约翰·契弗——小说家的戏剧般生涯

• 作 者: 马·考利 徐齐平
• 出 处: 世界文学
• 发表日期: 1990年06期
• 关键词: 马萨诸塞州 小说家 塞耶 勃兰 尖尖 运气 一篇 菲茨杰拉德 特利 当时

1930年深秋,约翰·契弗来到我的办公室。当时,我刚刚去《新共和》杂志社的图书部任普通编辑。那时候,他18岁,看上去很年轻,不像18岁这个年纪,脸上浮现着孩童般的微笑,尖尖的下颌,说话时声音低沉,一口马萨诸塞州的口音。我们刚刚发表了他投寄的第一篇小说,这篇作品以故事的形式,记述他被南勃兰恩特利的塞耶学院开除的原因与经过。小说一发表,他便来到纽约,试试他当一个作家是否运气会好些。

Late autumn 1930, John Cheever came to my office. At that time, I just went to the New Republican magazine’s books as general editor. At that time, he was 18 years old and looked very young, unlike the age of 18, with a childlike smile on his face, a sharp jaw, a low voice when speaking, and a Massachusetts accent. We just published the first novel he posted, a story that explains the reason why he was expelled from Sayerian College in South Burleightely. As soon as the novel was published, he came to New York and tried to see if he would be luckier if he was a writer.