Chapter 24 postscript

Pain in Laughter - The Tragic Comedy of Liebermann's Behavior Robert? Howard? Lieberman is an extremely gifted American writer.Compared with famous writers such as Saul Bellow and Norman Mailer John Updike, he belongs to the younger generation of writers.Lieberman was born in New York City on February 4, 1941, the son of a lawyer. In 1965 he married a dance teacher named Gnilla Rosen. Compared with most writers, Robert Lieberman is different in that his major is engineering rather than liberal arts. In 1962, he graduated from the Brooklyn Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree; in 1965, he received a Master of Science degree from Cornell University in Massachusetts; from 1965 to 1966, he studied for a year at the Graduate School of Stockholm University in Sweden.He taught at various universities for 15 years before concentrating on writing, and was a professor of mathematics while studying in Sweden from 1965 to 1966; Professor of Mathematics; In 1967, he was employed by the Hong Kong International School as the head of the Department of Mathematics; in 1968, he returned to the United States and served as a professor of physics at Hampton College in Virginia; Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Saka College; Professor of Engineering, Cornell University, New York, 1975-1979; ceased teaching after 1979 to concentrate on writing.

By the early 1980s, Lieberman had completed four novels and published more than 100 articles and short stories in various magazines.The four novels are Rebuilding Paradise, 1974; , 1979; , 1981; Despite his years of teaching science and his technical knowledge, Lieberman didn't want to write science fiction.He said, "What I care about most is people, their feelings and their lives, and maybe that's why these are the subjects of my creations." Lieberman admits that he is not from a liberal arts background, and that he was "nearly illiterate" when he started writing. Even after publishing a large number of works, he thinks he can only be regarded as "semi-literate", but his enthusiasm for creation has never diminished. .When talking about the original intention of writing with Syracuse American Herald critic Keith, he said: "The real reason for starting writing ... is that I can't find good books to read in the library. I prefer to associate with classic authors. Than." He also made the following statement on other occasions: "I hope someone reads what I write. Money is secondary. If it is to make money, then my interest is probably to still fuck me with old friends engineering."

The first novel he published was "Rebuilding Paradise", which tells the story of Arnold Markowitz, his Swedish wife and two sons.The Markowitz family lives in the scenic Markowitz Mountains in upstate New York.A land developer came here suddenly, intending to build a large shopping mall at the foot of the mountain.Arnold fought a fierce battle with land developers to defend his home. The New York Times? Book Review reviewer Martin Levine called the novel a "tragic comedy of action" because of Lieberman's humorous approach to telling the story of a cornered family.Levine wrote: The author "sees through contradictions with a pair of sharp eyes, and uses humor to accompany desperate events from beginning to end."

is Lieberman's third novel.This is a very bizarre story.A sickly old maid, the librarian, gave birth to a fair-haired boy with an uncommonly fine voice.Lieberman used his bold imagination to create a bizarre story about parthenogenesis to produce the next generation. The grotesqueness of the story surpassed the general horror or murder stories, and it really stirred up waves in the literary world. This is his second published novel, and it is also a black humorous "tragic comedy of behavior". The story happened in the United States in the 1970s.At that time, the United States experienced the prosperity after World War II, McCarthy's anti-communist ideological trend in the 1950s caused great mental pressure on the people of the country, the anti-Vietnam War in the 1960s, and the oil crisis in the 1970s.Social unrest caused unemployment to rise.The protagonist of the novel, Neil Nudelman, was originally a professor of mathematics at Goublesville University. He has a Swedish wife and two boys at home.Nudelman lost his job three years ago due to school attrition.In the past three years, he not only lost his source of income and suffered from the pressure of an embarrassing life, but also lost his social status. He changed from a respected university professor to a miserable wretch struggling at the bottom of society and being spurned by others.When he was desperate, a friend introduced him to open a window on the wall of a rich man's house.He arrived only to find out that the house was owned by one of his former colleagues at Goobsville University, a well-known professor, and that they hadn't hit it off in college.He originally planned to give up this job because he didn't want to lose his personality in front of his old colleagues, but 50 yuan was really a lot of money for him, which could support his family for a week, so he bit the bullet and went in .The professor is not at home, only the professor's mother is there, but she is a very critical and rigid German.He was finally tortured by her nagging and scolding.Although the window was opened and the window was installed, it was not properly installed. At this time, the professor also returned home and recognized who he was.He shattered the glass window in shame and left angrily.Not only did he not earn the 50 yuan, he was also wanted by the police station.

