英美短篇小 说Unit 20 The Magic Barrel

Unit20TheMagicBarrel___BernardMalamudBernardMalamudBernardMalamud(April26,1914 –March18,1986)wasanAmericanauthorofnovelsandshortstories.AlongwithSaulBellowandPhilipRoth,hewasoneofthebestknownAmericanJewishauthorsofthe20thcentury.Hisbaseballnovel,TheNatural,wasadaptedintoa1984filmstarringRobertRedford.His1966novelTheFixer(alsofilmed),aboutanti-SemitisminTsaristRussia,wonboththeNationalBookAwardandthePulitzerPrize1Earlylife2Writingcareer3Awards4Themes5Quotations6WorksEarlylifeBernardMalamudwasborninBrooklyn,NewYork,thesonofBerthaandMaxMalamud,RussianJewishimmigrants.MalamudenteredadolescenceatthestartoftheGreatDepression.From1928to1932,BernardattendedErasmusHallHighSchoolinBrooklyn.HereceivedhisB.A.degreefromCityCollegeofNewYorkin1936.In1942,heobtainedaMaster’sdegreefromColumbiaUniversity,writingathesisonThomasHardy.HewasexcusedfrommilitaryserviceinWorldWarIIbecausehewasthesolesupportofhiswidowedmother.Startingin1949,MalamudtaughtfoursectionsoffreshmancompositioneachsemesteratOregonStateUniversity(OSU),anexperiencefictionalizedinhis1961novelANewLife.In1942,MalamudmetAnnDeChiara(November1,1917 –March20,2007),anItalian-AmericanRomanCatholic,anda1939CornellUniversitygraduate.TheymarriedonNovember6,1945,despitetheoppositionoftheirrespectiveparents.Anntypedhismanuscriptsandreviewedhiswriting.AnnandBernardhadtwochildren,Paul(b.1947)andJanna(b.1952).WritingcareerHecompletedhisfirstnovel,TheLightSleeper,in1948,butlaterburnedthemanuscript.HisfirstpublishednovelwasTheNatural(1952),whichhasbecomeoneofhisbestrememberedandmostsymbolicworks.Malamud’ssecondnovel,TheAssistant(1957),setinNewYorkanddrawingonMalamud'sownchildhood,isanaccountofthelifeofMorrisBober,aJewishimmigrantwhoownsagrocerystoreinBrooklyn.Althoughheisstrugglingfinancially,Bobertakesinadrifterofdubiouscharacter.In1967,hisnovelTheFixer,aboutanti-semitisminTsaristRussia,wontheboththeNationalBookAwardforFictionandthePulitzerPrizeforFictionMalamudisalsorenownedforhisshortstories,oftenobliqueallegoriessetinadreamlikeurbanghettoofimmigrantJews.TheMagicBarrelwashisfirstpublishedcollectionofshortstories(1958)andwonMalamudthefirstoftwoNationalBookAwardshereceivedinhislifetime.AwardsNationalBookAward(1959)Fiction,TheMagicBarrel(1967)Fiction,TheFixerPulitzerPrizeforFiction(1967)TheFixerO.HenryAward(1969)ManintheDrawerPEN/MalamudAwardGivenannuallysince1988tohonorMalamud'smemory,thePEN/MalamudAwardrecognizesexcellenceintheartoftheshortstory.ThefundcontinuestogrowthankstothegenerosityofmanymembersofPENandotherfriends,andwiththeproceedsfromannualreadings.PastwinnersoftheawardincludeJohnUpdike(1988),SaulBellow(1989),EudoraWelty(1992),JoyceCarolOates(1996),AliceMunro(1997),ShermanAlexie(2001),UrsulaK.LeGuin(2002),andTobiasWolff(2006).ThemesMalamud’sfictiontoucheslightlyuponmythicelementsandexploresthemeslikeisolation,class,andtheconflictbetweenbourgeoisandartisticvalues.Writinginthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury,Malamudwaswellawareofthesocialproblemsofhisday:rootlessness,infidelity,abuse,divorce,andmore