名人轶事:William Faukner, Part Two

Broadcast: December 12, 2004

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today, we

finish the story of the writer William Faulkner. He created an area and

filled it with people of the American South.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen-forty-five, all seventeen books William Faulkner had written by

then were not being published. Some of them could not be found even in stores

that sold used books.

The critic Malcolm Cowley says, Faulkner's "early novels had been praised too

much, usually for the wrong reasons. His later and in many ways better novels

had been criticized or simply not read. "

Even those who liked his books were not always sure what he was trying to

say. Faulkner never explained. And he did not give information about himself.

He did not even correct the mistakes others made when they wrote about him.

He did not care how his name was spelled: with or without a "u. " He said

either way was all right with him.

Once he finished a book he was not concerned about how it was presented to

the public. Sometimes he did not even keep a copy of his book. He said, "I

think I have written a lot and sent it off to be printed before I realized

strangers might read it. "

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen-forty-six, Malcolm Cowley collected some of Faulkner's writings

and wrote a report about him. The collection attempted to show what Faulkner

was trying to do, and how each different book was part of a unified¹ effort.


Cowley agreed that Faulkner was an uneven² writer. Yet, he said, the

unevenness³ shows that Faulkner was willing to take risks, to explore new

material, and new ways to talk about it.


In nineteen-twenty-nine, in his novel “Sartoris,” Faulkner presented almost

all the ideas he developed during the rest of his life. Soon after, he

published the book he liked best, “The Sound and the Fury⁴.” It was finished

before “Sartoris,” but did not appear until six months later.

VOICE ONE

In talking about “The Sound and the Fury,” Faulkner said he saw in his mind

a dirty little girl playing in front of her house. From this small beginning,

Faulkner developed a story about the Compson family, told in four different

voices. Three of the voices are brothers: Benjy, who is mentally sick;

Quentin, who kills himself, and Jason, a business failure. Each of them for

different reasons mourns the loss of their sister, Caddie. Each has a

different piece of the story.

It is a story of sadness and loss, of the failure of an old Southern family

to which the brothers belong. It also describes the private ideas of the

brothers. To do this, Faulkner invents a different way of writing for each of

them. Only the last part of the novel is told in the normal way. The other

three parts move forward and back through time and space.

VOICE TWO:

The story also shows how the Compson family seems to cooperate in its

failure. In doing so the family destroys what it wants to save.

Quentin, in “The Sound and the Fury,” tries to pressure his sister to say

that she is pregnant⁵ by him. He finds it better to say that a brother and

sister had sex together than to admit that she had sex with one of the common

town boys of Jefferson.

Another brother, Jason, accuses others of stealing his money and causing his

business to fail. At the same time, he is stealing from the daughter of his

sister.

Missus Compson, the mother in the family, says of God's actions: "It can't be

simply to…hurt me. Whoever God is, he would not permit that. I'm a lady."

VOICE ONE:

1 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

2 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

3 unevenness   

n. 不平坦，不平衡，不匀性

参考例句：

• This unevenness comes about because topics are developed in a logical order. 所以出现这种不平衡，是因为课题是按逻辑顺序展开的。
• I sanded the corners to take away any unevenness in the joints. 我用砂纸磨边边角角的地方，去除接头处的不均。

4 fury   

n.狂怒，激烈，狂怒的人，（希神）复仇女神

参考例句：

• She felt a wave of wild fury overcame her.她顿时觉得怒不可遏。
• He flew into fury when I said I couldn't help him.当我说不能帮助他时，他立刻暴跳如雷。

5 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

6 mob   

n.暴民，民众，暴徒；v.大举包围，乱挤，围攻

参考例句：

• The king was burned in effigy by the angry mob.国王的模拟像被愤怒的民众烧掉以泄心中的愤恨。
• An angry mob is attacking the palace.愤怒的暴徒在攻击王宫。

7 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

8 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

9 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

10 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

11 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

14 endurance   

n.耐久力，忍耐力，耐久的时期，持续的时间

参考例句：

• She reached the end of endurance.她到了忍受的极限。
• The exercise obviously will improve strength and endurance.这种锻炼会明显改善体力增加耐力。