出版与作家生涯2021theguardian.com
约翰·斯坦贝克的遗产管理人被呼吁公开他那部被雪藏的狼人小說
John Steinbeck’s estate urged to let the world read his shunned werewolf novel
导读
这篇报道讲的是：斯坦贝克早年写的狼人谋杀悬疑小说《狼人谋杀案》(Murder at Full Moon)当年被拒稿；后来他成名了，这部旧稿一直没出版，如今有人呼吁遗产管理方让它面世。讨论围绕“作者遗稿该不该出、艺术家的意愿该不该尊重”展开，对写作者来说，这是关于早期作品、修改史与自我形象管理的好案例。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
早期失败的作品不必销毁，但要想清楚它日后被读者看到时，自己是否接受；留稿等于默认授权。
- 02
与其担心旧作泄底，不如把精力放在持续打磨技艺上：斯坦贝克的被拒稿之后正是靠多年苦练才写出代表作。
- 03
判断一部未刊稿是否值得公开，先问它本身好不好、有无语境说明，而不是靠“当年太惊世骇俗才被禁”这种自我安慰。
- 04
写作时，你要意识到作品最终呈现给世人的样子也是创作的一部分，作家有权决定是否让自己的名字与某部作品关联。
HN 评论精选
这类事总是很难办。有时候，遗产管理方确实会违背作者意愿，比如托尔金的《贝奥武夫》译本，据说他生前明确不希望出版。这次没那么清楚：斯坦贝克当年是主动投稿的，被拒后似乎又花了多年打磨技艺，才写出那些代表作。我不怪他成名后不想把一部狼人谋杀悬疑小说拿出来——他大概觉得那不算自己的“正经”作品。但过去人们常销毁不要的手稿，或明确说“别出版”“我死后烧掉”，他都没做。在我看来，这就像默许可以印，只要有一篇好的导言交代清楚背景。研究美国小说的学者会为它疯狂的。
devindotcom查看英文原文
This sort of thing is always tough. Sometimes estates truly do the opposite of an author's intent, such as with Tolkien's Beowulf. I believe it's on record that he never wanted it published. It's not so clear cut here; Steinbeck submitted it for publishing, got rejected, then seemingly spent years improving his art and produced his major works. I certainly don't blame him for not wanting to throw a werewolf murder mystery out there after being recognized for what he must consider his "real" work. But it was commonplace to destroy unwanted manuscripts or simply to say, don't publish it, or destroy it when I die, etc, and he didn't. To me it seems like license to print, as long as the context is explained in a good introduction. Scholars of the American novel will go nuts for it.
在我看来，作家没有销毁某份材料，就等于默许它死后可以出版，尤其当他不出版的主要原因是难为情时——死人不会难为情。当然，人死前会难为情，所以更该在作者死后想印什么就印什么：一旦“名作家遗稿会被翻出来找有趣东西”成为常态，作家们就会更认真地不让手稿留存到身后，这类无聊争端也就一劳永逸了。
simondotau查看英文原文
In my opinion, an author failing to destroy material is tacit permission to have it published after their death—especially if the main reason why they didn't publish it is embarrassment. A dead person cannot suffer embarrassment. Of course a person can suffer embarrassment before they've died. This is exactly why we should publish whatever we like after death. If it became the norm for famous authors to have their manuscripts raided for interesting works, then such authors will do a better job of not having manuscripts survive their death, solving these silly disputes once and for all.
也可能就是写得不够好。“它当年没出版，是因为对那个年代脆弱敏感的审美来说太耸动了”，这在我看来是一厢情愿的想法。
jandrese查看英文原文
It may just not be all that good. The idea that it wasn't published because it was too lurid for the delicate sensibilities of the day sounds like wishful thinking to me.
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