The Great Fitzgerald
了不起的菲茨杰拉德
Fitzgerald’s path as a writer was clear by the time he was 13-that was his age when his first story was published in the St. Paul Academy newspaper. Despite, or perhaps because of, his passion for writing, Fitzgerald was a mediocre student from his earliest days at Princeton University. It was during this time he began work on his first novel, a work that would ultimately be titled “This Side of Paradise."
13岁那年，菲茨杰拉德在圣保罗学院报上发表了第一篇短篇小说，开启了他的文学创作之旅。尽管菲茨杰拉德痴迷于写作，但也为其所累，致使他在普林斯顿大 学的成绩平平。正是这段日子里，他开始创作第一部长 篇小说，最终命名为《人间天堂》。
When the United States entered the first World War in 1917，Fitzgerald quit school and enlisted in the Army. He trained at a camp just a few miles from Louisville, Kentucky. The camp represented a turning point of sorts for Fitzgerald: his first rejection from a publisher came while he was there and he met Zelda Sayre, the woman who would be his wife until his dying day.
1917年，美国加入了第一次世界大战，此时菲茨 杰拉德选择退学入伍。他的训练营离肯塔基州的路易斯 维尔只有几英里的路，他在这里经历了两次人生的转折 点：第一次遭出版商退稿，结识了他的伴侣珊尔达·赛 瑞。
With the war was over, Fitzgerald returned to his parents' house. He revised his first novel “The Romantic Egotist” and renamed it “This Side of Paradise”. It was a contemporary work that spoke to a self-indulgent generation. This book was accepted and published in 1919.
战争结束后，菲茨杰拉德回到父母的住处。他修改 了第一部小说《浪漫的自大狂》并将其命名为《人间天 堂》。这部小说出版于1919年，以当时的社会为背景, 描写了当时自我放纵的一代人。
The 1920s proved the most influential decade of Fitzgerald's development. “This Side of Paradise” became a national bestseller, as did “The Great Gatsby”, his best-known work. The setting of the Great Gatsby is New York City and Long Island during the 1920s. It is a work that seriously examines the theme of aspiration in America and defines the classic American novel.
20世纪20年代是菲茨杰拉德创作生涯中最重要的十年。《人间天堂》称为全美畅销小说，随后问世的作 品《了不起的盖茨比》也风靡一时。《了不起的盖茨比》 将故事背景设定在20年代的纽约和长岛，小说深刻地 讨论了关于美国梦的主题，成为美国小说的经典。
The Great depression began in the fall of 1929 and for Fitzgerald, the loss was much more than financial. Around that time, Zelda, his wife, was diagnosed as schizophrenic, a condition with which she had struggled for most of her adult life. She had to be sent to a Baltimore hospital in 1930; she would remain hospitalized for most of the rest of her life. Fitzgerald rented a nearby house in which he wrote “Tender is the Night”, which reflected the bleakness he felt in his life.
1929年秋天开始，美国经济陷入大萧条，而菲茨杰 拉德损失的不仅仅是金钱。当时，他的妻子珊尔达被确诊为患有精神分裂症，这是她成年后一直未能摆脱的噩梦。1930年，菲茨杰拉德把妻子送到巴尔的摩的一家医院接受治疗，珊尔达在那里度过余生大部分时光，而菲 茨杰拉德在附近租了一处住所并开始创作《夜色温柔》。 这部作品反映了他当时内心的沮丧和对生活的失望。
Fitzgerald’s work and legend has inspired writers ever since he was first published. It was written in a New York Times editorial after his death that Fitzgerald “was better than he knew, for in fact and in the literary sense he invented a ‘generation’. He might have interpreted them and even guided them, as in their middle years they saw a different and nobler freedom threatened with destruction.”
自第一篇文章发表以来，菲茨杰拉德的作品和传记一直启发并鼓舞着后来的作家。他逝世后，《纽约时报》 刊登了一篇社论，称菲茨杰拉德“做出了自己都没有意识到的贡献，因为无论是在现实世界里，还是在文学领域中，他开启并引导了新的‘时代’。他不但是这代人的诠释者，也是领路人，正是在菲茨杰拉德的带领下， 这代人在人到中年时重新认识了岌岌可危却更为崇尚的自由”。
Into the 21st century, Fitzgerald’s reputation continues to grow. Millions of copies of The Great Gatsby and his other works have been sold, and “Gatsby” a constant bestseller, is required reading in many high school and college classes.
进入21世纪后，菲茨杰拉德名声不减。他的许多作品还十分热销，其中，《了不起的盖茨比》不但长期在畅销书单上榜上有名，而且成为许多中学和大学课程的必读书目。 |