Chapter 23 postscript

A small book with only a little over a hundred pages. It is a love story that is difficult to be unconventional. Even the title of the book is unremarkable (more like a subtitle), and the author is an unknown newcomer.However, as soon as the book was published, millions of Americans rushed to read it. Some of them even shed tears of sympathy over the parting of the hero and heroine. Even the president of the United States at that time was so moved that he strongly recommended it to all walks of life. .This novel, which has been on the top of the "New York Times" bestseller list for more than seven consecutive months and has accumulated more than 20 million copies in print, was later adapted and made into a movie by Paramount (in fact, the original book itself is almost A ready-made movie literary script), the theme music floating from the screen is so soul-stirring, the beautiful melody spread like wildfire, and even became a popular song with lyrics, which became popular all over the world. — Such is the miraculous good fortune of the novella "Love Story".

Oliver, the son of a famous family, and Jenny, the daughter of the pastry chef, became friends through verbal conflicts, and then broke through the barriers of family status and became husband and wife.However, the young couple had just lived their long-awaited happy life, and when they were intoxicated with the dream of how to give birth to a big fat boy, the doctor told the husband: his wife was suffering from an incurable disease.Not long after, leukemia took the life of Jenny, who was only twenty-five years old.It cannot be said that it is purely accidental that such a good work can be produced on the basis of such a clichéd plot that is not uncommon.The author doesn't use a lot of pen and ink to describe in detail, but let the emotion speak completely.His writing style is concise and straightforward, but there are details in the thick, and the dense in the sparse.His humor has a distinctly modern stamp, very different from that of Dickens or Mark Twain.These have become the research topics of modern American literature and language.

The background of the novel is the United States in the 1960s.At that time and place, in order to vent their dissatisfaction with the society and reality, some young people deliberately pursued a decadent lifestyle, vying to be "hippies" (long hair and fancy clothes are only the most superficial features), and even fell into the Drug addiction.This phenomenon once aroused the worries of the upper-class "orthodox" people in the United States.Although Oliver Barrett, the protagonist in this book, broke with his father who represented "orthodoxy", what he resisted was only the "bridle" that his father insisted on putting on him ("Do what I can't", "Do what should be done"). The Matter”), was Barrett’s third interference in his marriage.He still holds the traditional family concept of "I should always be the first in everything", and he is used to being invincible in all aspects of exam results, sports and even flirting.Obviously, neither Oliver nor Janney is a "hippie", does not belong to the "unstable factors" of American society, and does not approve of behavior that is too deviant.After Oliver finished his studies, applicants came one after another. However, facing the "wild" bait, the young couple was still rational and calm.Although Barrett No. 4 thinks that Barrett No. 3 is a "stone-faced man" and "heartless", his son's behavior is completely harmless to the society, and he may not be considered a rebel of the Barrett family. So in the end, he threw himself into his father's arms and cried, saying: "Love is never having to say sorry." The author's finishing touch has touched the heartstrings of many readers who are in loneliness and confusion. I am afraid that it can also reassure and comfort the upper "orthodox".

The author Eric Siegel was born in 1937, graduated from Harvard University, and was a track and field athlete when he was in school.Later, he taught classical literature and comparative literature at Yale University, wrote the film script "Yellow Submarine" for the "Beatles" band, and served as a member of the Peace Corps National Advisory Committee.In addition to "Love Story" (1970), he also wrote the play "Odyssey" (1975) and the novels "Oliver's Story" (1977), "Men, Women, Children" ( 1980", "Class Friends" (1984), etc.

Shu Xin, E Yidi September 1996