Great new Canadian short stories（在线收听） |
| Amber: Hello, I'm Amber, and you're listening to bbclearningenglish.com. In Entertainment today, we listen to an interview with the Canadian writerAlice Munro about her latest collection of short stories, The View from CastleRock. Alice Munro has some 'big-name' fans (some 'famous' fans). US novelistJonathan Franzen called her the 'best fiction writer working in North America',and the British author A. S. Byatt went further, describing her as the 'greatestliving short story writer' anywhere! The View from Castle Rock is a combination of autobiography, family historythand fiction. It begins back in the 19 century with Alice Munro's great, great,great grandfather's boat journey from Scotland to Canada, and stories from herfamily's past eventually lead to stories about her own life in small-towncontemporary Canada. And, as always with Munro's writing, stories aboutsmall things soon open a window of understanding on the world 'at large', onthe world 'in general'. Here is Alice Munro talking to the BBC interviewer Mariella Frostrup abouthow and when she first discovered the power and wonder of books. As you listen, try to catch the way her family felt about books and reading. Alice Munro'I discovered books when I was 7 years old. And I'd had my tonsils out and I couldn't playoutside in the summer holidays and I started to read. I think though, in my family's life, therewas a strong feeling about books being a form of self-indulgence – reading being self-indulgence – (Frivolous, even!) and there were lots of stories about how women took toreading and it was sort of like taking to drink – you neglected your house and your childrenand there was dust under the beds and that kind of thing!' Amber: Alice Munro says that her family saw reading as 'self-indulgence' – assomething you do only for your own pleasure or satisfaction. But, Alice Munrowent on to say that because her family didn't encourage her to read books,that's probably why she enjoyed them so much! Many of the stories in The View from Castle Rock are about 'poverty' – aboutnot having enough money even for basic needs such as food, clothing andhousing. They're also about 'hardship' – about the difficulties caused by a lackof money. But Alice Munro explains that she grew up at a time in Canada when peoplecould 'jump into the middle class' if they had an education. As you listen to thenext part of the interview, try to catch the expression that Alice Munro uses todescribe what she was not. Alice Munro'I must emphasise that this was not great poverty; it was the poverty of the area where I live. Ididn't grow up as an outcast at all. I grew up in the same situation as most other people Iknew, but then, when it's almost inevitable perhaps that you will jump into the middle class asyou would at that time in our country's history if you got an education.' Amber: So Alice Munro says she did not grow up 'an outcast' – 'an outcast' is somebodywho has been excluded by a particular group or by society as a whole. However, Alice Munro is very interested in writing about the 'tension' – the anxious anduneasy feelings – caused by differences in wealth between people and by differences in theirposition in society. In a story called 'A Hired Girl', the servant girl narrating the story feels angry about the carelessness of the wealthy family that she goes to work for. Alice Munroexplains that she remembers feeling angry about social injustice when she was growing up. As you listen, try to catch the word she uses for 'anger'. Alice Munro'Oh no, I can remember it being a rage I felt at the time and it's quite unreasonable becauseall those people wanted was a servant, a good servant, and that's what her job was, but shewants to be a person in their lives and of course that isn't possible – it's not to be expected. And this seemed to be a really interesting thing to write about. It's a very autobiographicalstory. And I just love exploring this kind of tension in people, in their lives.' Amber: So Alice Munro says she remembers feeling 'rage', or extreme anger, at socialinjustice when she was growing up. And she's very interested in exploring the tension insidepeople in different positions in society – inside a servant girl who wants to be 'a person' in thelives of her employers, for example. Now here's a list of the language we focussed on in the programme today. Big-nameFictionAutobiographyAt largeSelf-indulgencePovertyHardshipAn outcastRage |
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