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“Fantastic Night” was one of the Stefan Zweig's best short stories, in which the author depicted the psychological self-revelation of a well-to-do young Baron in early 20th century.
The leading role Baron R was an elegant, noble, wealthy and good-looking young man with no ambition since he had everything he wanted. All upper social class popular hobbies, such as hunting, traveling and music or art performances, had failed to excite him. He was unhappy and his life enthusiasm extinguished.
The fantastic night made him reborn. Actually it was not only the night, but also the afternoon, when he gave in to a moment's impulse and released a flood of emotions. Intoxicated by his own sensations, he went on a spree of unchecked wildness. He mischievously stole money in a horse gambling. After meeting a cheap, tasteless young prostitute, he was blackmailed by a man. Facing the man, he gradually overcame his fear and gained bravery. With new insight in himself, he finally spread his money like confetti on empty street. Meanwhile, he was satisfied with himself while imagining happy faces of people who found the money surprisingly and wisely used it. The fantastic night switched his life path and rejuvenated him.
The story was intense and profound. The joy of psychological self-disclosure of a young man, and the rekindled passion for life were the most visible thread throughout the whole novel. Like Zweig showed us: “Once a man has found himself, there is nothing in this world that he can lose. And once he has understood humanity in himself, he will understand all human beings”.
Sorry for my poor English. I am unable to describe more about this novel. But it is highly worth-reading.
来源: RPV 于 07-12-27 10:31:09 [档案] [博客] [旧帖] [转至博客] [给我悄悄话]
回答: I am so flattered. Thank you. 由 melly 于 2007-12-27 09:07:21
I haven’t met many people, like you and me that came from China, whose English is as good as their native language. You are one of the few I know being able to write beautifully as you do in Chinese. By the way, I went on your blog to read before.
I like reading a novel first and watching the movie adapted from it after. Since spending quite a bit time on ready weekly, I almost stop going out watching movies. While reading Robert James Waller’s The Bridges of Madison County, I couldn't hold back the tears that were streaming down my face for quite a while. Later on, I watched the movie. My tears started flowing out of my eyes at a few moments during my watching, but the feelings were not alike. Many times I sensed more the beauty of English language narrating people and things through reading a novel than watching its adopted movie.
I also read short stories at leisure and read more than eighty stories every year. I love short stories talking about things in our lives, such as
James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues
Raymond Carver’s Cathedral and A Small, Good Thing
John Cheever’s The Swimmer and Divorce Season
Andre Dubus’s The Fat Girl and Adultery
Ha Jin’s Saboteur and My Best Soldier
Joyce Carol Oates’s Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?
John Updike’s Separating
Alice Walker’s Everyday Use
same feeling here that 归来 is very sweet. :-))
It is truly a good story.
谢谢推荐，这个也要找来看看。：)
咱们就相互捧杀吧. LOL