爱那卑贱生活馈赠美好.docVIP

爱那卑贱生活馈赠美好 　　贝蒂?史密斯(Betty Smith,1896~1972)，德国移民的女儿，成长于纽约布鲁克林。她早年靠自学成才，后进入大学学习新闻、戏剧、写作和文学。她一生共创作了超过70部戏剧和4部小说，《布鲁克林有棵树》(A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)以及《快乐的早晨》(Joy in the Morning)是她最为出色的两部作品，都带有自传性质。其中，《布鲁克林有棵树》是一本关于生存、梦想与尊严的小说，讲述了美国经济大萧条时期一个贫困女孩的生活、梦想和奋斗。这部至今还畅销的青少年成长励志经典作品不仅是亚马逊书店的“20世纪最佳青少年读物”，更被纽约公共图书馆评为“世纪之书”。由该小说改编的电影《天堂树》曾获奥斯卡奖，同名音乐剧也已演出近300场。《纽约时报》评论称：如果错过了《布鲁克林有棵树》，你将失去一次重要的人生体验。 　　 　　精彩片段 　　 　　Since her fathers death, Francie had stopped writing about birds and trees and My Impressions. Because she missed him so, she had taken to writing little stories about him. She tried to show that, in spite of his shortcomings, he had been a good father and a kindly man. She had written three such stories, which were marked C instead of the usual A. The fourth came back with a line telling her to remain after school. 　　All the children had gone home. Miss Garnder and Francie were alone in the room with the big dictionary in it. Francies last four compositions lay on Miss Garnders desk. Whats happened to your writing, Francie? asked Miss Garnder. 　　I dont know. 　　You were one of my best pupils. You wrote so prettily. I enjoyed your compositions. But these last ones ... she flicked1) at them contemptuously2). 　　I looked up the spelling and took pains3) with my penmanship4) and ... 　　Im referring to your subject matter. 　　You said we could choose our own subjects. 　　But poverty, starvation and drunkenness are ugly subjects to choose. We all admit these things exist. But one doesnt write about them. 　　What does one write about? Unconsciously, Francie picked up the teachers phraseology5). 　　One delves6) into the imagination and finds beauty there. The writer, like the artist, must strive for beauty always. 　　What is beauty? asked the child. 　　I can think of no better definition than Keats: Beauty is truth, truth beauty. 　　Francie took her courage into her two hands7) and said, Those stories are the truth. 　　Nonsense! exploded Miss Garnder. Then, softening her