Luckily, he got a job as a knife hunter-writing an autobiographical novel for a company boss.Literary work requires quiet, but his neighbor Soski's troublesome son, George, plays rock music on a hi-fi in the back of his house at full blast.As a result of his protest, it caused a further feud between the two families. Not only did the neighbors destroy the road they had to go down the mountain, but George also shot and played on the road, so that his son was afraid to go home after school.What's more, George also felled the trees around Nudelman's house and destroyed the vegetable field that had just been planted... A series of similar incidents disturbed his family all day long, and naturally the book could not be written.At this time, the owner of the book—the owner of the company—called him and asked him to go to New York for an interview.In order to save every penny, he experienced all kinds of setbacks and tribulations on the way to New York and during his stay in New York. He was even mistaken for a thief and thrown into prison.The book was finally written and sent to the boss, but the payment was delayed.After a few weeks, I finally learned that the boss was a big liar who had died in a luxurious hotel two weeks ago due to poverty.At this time, Nudelman really wanted to have a gun to commit suicide.But what about wives and children?When he was desperate, he suddenly thought of taking his family to Sweden to find a new life.

The plot of "Rebuild Paradise" has many similarities.The wives of the protagonists are both Swedish, and both families have two sons, both of them live in the suburbs of New York State, and their homes are built high on the mountain.We have to think of the author's own experience. Although Lieberman only stayed in Sweden for one year, that life experience obviously deeply affected him and his literary creation.Not only that, his works including novels and short stories have also been translated into Swedish and published in Sweden.In the book, the light of hope that suddenly flashed in Mr. Nudelman's mind when he was in despair was not in the United States, the richest country in the world, but in Sweden, a remote Arctic country, where his future and his hope were. It is a new beginning of his life.It can be seen that he was deeply impressed by that period of life and his heartfelt love for that country.

In the early 1960s, when postmodernist literature was rising in European countries represented by France, there was a craze for political novels in American literary circles.If it is said that "Rabbit, Run" published by the famous writer John Updike in the 1960s failed to reflect the major political events in the United States and the world in the 1950s, then the second part of his "Rabbit" series "Rabbit Back" Home" (1971) and the third "Rabbit Rich" (1980) are typical political novels.Using the protagonist Harry as a medium, Updike wrote about major political events such as the anti-Vietnam War in the 1960s, racial riots, and anti-traditional lifestyle trends, the energy crisis in the 1970s, the Watergate incident, and Iran's seizure of American hostages, etc. Society and politics are inseparable.Lieberman's above-mentioned novels were also published in the 1970s and early 1980s. When reading his works, one can always feel that the fate of the protagonist is closely related to the society and politics at that time.When asked about his political views, Lieberman said he was "against all politicians, regardless of race, political beliefs, color of skin." And we see this.In the book, he invented a "vigilante committee", which monitored the protagonist Nudelman day and night and regularly reported his situation to the "superior".This "vigilante" is actually an allegory for those in power, and it just confirms Lieberman's attitude of "against all politicians". The "Maintenance Council" said in the No. 1 report that Mr. Nudelman's "recent words and deeds have revealed his understanding of black people and exposed his paranoia." The 'collapse of the economy', the 'collapse of the education system' and the 'collapse of society' are but poor tricks. He is trying to escape the fact that he, not 'society', is crumbling." The author sarcastically slams The absurdity of politicians: those who understand black people are "paranoid", and whoever criticizes society will "collapse". Members of the "Maintenance Council" not only interfered in his private life, set up a private court to try him, arbitrarily charged him with various unwarranted charges, and did not allow him to defend himself.The author ruthlessly exposed the "democracy" promoted by American politicians. The hypocrisy of "freedom" and "human rights".

Liebermann was against not only all politics, but all religion.In his words, he "is against all religions, regardless of race, religion, or color." His worldview is also reflected in the book.Nudelman's neighbor, Soski, did all kinds of bad things to his family, but he still went to church to worship God on Sundays.Nudelman wrote in his diary: Sunday morning: The Soskies go to church.Father Goodness, whatever his unlucky name, was telling them how to be a good Christian.Tell them how to be a good neighbor, that's what you should be telling them!Show them how to be a polite, compassionate real human being, you stupid God-fearing bastard!