.Buthealsodepictedloveasredemptiveandsacrificeasuplifting.Inhiswritings,successoftendependsoncooperationbetweenantagonists.Quotations"Iwriteabookorashortstorythreetimes.Oncetounderstandher,thesecondtimetoimproveherprose,andathirdtocompelhertosaywhatitstillmustsay.""Itwasallthosebiographiesinmeyelling,'Wewantout.Wewanttotellyouwhatwe'vedonetoyou.'""AllmenareJews,thoughfewmenknowit.""Liferespondstoone'smoveswithcomiccounterinventions.""Withoutheroeswewouldallbeplainpeopleandwouldn'tknowhowfarwecango.""Lifeisatragedyfullofjoy.""Therecomesatimeinaman'slifewhentogetwherehehastogo-iftherearenodoorsorwindowshewalksthroughawall."WorksNovelsTheNatural(1952)TheAssistant(1957)ANewLife(1961)TheFixer(1966)PicturesofFidelman:AnExhibition(1969)TheTenants(1971)Dubin'sLives(1979)God'sGrace(1982)StorycollectionsTheMagicBarrel(1958)IdiotsFirst(1963)Rembrandt’sHat(1974)TheStoriesofBernardMalamud(1983)ThePeopleandUncollectedStories(includestheunfinishednovelThePeople)(1989)ShortstoriesTheMourners(1955)TheJewbird(1963)ThePrison(1950)ASummer’sReadingArmisticeTheMagicBarrel1Summary2ThePlot3AnalysisofMainCharacters4SymbolismintheWork5QuestionsAcollectionofthirteenshortstorieswrittenbyBernardMalamudandpublishedin1958.Itwonthe1959NationalBookAwardforfiction.ThestoriesincludedareTheFirstSevenYears,TheMourners,TheGirlofMyDreams,AngelLevine,BeholdtheKey,TakePity,ThePrison,TheLadyoftheLake,ASummer'sReading,TheBill,TheLastMohican,TheLoan,andTheMagicBarrel.SummaryThestorydescribesayoungJewish,Leo,whowastobeordainedinJuneaftersixyearsofstudy,believedthathewouldhaveabetterchanceofgettingemploymentwithacongregationifhewasmarried.Buthewasneverinacompanyofwomen.SohecalledinSalzman,anoldJewishmatchmakerwhowantedtohelphisbeloveddaughterfindaperfecthusband,tofindabrideforhim.ButhewasdisappointedwiththefirstthreewomenSalzmanintroducedtohim.AsSalzmandepictedthatLilywassogoodthatLeodeterminedtomeether.JustbecauseofthisappointmentdidLeorealizehewasunlovedandloveless.Afteralong-termdespair,Leodecidedtorejectthearrangedmarriage;instead,hewantedtofindhimselfabride.However,inabunchofpicturesgivenbySalzman,LeosawStella’spicturebyaccidentandfellinlovewithherimmediately.HeturnedtoSalzmanforhelpandfinallymetStellaashewished.Andtheyeventuallycametogether.ThePlotAtfirst,Leoisafflictedwiththeconflictbetweenrealityandideal.Atthesecondstage,Leostillbearsthespiritualsuffering,buthehasgreatlyawakened.Asforthelaststage,Leoregainshisidentityandhissoulhasbeensublimated.AnalysisofMainCharactersLeo:Heisayoungman,indecisiveandlackofexperienceSalzman:Heisadedicatedmatchmaker,resembleanoldslick,withoutlosingthegoodmindStela:Sheisbeautifulandyounggirl,hasstrongfeelingofhatredandlove,separatefromtheseculartradition-bound,hasdependentthinkingSymbolismMagicbarrel:asymbolofloveColor:symbolizethatmostofherisgood,buttherearelessthanasmallpartofthebadFish:rebirthSeasonofconversation:theprocessofLeo’srebirthQuestions1Talkaboutthecharacteristicsofthelanguageofthisnovel.2Whichpersonimpressedyoumost?3Summarizethemainideaofthisstory.4Continuethestoryplease.TheEndThankyou!