老友。如有需要,他会帮助作者设计故事架构,构思书名,设计情节;他可以充任心理分析师、失恋专家、婚姻顾问、职业经理人以及放贷者。在他之前,极少会有编辑在手稿上花费那么多工夫,而他一直坚守着自己的信条:‘书是属于作者的。”(A.斯科特·伯格,《麦克斯·柏金斯:天才编辑》,1978)

自1910年起,直至其于1947年逝世,斯克里布纳出版社的传奇编辑麦克斯威尔·柏金斯启蒙并培养出众多著名作家,如欧内斯特·海明威、F.斯科特·菲茨杰拉德、玛乔丽·劳林斯、林·拉德纳以及托马斯·沃尔夫等。

然而,即便在其生命的最后几年,柏金斯依然抽出时间给未来的作家提供意见。1945年5月,一名年轻的军人询问他对写作职业的想法,他这样回答:

“事实上,我认为最好的作品应该是在其谈及的事件结束以后很长一段时间才写出来的,那些事件此时已经被彻底消化,让人不由深思,并且作者对此已经有一套自己的完整认识。优秀的新闻写作是在所有东西还新鲜的时候一挥而就,但那并不是最好的作品……

至于谈到去大学读几年书,我的看法是,在一般层面上,这会大有裨益;但是可别想在大学学会如何写作。在那里要学的是别的东西。学着通过阅读进而写作,这才是正确的方式。不过话说回来,只有那些用双眼去观察、用双耳去聆听的人才能做到这一点……

大学里教授文学以及写作的方式是很不对头的。这会导致学生养成一种习惯,无论看什么书,都会将过去的文学作品作为滤镜,而不是从自身感受出发的直观阅读……

对一个希望成为作家的人来说,我认为在新闻行业工作几年远比上几年大学更有帮助。不过当然了,大学还是有其他好处的。”(约翰·霍尔·惠洛克编,《编辑写给作者的信:柏金斯信件集》,1979)

自然,柏金斯的写作处于一个不一样的年代——当年还没有遍地开花的创意写作课程,新闻业界也还没走下坡路。不过,他所传达的主旨依然是金玉良言。

在一封写给一个很有潜力的年轻作者的信中,柏金斯说:“真正的写作其实是在脑子里完成的——那里积累了各种感想,通过眼睛(观察)和耳朵(聆听)进行写作。痛苦随后而至,(因为我们)必须用手写出来,而通过阅读,留意他人是如何做到这一点的,我们就能大有收获。”

Know More

麦克斯威尔·柏金斯(Maxwell Perkins,1884—1947)是美国出版史上一位传奇人物。柏金斯出生于纽约。1907年从哈佛大学毕业后,第一份工作是在《纽约时报》当记者;1910年,他进入斯克里布纳之子公司担任广告经理一职;1914年转战编辑部,从此展开他一生最重要的编辑事业。

1917年,柏金斯开始和一位有志创作的年轻人通信,为了能顺利出版他的作品,柏金斯历经一番奋战,不顾出版社反对,坚持买下这位年轻人处女作的版权。在1920年,终于出版了《尘世乐园》(This Side of Paradise)。此书出版后深获好评,被认为是反映时代的一部佳作,这个年仅24岁、原本默默无闻的年轻人——F.斯科特·菲茨杰拉德,自此一举成名。柏金斯与菲茨杰拉德,两人联手宣告年轻爵士时代的来临;也从此展开柏金斯与多位重要作家的共事经验。

1925年,菲茨杰拉德在巴黎认识了一位刚出道的穷作家,该作家正在撰写自己的第一部长篇小说,于是菲茨杰拉德将他推荐给柏金斯;他就是日后在文学领域占有举足轻重地位的欧内斯特·海明威。1926年,柏金斯帮助海明威出版其成名作《太阳照样升起》(The Sun Also Rises),正式将这位小说家引入美国文坛。

另一位著名小说家托马斯·伍尔夫,亦是借由柏金斯的挖掘与琢磨,始在文坛大放光芒。他曾在作品的扉页上写着,要把书献给“一位伟大的编辑和一位勇敢而诚实的人。当作者陷入极度的失望和怀疑中时,他不吝于给予坚定的支持,不让作者在绝望中轻易放弃。”

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