Lieberman is a master of humor.All the politics and life in the book are expressed in humorous language. When Nudelman was in New York, because he had no money to live in a decent hotel, but couldn't bear the poor accommodation conditions in the YMCA hostel, he walked to the bridge and climbed to the top of the bridge frame along the steel cable.It was dawn, and another busy day in New York began.He sat on a high place and made the following comments: At 7:30, people left their homes and hurried on their way, and the traffic on the bridge was bumpy.All the stationary park paths were visible from our rickety helicopter.Streets and narrow alleys.The price of cabbage skyrocketed, resulting in severe gasoline shortages.Electricity is out because all the power companies in the city are on strike that is out of control.The mayor has gone crazy lately, walking around the house in socks and tennis shoes, and pulling out the few remaining hairs on his head.The government official had just appeared on TV declaring a state of emergency, a state of riot, and a state of solidarity with angry goldfish eyes.Things haven't gotten any better in terms of weather, either.The forecast said low visibility.The employment rate is low and the efficiency is low.In the afternoon, the temperature will drop, the air pressure will drop, and people's backs will bend even more.Strong winds will blow from the east and hot air will blow from the south.As for tomorrow, the weather forecast says there will be no problem, a policy of low pressure driving across the world will make our incomes lower and our lives more miserable in the near future.

Here the author skillfully mixes social problems such as rising prices, gasoline shortages, strikes, low employment rates, and declining incomes with irrelevant things such as falling air pressure and low visibility, showing that the relationship between politics and life is How tight. Lieberman's skill with language is impressive.He used satire, sarcasm, and self-deprecation to attack the so-called democracy and freedom in the United States, and at the same time gave great sympathy to the powerless and powerless little people.After being detained for being mistaken for a thief, Nudelman said:

I think I've fallen into an abyss, into another dark place of misery.I was robbed, attacked, frisked and humiliated.They, these Messengers of Peace, took my belt, my shoelaces, and wheeled me into the detention center - and while that belt was useful, it still couldn't lift my belt after I used its last buttonhole Pants.What are they afraid of?Afraid I end myself with shoelaces?what!As far as my current situation is concerned, if I really commit suicide, it would be the most ideal choice.If I'm lucky, there are plenty of opportunities, and purgatory does exist (and pious believers like Soski have been pursuing it).Unfortunately, purgatory meant I had to relive what I had experienced, and I was terribly terrified of what might happen. Not to mention anything else, I am extremely hungry now, and there is nothing in front of me except my own skin and bones.Nothing to eat before dawn, all you can get is the bad luck of being arrested after eating... If a person can be anything if he wants to be, then I am a big hot dog with a variety of garnishes.If a person can become what he wants to eat, then I am not a thing, a zero, a code name for a zero, an insignificant villain.This is me.Third-class armed robber, public enemy number one. The main theme of the book is about the miserable living conditions and mental pressure of the unemployed, but the author does not just complain to arouse readers' sympathy or resonance.The whole book is not only full of drama, making readers feel the bitterness in the laughter, but also infected by the author's joyful spirit, making people see hope amidst despair.Nudelman's friends gave him the idea to let him develop in New York to get out of the current predicament.Nudelman thought: Yes, I leaned against the chimney and agreed with him in my heart, he was right.leave here.should.But how can I leave?Knowing that it has been a rough few months, that spring is upon us, and that in a few months we can hear the tick-tock of melting icicles, smell the scent of young grass, see the first flowers bloom in the still-covered The land of snow.Then came the scorching hot summer, when a large number of delicious fruits were on the market, and all kinds of insects swarmed, creating a lively scene.Then the midsummer passed quickly, and then... the autumn was crisp and clear, with blue and white clouds, and autumn came unexpectedly.How, how can I get out of here now? When he made up his mind to move his family to Sweden, where they would seek opportunities for success in a "well-ordered society," the author described it this way: It was already dark.The sun was setting quietly over the mountainside, and the air smelled of the dampness of rotting leaves and the coming of spring.At this time, the tractor of Soski's family stopped, and there was a pleasant tranquility on the mountain.I heard birdsong in the trees.Birds of spring... everything seems to have changed in an instant. Since Lieberman himself has many similar experiences with Nudelman in the book, such as being a mathematics professor, having two sons, both being writers, and being interested in Sweden, it is natural to assume that An autobiographical novel.But the author vehemently denied this, insisting repeatedly that it was not his autobiography. Yuan Fengzhu June 1998 in Beijing ------------------