Julian-Barnes

JulianBarnesJulianBarnesBurnin1946inLeicester,movedtoLondonHewaseducatedattheCityofLondonSchoolfrom1957to1964andatMagdalenCollege,Oxford,fromwhichhegraduatedinmodernlanguages(withhonors)in1968.Aftergraduation,heworkedasalexicographerfortheOxfordEnglishDictionarysupplementforthreeyears.Hebeganacareerasajournalist.BecameassistantliteraryeditorandtelevisioncriticfortheNewStatesmanmagazine(1977-1981)anddeputyliteraryeditorfortheSundayTimes(1980-1982).MajorworksMetroland《梅特兰》1980BeforeSheMetMe《她遇到我之前》1982Flaubert’sParrot《福娄拜的鹦鹉》1984AHistoryoftheWorldin1012Chapters1989TakingItOver《谈心》1991England,England《英格兰，英格兰》1998ArthurandGeorge《亚瑟和乔治》2005TheSenseofAnEnding《终结的感觉》2011Awards•1981SomersetMaughamAward（毛姆文学奖）Metroland（firstnovel）•1986E.M.ForsterAward（福特斯）fromtheAmericanAcademyandInstituteofArtsandLetters（美国文学艺术学会）•1993ShakespearePrize•2011DavidCohenPrizeforLiterature（戴维柯恩文学奖）•2011BookerPrize（布克小说奖）TheSenseofAnEnding•2016SiegfriedLenzPrize（伦茨奖）AHistoryoftheWorldin1012ChaptersInthisnovel,Barnesmakesuphispersonalhistoryoftheworld.Itconsistsoftenindividually-structuredstoriesanda“parenthesis”(the“half”inthetitle).Eachchapterhasinsownstorylineandprotagonists,butwhatlinksthemistheconnectiontothebiblicalstoryoftheFloodandNoah’sArk.Allthestoriestakesindifferentforms,includingnovels,travels,courtdocuments,lettersandessays,andmorefreelyfromonecenturytoanother,completelydisregardingthechronologicalorder.AHistoryoftheWorldin1012ChaptersPLOTChapter1“TheStowaway”isanalternativeaccountofthestoryofNoah‘sArkfromthepointofviewofthewoodworms,whowerenotallowedonboardandwerestowawaysduringthejourney.偷渡客Chapter2“TheVisitors”describesthehijackingofacruiseliner,similartothe1985incidentoftheAchilleLauro.不速之客Chapter3“TheWarsofReligion”reportsatrialagainstthewoodwormsinachurch,astheyhavecausedthebuildingtobecomeunstable.宗教战争Chapter4“TheSurvivor”issetinaworldinwhichtheChernobyldisasterwas“thefirstbigaccident”.Journalistsreportthattheworldisonthebrinkofnuclearwar.Theprotagonistescapesbyboattoavoidtheassumedinevitabilityofanuclearholocaust.Whetherthisoccurredorismerelyaresultoftheprotagonist‘sparanoiaisleftambiguous.幸存者Chapter5“Shipwreck”isananalysisofGéricault‘spainting,TheRaftoftheMedusa.Thefirsthalfnarratesthehistoricaleventsoftheshipwreckandthesurvivalofthecrewmembers.Thesecondhalfofthechapteranalysesthepaintingitself.ItdescribesGéricault’s“softening”theimpactofrealityinordertopreservetheaestheticismofthework,ortomakethestoryofwhathappenedmorepalatable.海滩Chapter6“TheMountain”describesthejourneyofareligiouswomantoamonasterywhereshewantstointercedeforherdeadfather.TheRaftoftheMedusaplaysaroleinthisstoryaswell.山岳AHistoryoftheWorldin1012ChaptersPLOTChapter7“ThreeSimpleStories”portraysasurvivorfromtheRMSTitanic,theBiblicalstoryofJonahandthewhale,andtheJewishrefugeesonboardtheMSSt.Louisin1939,whowerepreventedfromlandingintheUnitedStatesandothercountries.三个简单的故事Chapter8“Upstream!”consistsoflettersfromanactorwhotravelstoaremotejungleforafilmproject,describedassimilartoTheMission(1986).Hislettersgrowmorephilosophicalandcomplicatedashedealswiththelivingsituations,thepersonalitiesofhiscostarsandthedirector,andthepeculiaritiesoftheindigenouspopulation,comingtoaclimaxwhenhiscolleagueisdrownedinanaccidentwitharaft.逆流而上Theunnumberedhalf-chapter,“Parenthesis”isinsertedbetweenchapters8and9.Itisdifferentinstyletotheotherchapters,whichareshortstories;hereanarratoraddresseshisreadersandoffersaphilosophicaldiscussiononlove.Thenarratoriscalled“JulianBarnes”,but,ashestates,thereadercannotbesurethatthenarrator‘sopinionsarethoseoftheauthor.AparallelisdrawnwithElGreco’spaintingBurialoftheCountofOrgaz,inwhichtheartistconfrontstheviewer.ThepieceincludesadiscussionoflinesfromPhilipLarkin‘spoemAnArundelTomb(“Whatwillsurviveofusislove”)andfromW.H.Auden’sSeptember1,1939(“Wemustloveoneanotherordie”).小插曲Chapter9“ProjectArarat”tellsthestoryofafictionalastronautSpikeTiggler,basedontheastronautJamesIrwin.TigglerlaunchesanexpeditiontorecoverwhatremainsofNoah‘sArk.Thereisoverlapwithchapter6,“TheMountain.”阿勒计划Chapter10“TheDream”portraysNewHeaven.梦AHistoryoftheWorldin1012ChaptersTHEMESThecentralimageryofNoah’sArkanditsvariations:-humanbeings’destiny-theessenceofman’sexistence-theissueofsalvationConnectionbetweenloveandtruthDefinitionofhistory:notascienceofpast,butasubjectiveaccountofevents